Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm has slammed the latest Islamic State video, calling people who join the jihadist group ‘clowns’ and ‘d---heads’.
In the video, a man with an Australian accent is shown holding a rifle and wearing military clothing, surrounded by dozens of armed and masked fighters.
"What it demonstrates is that these people we're dealing with are d---heads, absolute d---heads," Senator Leyonhjelm told reporters on Wednesday.
“What do we need sophisticated laws that allow ASIO to spy on their houses - and our houses too for that matter - it's not necessarily restricted to clowns like those people.
"These people are not sophisticated criminals, they're easy to catch. We don’t need new laws.”
Senator Leyonhjelm strongly opposed the government’s tough new terror laws that give spy agency ASIO greater surveillance and search powers to fight terrorism.
“We don't need our security agencies spying on us and infringing of the freedom of the press in order to catch these people.
"They're way too stupid to outsmart existing laws."
'Chilling video reminder of the threat we face'
But Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Josh Frydenberg said the “chilling” video was proof the new terror laws were necessary.
“That video is chilling and it's a reminder of the threat we face by radicalised young people. And that is why the government has acted swiftly, but also thoughtfully and in a considered way to introduce new legislation and to resource our intelligence and law enforcement agencies better.”
The Prime Minister's Office has issued a statement saying the video highlights the "very real threat" posed by IS.
"As the Prime Minister has said on many occasions, IS is a threat that reaches out to Australia and our allies and partners," it reads.
"That is why Australia has joined the Coalition to disrupt and degrade IS in Iraq and is giving our law enforcement and security agencies the powers and resources they need to keep Australia and Australians as safe as possible.
"Australians should continue to be confident to go about their daily lives as normal."
Security agencies say they're aware of up to 60 Australians who've traveled to the Middle East to fight with IS.
It's believed 17-year-old Abdullah Elmir from Western Sydney is among them after he ran away from home some four months ago.
Abdullah hasn't been seen since June after telling his mother he was going fishing. Later, he sent a text message to a family member asking them to tell his mother he had "gone".
The man in the video with the Australian accent directed part of his two-minute message to Western leaders, among them Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
"To the leaders, to Obama, to Tony Abbott, I say this: These weapons that we have, these soldiers, we will not stop fighting, we will not put down our weapons until we reach your lands, until we take the head of every tyrant and unti the black flag is flying high in every single land," he says.
SBS has been unable to verify the origin of the video.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten has described the footage as shocking and concerning.
"What we’ve got it a very confused teenager who’s been led astray and saying remarkably stupid things.
"We got to be on guard in our communities to make sure that our disaffected youth are not being manipulated and perverted by dangerous old people."
He said the threats to Prime Minister Tony Abbott are "crazy."
"In terms of the Prime Minister, he’s doing his job. He shouldn’t have to put up with these sorts of crazy videos."
NSW Premier Mike Baird called the video "disturbing" and said it served as a reminder for the community to be vigilant.
"[We need to] work with the local community to ensure that we miminise the impact of the radicalisation that we’re seeing going on," Mr Baird told reporters.
"New South Wales is proud of our multicultural history and we need to preserve that, protect that and do everything possible to ensure that harmony is maintained."
Mr Baird commended the leadership of the Muslim community, but said the video showed that "we still have more to do."
Muslim community leaders condemn IS video
In a statement released yesterday, Muslim community leaders from groups including the Australian National Imams Council condemned the video.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms any threat against Australians and reiterate the position of His Eminence, the Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammad, who previously said: ‘The recent so‐called ‘fatwa’ from overseas making reference to Australia as a target has no religious authority and must be rejected’,” the statement read.
Elmir family lawyer Zali Burrows says the government had photos of Abdullah clearing customs and that it may have been tracking him to see how fighters are recruited.
Muslim community leaders condemn recent ISIS video threatening Australia:
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