Right-wing extremist Phillip Galea has been found guilty of plotting terrorist attacks on Victorian Trades Hall and other "leftist" centres in Melbourne three years ago.

Key points: The jury deliberated for about two days before returning its guilty verdict

The jury deliberated for about two days before returning its guilty verdict The head of the Victorian Trades Hall Council said the conviction should serve as a "canary in the coal mine" moment

The head of the Victorian Trades Hall Council said the conviction should serve as a "canary in the coal mine" moment The Islamic Council of Victoria's vice-president said Muslims were fearful of rising far-right extremism

He was charged with "acts in preparation for, or planning a terrorist act" and attempting to make a document likely to facilitate a terrorist act.

After a trial lasting more than seven weeks, the jury took just over two days to return its verdict.

During the trial, prosecutors said Galea, 35, had maps and photos of the targeted locations and was making a "Patriot's Cookbook" to recruit others to take up violent acts against Muslims and leftists.

Galea maintained his innocence throughout the court case, giving evidence that the Patriot's Cookbook was satire.

He also told the jury the plans he spoke about online and with other right-wing activists were "fake" and were designed to root out a police informant he believed had infiltrated right-wing groups.

Galea, who wore a checked shirt and white beads with a cross, said nothing as the verdict was delivered but as the jury was leaving the room said to them "you weren't given all the facts".

A plea hearing has been scheduled for March 23 next year when Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth will hear sentencing submissions.

The Islamic Council of Victoria welcomed the conviction, which it said underscored fears held by many Muslim Australians about a "growing tide" of far-right extremism.

The secretary of Victorian Trades Hall Council, Luke Hilakari, said security at the union headquarters had been boosted after they learnt of the terror plot against them.

"This is like a canary in the coal mine moment for Australia," he said.

"We've seen what's happened in New Zealand, we've seen another terrorism case now go before the courts and we've seen a guilty verdict.

"I think security agencies now need to start paying serious attention to this problem."

Defence argued police making 'a mountain out of a molehill'

During the trial, the court heard that Galea's targets included Trades Hall in Carlton, the Melbourne Anarchist Club in Northcote and the Resistance Centre in Melbourne's CBD.

He took photos and videos at the various sites and collected maps, the court heard.

Documents seized in 2016 from his home computer and stored on a portable USB device included the cookbook, which prosecutors argued was a manifesto to encourage people to take action against left-wing groups and Muslims.

The plot involved a terrorist attack on the Trades Hall building in Carlton, the court was told. ( ABC News: Rudy De Santis )

The court heard Galea used the internet to research the ingredients and methods required to make smoke bombs and that he had tried to recruit others to assist in the plot.

Police found mercury, cattle prods and other materials at his home in Braybrook, in Melbourne's west, the court heard.

During her summing up last week, defence lawyer Felicity Gerry told the jury "police tried to make a mountain out of a molehill".

"He was a mainstream patriot, he was not a terrorist," she said.

Galea gave evidence over several days during the trial, repeatedly telling the jury he never intended to harm people or buildings.

He explained he was trying to find the location of leftist groups who had burned Australian flags, in order to "expose" them.

He told the court the plan uncovered by police was "fake".

The court heard Galea was attempting to identify an informer he believed had infiltrated the far-right Reclaim Australia group. ( Facebook )

Galea said it was designed to root out an informer who he was convinced had been planted inside the Reclaim Australia group, a far-right organisation he had been active with since 2014.

He was "recruiting investigators and editors, not terrorists," Ms Gerry said.

Galea told the court that the documents taken by police mentioning "massacres" and "buildings and destruction" were satirical.

Intended to be a 'joke'

Galea had a Monty-Pythonesque sense of humour, the court heard, referring to a popular UK comedy group.

"I intended it to be taken as a joke. People reading it were to think they were reading comedy," he said.

The court heard Galea believed his phone was being tapped, that he was being followed by police and that they had installed surveillance devices at his property.

"I felt trapped, scared, concerned and extremely angry," he said.

The judge will hear sentencing submissions for Galea in March next year. ( AAP: Julian Smith )

The court heard that Galea secretly recorded conversations with police, who he accused of refusing to respond to the "criminal" activity of the anti-racism group Antifa and other groups.

Describing himself as a self-made electrical engineer, he explained the chemicals and materials found at his house were related to his interest in science.

He denied claims that he was making explosives as part of a terrorist plot, saying instead they were "free energy" experiments.

In one such experiment an explosion damaged the fuse box of his home, the court heard.

At one point he told the jury that he was inspired by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the catacombs, when he concocted a fake plan to use non-existent tunnels to blow up the targeted buildings.

He said his plans to make smoke bombs were simply to disperse members of Antifa, who were disrupting Reclaim Australia rallies during 2014 and 2015.

Those rallies targeted Muslims in Australia.

Muslim community urges authorities to take far-right threat 'very seriously'

Galea said he was partly motivated by a fear of the establishment of Islamic housing estates in Australia, with Islamic schools and mosques, like in France, which was subjected to terrorist attacks.

"Allowing this to happen in Melbourne would lead to these kinds of attacks here," he told the court.

However, he denied he was a right-wing extremist.

Galea's conviction was welcomed by Adel Salman, the vice-president of the Islamic Council of Victoria, who said he was worried about a "growing tide of far-right extremism, nationalist extremism".

Mr Salman said many in Australia's Muslim communities were concerned that the threat of far-right extremism had not been taken seriously enough.

"Given the size of the problem I think we need to see more ongoing focus on this and we're hoping that the security services are doing that," Mr Salman said.

"We absolutely cannot be complacent about this threat.

"Certainly in the Muslim community we've seen rising Islamophobia, we've seen a spike in attacks on mosques and centres that are obviously Muslim and they're being committed by people that have this very extreme ideology.

"We'd like Australian society and the community to recognise that this is something that needs to be dealt with and needs to be dealt with very, very seriously."