I expect the profile will be pulled down at some point so read it while you can. It will be worth Australians remembering these details when the inevitable calls arise for more snooping, spying and general erosion of liberty and privacy in the wake of this.
A quick run down of relevant points:
Monis was already charged with being an accessory to the murder of his wife, and was somehow out on bail.
He was facing 40, yes forty, charges of indecent and sexual assault.
He had previously been convicted in 2009 of sending offensive letters to the families of deceased Australian soldiers.
There is no indication of what his current immigration status was in Australia before this incident but he claimed asylum in 1996, and given the above didn't seem to be making great efforts to integrate. I would expect and hope he never gained citizenship, but nothing would surprise me.
Yet despite all the above, he was still able to wonder around freely, procure gun and walk into the heart of Sydney's business and financial district unchallenged. In Australia, a country where you can be fined for taking an apple across the desolate border between the states of South Australia and Western Australia.
The threat from terrorism is as nothing compared to the threat from our own stupid governments who have wasted billions and now seem eager to waste more running around Iraq and Afghanistan "fighting terrorism" and generally involving ourselves in the affairs of middle eastern countries we have nothing to do with, and yet at the same time take absolutely no meaningful steps to prevent an obviously dangerous lunatic from causing major problems.
This man should clearly have been locked up or deported years ago, and not a single extra phone tap, email snoop or airport check would have been needed. Just the political and moral will to punish people who break the established laws we already have.
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