 A RADICAL Islamic convert with a long criminal history is running a halfway house for freed prisoners and the homeless. Helmut Kirsch, 48, who runs Arden Lodge in North Melbourne, said that ASIO and police suspected he was a terrorist. Kirsch, a former office-holder of the extreme Right-wing National Action, predicted Australia would soon pay a heavy price for its "overseas follies".
| "Aaaarrr! You'll pay! You'll pay!" |
"They'll deserve every bit of it. Let's hope they get the right people," he said. "I'm convinced change will be brought about in this state. I'd like to think it will be brought about by peaceful means." Kirsch, who was an accessory to murder,
| ... but it was carried out by peaceful means... |
denied he was a terrorist but he thought ASIO believed he was. "When the first bomb explodes in the Melbourne CBD, I'd expect a visit within five minutes," he said. "I don't want to be part of Australia. My sympathies lie with the people of Afghanistan."
| Sounds like the kind of fellow who'd really like Pol-i-Charki... |
Kirsch claimed to know up to 75 Taliban supporters with Australian passports. "Don't worry about them sneaking in. They don't need to sneak people in," he said. Kirsch, who has more than 70 criminal convictions, was once described in State Parliament as a "social parasite and pariah who preys on vulnerable and at-risk young people". Police reports compiled before a raid on Arden Lodge in July, 2001, detailed their concerns about Kirsch, formerly known as Gregory Middap. "Middap is a violent, dangerous criminal and all intelligence indicates he has a known access to firearms. He is considered a high-risk arrest," the report said. |