Former Labor leader Mark Latham has called for evil people to be locked up and kept off the streets in the wake of Thursday’s car attack.
Mr Latham made the comments as Melbourne was still coming to terms with the carnage caused when Saeed Noori allegedly ploughed into a crowd of pedestrians.
Police revealed Noori, who came to Australia as a refugee from Afghanistan in 2004, was known to them and has a history of drug use and serious mental illness.
Former Labor leader Mark Latham (pictured, right, with Jeff Kennet on Sunrise) has called for evil people to be locked up and kept off the streets in the wake of Thursday’s car attack
Mr Latham spoke out strongly when discussing the attack, calling Noori a ‘public menace’ during an emotional Friday morning segment on Sunrise.
‘We need to be a bit more hard-headed about this and start locking up evil people,’ he said, triggering a fiery debate with former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett.
Mr Kennett accused Mr Latham of populism, and said it is not possible to imprison everyone who is known to police.
Mr Latham made the comments as Melbourne was still coming to terms with the carnage caused when Saeed Noori allegedly ploughed into a crowd of pedestrians (pictured is the car used in the attack)
‘Thirty-years-ago, dangerous people weren’t integrated into the community, the do-gooders had this attitude, let’s integrate people into the community, well I say it’s failed,’ Mr Latham responded.
Mr Kennett later mentioned the exchange in an opinion piece, calling Mr Latham’s comments ‘understandable’ in The Herald Sun.
‘The perpetrator of the Bourke St rampage and Thursday’s attack should be held to account before our law,’ he wrote.
‘Neither should be excused from that because their actions might have been drug related.’
Mr Latham later posted a video of the exchange on his Facebook page, with a list of five important things that need to be done to make Australia safer.
The clash came as the Australians grappled with the latest car attack to rock Melbourne.
Mr Latham (pictured, bottom right) spoke out strongly when discussing the attack, calling Noori a ‘public menace’ during an emotional Friday morning segment on Sunrise
There were 19 people injured when Noori allegedly drove a white 4WD into a crowd of people on Thursday afternoon.
The Australian citizen of Afghan descent remains in hospital under police guard, with investigators hopeful to interview him later on Friday.
The 32-year-old has spoken briefly to police about voices, dreams and the ‘poor treatment of Muslims.
Nine foreign nationals were among the injured, and 16 people remain in hospital, three of who are critically injured, including an 83-year-old man.
Police raided homes in West Heidelberg and Oak Park overnight. Family members of the man helped police and none were taken into custody.
The accused man, who migrated to Australia via a refugee program, will be psychiatrically assessed in hospital.
‘Thirty-years-ago, dangerous people weren’t integrated into the community, the do-gooders had this attitude, let’s integrate people into the community, well I say it’s failed,’ Mr Latham (pictured) said