Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has attacked the Victorian justice system after it was revealed that Melbourne terror gunman Yacqub Khayre was on parole when he shot a man dead and took a sex worker hostage.

Branding the attack a “shocking and cowardly crime”, Mr Turnbull questioned why Khayre was out on parole when he carried out the attack in Brighton, in Melbourne’s south-east, late on Monday.

“There are some very, very grave questions. I have raised these today with the Victorian Premier, whom I called last night and I called again this morning. How was this man on parole?” Mr Turnbull said in Canberra early on Tuesday.

“This issue of parole has to be addressed. There have been too many cases of people on parole committing violent offences of this kind.

“He had a long record of violence. A very long record of violence.

“He had been charged with a terrorist offence some years ago and had been acquitted. He was known to have connections, at least in the past, with violent extremism.”

WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR

The New Daily contacted the Victorian Premier’s office for a reaction to Mr Turnbull’s comments but a spokesperson declined to comment further.

Khayre had reportedly cut off his GPS security ankle bracelet on Monday, according to Fairfax.

The parole board would have decided that Khayre had been sufficiently rehabilitated when he was released back into the community.

Expert defends parole system

Dr Nicola McGarrity, who represented one of the men convicted over the 2009 Holsworthy terror plot, told The New Daily that parole serves an important purpose in the criminal justice system.

“Parole is a way of rehabilitating people into the community, reintegrating them under supervision,” said Dr McGarrity, a terrorism expert and senior law lecturer at the University of New South Wales.

“If Yacqub Khayre had remained in jail after the entire period of his sentence [without parole], he would have been released in the community without any supervision. He wouldn’t have been subject to any supervision at all.

“He has committed an offence after being released on parole, but I’m not sure we can say he wouldn’t have committed the offence if he’d been released at the end of his [five year, six month] sentence.

“Someone can commit a criminal offence on parole or at the end of their sentence – it’s possible in either circumstance.”

She said she believed some crime and terrorism was always inevitable, and law and social measures need to minimise risks – but can never completely eliminate those risks.

‘We will act’: Premier

At a press conference on Tuesday morning, Premier Daniel Andrews said the Victorian government was ready to commit more to counter-terrorism measures.

“If there’s more that needs to be done, we stand ready to do that,” Mr Andrews said.

Mr Andrews was also hammered by the opposition in the Victorian Parliament on Tuesday.

“Under your watch, what is it that a criminal has to do to be denied parole in the state of Victoria?” Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy asked.

Mr Guy asked the Premier “Why was this man on our streets?”, before shouting across the chamber: “You are weak, and you should resign.”

The bomb squad are pictured at the apartments. Photo: Sky News

Could counter-terror laws stop attacks?

While police have been investigating the Monday afternoon attack as a terrorism incident, they believe Khayre was acting alone.

Dr McGarrity reiterated Khayre was never convicted of any terrorism offence. But there was a range of different regimes that exist to deal with potential threats, she said.

“The AFP can detain a suspect without charge for up to eight days, and normally that’s capped at one day for the standard investigative period,” Dr McGarrity said.

Despite calls to further the powers of counter-terrorism police, Dr McGarrity believes that the AFP be more restrained.

She said marginalisation, alienation, exclusion, and discrimination were known contributing factors of radicalisation. Counter-terrorism laws feed into those factors, she said.

The New Daily has contacted ASIO for comment.

-with agencies