Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said radicalisation, particularly among youth, is one of the drivers of increased terrorism threats, as Australia’s top spy agency raised the national terrorism threat level for the country to “probable” for the first time since 2014.The threat level was held at “probable” for eight years until 2022, when it was downgraded to “possible”.“I want to reassure Australians ‘probable’ does not mean ‘inevitable’,” said Albanese at a press conference in Canberra today, after convening a national security committee meeting.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess (centre) and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus today.Credit: Alex EllinghausenAlbanese’s comments come as the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) raised the national terrorism threat level from “possible” to “probable” over a heightening of radical political and religious ideologies and a string of alleged terrorist incidents in Australia.The spy agency’s director-general, Mike Burgess, said the new threat level is not a result of intelligence on any specific imminent attack and is not a direct response to events in the Middle East.Albanese said there had been a global rise in politically motivated violence and extremists. “Governments around the world are concerned about youth radicalisation, online radicalisation, and the rise of new mixed ideologies,” he said.ASIO last dropped the threat level to “possible” in November 2022 after a reduction in risk posed by religiously-motivated violent extremists. Burgess said Australia’s security environment had become more volatile and unpredictable.Loading“More Australians are being radicalised and radicalised more quickly … [and] embracing a more diverse range of extreme ideologies,” Burgess said.“More Australians are willing to use violence to advance their cause.”Burgess also said trust in institutions was eroding.“Provocative inflammatory behaviours are being normalised,” he said.“This trend increased during COVID and gained momentum after the terrorist attacks on Israel and accelerated during Israel’s military response.“Individuals are embracing anti-authority ideologies, conspiracy theories, and diverse grievances.”
