ARMED Australian Federal Police officers will take back command and control of Parliament House in Canberra after fresh revelations suspected terrorists were planning a potential attack on the nation’s capital and the country’s highest office.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott this morning confirmed the Daily Telegraph report that intelligence agencies had picked up “chatter” involving a potential random attack on Parliament House, with fears among national security and intelligence agencies that the Prime Minister and other senior government officials were prime targets.

As a second man charged with offences today after the biggest anti-terror operation in Austrlian history, he said security was being upgraded ‘almost immediately’.

media_camera Parliament House in Canberra / Picture: Gary Ramage.

media_camera Tony Abbott, pictured yesterday at the Memorial Service in Yirrkala in North Eastern Arnhem Land, praised the efforts of security forces while accepting the decision to go to war in Iraq has made Australia a terror target / Picture: Jack Tran

Mr Abbott said: “We are in a heightened state of vigilance and as soon as the police and agencies have evidence that any activity is likely, they will act.”

“The advice of our police and security agencies was that attacks of this nature could take place within days,” he said.

“That is why they acted.”

The “chatter” about Parliament House had been intercepted and they now held fears the building had already been “scoped out” for pre-planning of a “Mumbai” style attack involving automatic weapons.

The chatter, intercepted by spy, police and counterterrorism agencies, ­revealing talk about access to Parliament House was confirmed by two senior intelligence officials. It is believed the chatter also involved possible reprisal attacks against ASIO.

media_camera Police and AFP officers outside the home in Hector Street, Bass Hill.

media_camera Flanked by NSW Premier Mike Baird and Police Minister Stuart Ayres, Commissioner Andrew Scipione promised at Parliament House that terrorists would not be allowed to attack Australia.

In response, senior security sources have identified the most vulnerable entry point to parliament was the entrance to the ministerial wing, which could be infiltrated by “taking out” two unarmed parliamentary security officers who represent the only sentry point to prevent instant access to the PM’s own courtyard.

From there a potential terrorist would have a direct line of sight into the PM’s office, they confirmed.

It is understood several armed AFP officers have been redeployed to Parliament House. Over the next few days their numbers will be dramatically increased to secure the building, which under current arrangements is among the least secure official buildings in the country.

Other measures being considered include barriers as well as airport level security checks for visitors.

media_camera Increased security at Parliament House Sydney.

media_camera Target: Parliament House in Canberra.

News_Image_File: tennis tennis

Lakemba protest Protesters gather at Lakemba in the wake of the Sydney anti-terror raids.

A senior intelligence source said: ‘What we are concerned about is that there are thousands of people in that building including not only staff but MPs and members of the general public who visit on a daily basis.”

A senior government official also confirmed the new intelligence briefing on threats to parliament house and the vulnerability of the PM and other ministerial offices.

“There are a lot of lives in this building. And it is a building that is currently very vulnerable to a random act of violence,” they said.

“The weakest point is the ministerial wing. You could take out two blokes sitting at a desk and walk straight into the courtyard with a line of sight into the PM’s office.”

media_camera Police swoop on a terror suspect in Guildford yesterday.

media_camera A man is led from his house by AFP officers after the raid in Bss Hill.

media_camera Armed police and AFP officers stand outside a home in Bass Hill, Sydney, while the residents wait in the garage.

The Speaker, Bronwyn Bishop, is believed to have backed the move to reinstate the AFP as the command agency for security and has cut short an overseas trip to return to the capital. However the Senate’s presiding officers are understood to be resisting the move.

It is believed the Prime Minister has made his concerns known about the safety of staff, visitors and MPs that work in that building after being briefed on the new intelligence on Wednesday night.

It is not yet established whether the Canberra plot is linked to the suspects netted in yesterday’s dramatic pre-dawn raids in Sydney and Brisbane. who had allegedly planned to snatch innocent members of the public of the street and behead them on camera.

The Australian Federal Police was removed from the parliamentary security committee under the previous government in March last year, with the Department of Parliamentary Services taking over security at the building entrances.

Concerns have been consistently raised about the level of security in the nation’s most important building since the downgrading. Of most concern to security agencies was the Prime Minister and other senior government officials, with little ­security to prevent an armed person gaining access to the building.

A senior security source said Parliament House was deemed “an attractive option” for a terror attack because of its high status and the easy access to the public area, where hundreds of visitors mingle on a daily basis. But access to the more ­secure ministerial wings of the parliament building was also deemed unacceptably vulnerable.

media_camera Aerial footage of arrests made in during early morning raids as part of a counterterrorism operation. Picture: Supplied

Mr Abbott later admitted on Channel Seven’s Sunrise program: ‘It is difficult to entirely protect our community from this kind of act”.

“The regrettable reality is that to mount the kind of attacks which ISIL in Syria and in Iraq has in mind for Australia, all you need is a determined individual who will kill without compunction, a knife, an iPhone and a victim,” he said.

But he praised the “extremely professional” work of Australia’s Police and security agencies.

“I am confident that we have the where with all to do what we need to keep our community safe.”