Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs The response of state and federal governments to the discovery of a caravan laden with explosives and containing the addresses of a Sydney synagogue and Holocaust museum risks stoking confusion and anxiety, when the goal should be the very opposite.As is now established, authorities had kept the operational details secret for days in the belief the revelations would compromise their work in trying to catch the perpetrators.NSW Premier Chris Minns and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.Credit: Alex EllinghausenBut following a leak to the media on Wednesday afternoon, Premier Chris Minns called a press conference to announce details, and in the process revealed he was told about the matter on January 20 – the day after the caravan’s contents were reported to police.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is still refusing to reveal when he was informed. News Corp on Friday claimed Albanese was not told until the day it was leaked to the media – a fact not challenged by the prime minister when he had the chance at a press conference on Friday. It is also safe to assume that NSW authorities thought it best left to the Australian Federal Police and/or ASIO to tell the prime minister. If federal authorities thought the discovery was not serious enough to warrant prime ministerial knowledge, that was an alarming miscalculation given Albanese himself has labelled the caravan discovery an act of terrorism.Surely in a time of heightening tensions over antisemitism across Australia, with increasing attacks on places of worship, schools and private homes and black-shirted neo-Nazis marching in Adelaide on Australia Day, the public has a right to know when their leaders were not only informed about the gravity of the situation, but how they worked together to confront the problem and assuage public fears.Instead, the leak and its aftermath exposed probable fractures between federal and state authorities, namely NSW Police and the AFP, as they combat the growing number of antisemitic attacks in Australian cities and scramble to prove they are on top of the problem.When AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw last week revealed that investigators were looking at whether “overseas actors or individuals” were paying local criminals to launch attacks following a sharp rise in antisemitic warnings, it caught some NSW Police by surprise. It’s also noteworthy that the AFP has made no public statement since the caravan discovery was announced publicly.The escalating pattern of antisemitic attacks in Sydney is clearly an issue of national security. But with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton riding hard on Albanese’s response, it has become a potent political issue too.The reticence to inform Albanese may seem reasonable to some, but others will question what was really stopping Minns from picking up the phone and telling the prime minister about such a serious matter.A joint taskforce of state and federal agencies is working on the investigation. We hope they produce results. But between the mixed communications of recent days, leaking of the story in the first place, and failure of the AFP to make any public comment on the explosive discovery, the signs of harmony are not encouraging. The public good demands that everyone starts working together.Bevan Shields sends an exclusive newsletter to subscribers each week. Sign up to receive his Note from the Editor.
