Australia to tighten immigration laws in counterterror bid
Australia will strengthen its immigration laws and crack down on groups that incite hatred under a raft of counterterrorism measures introduced Monday in a bid to combat the threat from home-grown terrorists.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the nation's new anti-extremism strategy following the release of a government review into December's deadly siege at a cafe in Sydney's busy Martin Place plaza.
Man Monis, an Iranian-born, self-styled cleric with a long criminal history, took 18 people hostage inside the cafe, forced them to hold up a flag bearing the Islamic declaration of faith and demanded he be delivered a flag of the Islamic State group. Monis and two hostages were killed.
