TONY Abbott has slammed officials who claim Islamophobia is almost as big a problem as terrorism while calling for the “strongest possible response” to the latest attacks in London.

The former Prime Minister has called for specialist military commandos to lead major counter-terror operations with more shoot-to-kill powers.

Today he called the attack, which has so far claimed seven lives, the latest “atrocity in a long line of Islamist atrocities against the west”.

“My thoughts are that we’ve got to avoid any spirit of surrender, any spirit of defeatism,” Mr Abbott said.

“All too often in officialdoms’ ranks there is this notion that Islamophobia is almost as big a problem as Islamist terrorism,” he said.

“Well Islamophobia hasn’t killed anyone, Islamist terrorism has now killed tens of thousands of people.

“That’s why it’s absolutely critical that there be the strongest possible response at every level.”

Mr Abbott, who put a commando regiment on standby during the December 2014 Lindt Cafe siege, is one of several Liberal MPs pushing for the Defence Act to be amended.

“In the case of multiple or complex terrorist incidents, as soon as that is established, the military should become the lead agency in terms of the operations,” Mr Abbott told The Australian on Monday.

But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said there were existing protocols that would allow military officers to be brought in to a siege situation.

He said the government was also currently reviewing the protocols.

But he hit out at the view “being put around” that police did not have an ability to shoot-to-kill

“That is quite untrue,” he said.

“The practice of cordon and contain, which had been used for many years, is not applied by police in situations where there is an active armed offender, an active shooter or someone with a knife, such as you saw in London.”

He said also pointed out that frontline Australian police carried firearms, unlike most of their British beat-cop counterparts, and would be able to shoot assailants just as the London first responders had.

media_camera Tony Abbott says terror incidents must be dealt with as quickly as possible with ‘shoot to kill’ powers. Picture: Kym Smith

Mr Abbott said too many senior members of state police forces were concerned about “political correctness” and community backlash during terror incidents.

But attacks, where people “have come to kill us”, should be dealt with as quickly as possible.

He called for “shoot to kill” powers to be a priority.

“The tragic reality is that there are people even in countries like ours who want to do us harm,” he told reporters in Ballarat today.

“Obviously the police are the first responders — that’s only right and proper — but if there is a complex terrorism situation it’s fitting that the military then become the lead agency,” Mr Abbott said.

“This is something that I think that the Prime Minister and the Premiers need to talk about urgently at the next meeting of COAG.

“I think it is important that in the senior echelons of command, that there be an appropriate understanding of the Islamist mindset and the fact that these people have this death to the infidel approach.

“Such sieges are almost inevitably going to end badly so the sooner they’re ended by the police or other agencies, the better.”

“We are wonderfully decent, generous and welcoming societies and that should never change but we cannot tolerate the intolerant.

“We cannot tolerate people who wish us very, very serious harm.”

media_camera Liberal MP Andrew Hastie with US Republican John McCain at Parliament House. Picture: Michael Masters AUSPIC/Department of Parliamentary Services

Chairman of the joint foreign affairs and defence committee, Liberal Senator David Fawcett, said he would like to see the military be the primary responder in a terrorist incident.

“If a ‘high-risk incident’ develops into a siege or hostage event, the force best equipped to deal with the threat must be deployed in a timely manner,” he said.

The existing law, which requires a state or territory government to request assistance, unnecessarily delays deployment of the most effective force to deal with the threat, he said.

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, a former SAS commander and now the chairman of the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security, has also backed the call.

media_camera Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop says a review is already considering Defence support for counter-terrorism operations. Picture: Kym Smith

He told the publication most terror incidents were over in about 15 minutes but hostage situations, where terrorists were threatening to kill citizens, should automatically trigger military engagement.

“Their sole purpose is to kill the terrorist to save the lives of the hostages and so their whole operational culture is driven towards the surgical application of lethal force to that end,” Mr Hastie said.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop also said the idea was already under review following the Lindt Cafe siege.

“The issue of defence support in national counter-terrorism arrangements is already being considered,” she told ABC radio.

Originally published as ‘Islamist terror kills, not Islamophobia’