Fear of Terrorism Doubles in Ten Years

The number of Australians fearful of a terrorist threat on Australian soil has increased by 100% in the past ten years.

According to the Lowy Institute, a new survey released this week shows that the number of Australians feeling afraid of a terrorist attack has jumped from 8 per cent in 2005 to 19 per cent in 2015.

The Institute speculated that three top reasons for anxiety among those polled were the Islamic State jihadist group (ISIL) in Iraq and Syria, terrorist attacks on Australian citizens overseas and local terrorism.

However the language used by the Prime Minister and other government ministers has come in for criticism particularly with PM Tony Abbott aiming to resurrect his declining popularity by harnessing the fear of a terrorist threat and spruiking the government’s hard line on issues of national security and border protection.

Tony Abbott has deliberately and systematically fostered community fears linking asylum seekers with terrorists, and employing ramped up terminology to create an elevated sense of fear, foreboding and hysteria.

For example, according to figures released by Fairfax, Tony Abbott has used the term “Death Cult”  346 times since September in Federal Parliament, press releases, interviews, transcripts and videos.

Hass Dellal, Executive Director of the Australian Multicultural Foundation said certain language used to describe terrorism can be counter-productive and cause anxiety and division.

Nick O’Brien, the former head of International Counter Terrorism in Special Branch at New Scotland Yard and an academic at Charles Sturt University, said it was important to examine the terms being used for Islamic State because the messaging needed to be consistent.

He said Mr Abbott’s repetitive use of “death cult” added to the confusing labels that muddle the message about Islamic State.

“He seems to be the only world leader that uses this phrase. The Brits certainly don’t use it, the Americans adopted a policy of using ISIL,” he said.

“A lot of people don’t know exactly what he’s referring to.”

With many Australian unsure who or what the so-called “Death Cult” actually is, the Prime Minister is pinning his hopes on resuscitating his fledgling popularity on the back of fear an scaremongering in the hope that voters will buy into his pledge to do “whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

However it appears that many Australians have simply tuned out or turned off.