Australian Christian Lobby van attack ‘attempted suicide bombing’

The burnt out van after it exploded at Eternity House, the Australian Christian Lobby Headquarters in Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith.

The Australian 10:33AM December 28, 2016

ROSIE LEWIS

Reporter

Canberra

@rosieslewis

The head of the Australian Christian Lobby says the 35-year-old man who exploded a van outside the group’s Canberra headquarters had been on an “attempted suicide bombing”.

ACL managing director Lyle Shelton is at odds with ACT Policing over the “car-bomb” after authorities ruled out religious, political and ideological motives following a “very short” conversation with the van’s driver.

“I sincerely hope the police are right in their assessment but it defies logic as to how you can unequivocally come to that conclusion within hours of such a cataclysmic event,” Mr Shelton told The Australian.

“Police interviewed him for seven or eight minutes when he had massive burns to himself prior to going into a coma. That sends a message to any would-be terrorist if they wanted to do something like this all they have to do is to tell the police or hospital their only motive was to commit suicide and they’re fine.”

Mr Shelton said in a “heightened terrorism environment”, the public should have complete confidence in the investigation and the police’s determination, but in this case it had been made in “undue haste”.

The man accused of being the driver of the van, a Canberra resident and Australian national who allegedly ignited gas cylinders in the van just after 9.30pm last Wednesday, is in a stable condition at Concord Hospital after being flown from Canberra to Sydney with serious burns.

“We know three of the gas cylinders didn’t ignite but if they had … there would have been a whole lot more damage than the horrific damage that did occur,” Mr Shelton said.

“This is a very, very serious incident … What occurred at our building was not a car fire, it was a car-bomb.”


Mr Shelton said he had been told by police that the man’s “intent was to take his life” and there were no known links to the ACL.

An ACT Policing spokeswoman said it was inappropriate to comment any further as the investigation continued.

The driver of the van was not known to police before the explosion but Mr Shelton questioned how certain motives could be rejected “when other checks of his computer history had not been done”.