CANBERRA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Radical anti-Islam groups are beginning to pose a significant threat to Australia's national security, the country's head of intelligence said overnight.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organization's (ASIO) director general, Duncan Lewis said the fast rise of the radical far-right group Reclaim Australia was of particular interest to the nation's top security agencies.
Lewis said following the first arrest of one of the group's members under new far-right counter-terror laws earlier this year, ASIO has started to monitor the activity of the anti-Islam group more closely.
"(If) there is a possibility of violence, or there is indeed violence being offered, that is of interest to us," Lewis told a Senate committee overnight.
Reclaim Australia is a self-described patriot group which has been involved in a number of violent protests about the construction of Mosques in Australia, as well as the rise of Muslim immigration.
When asked if the group posed any threat to Australian citizens, Lewis said: "Yes it is, but I wouldn't describe it as going up in any vertical way. It's come off a low base and it's now more present than it was."
Meanwhile Lewis added that ASIO was investigating up to 200 people who were actively supporting terror groups such as Islamic State (IS). He said there were about 110 Australians also currently fighting for IS in Iraq and Syria.
"The threat of terrorism in Australia is real and present in our community," he said.
"It requires vigilance by both the Australian community and abroad, and governments of all levels to continue to combat it."
