A global Islamic politics expert says a deadly terror attack like the one at Bondi was always at risk of happening.

Professor at Deakin University Greg Barton says the attack is everyone’s worst nightmare.

“The counter-terrorism authorities tell us that what they’ve always been worried about, what keeps them awake at night, is lone actor attacks on a public space, and that’s just what we saw,” he told Clinton Maynard.

He says authorities are monitoring many people, but it’s hard to track potential lone actors.

“When they get to the level of cells, they’re able to move in and start to make arrests because they can lay charges, because the legislation now allows them to do that,” he added.

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