A Perth imam claims he warned a senior security figure that the Saudi government was funding radicals in Australia but was shocked when the official admitted the problem was “above his pay grade”.

Imam Feizel Chothia told an interfaith forum that Australia was one of the safest countries from the threat of terrorism primarily because of the close relationship between local senior Islamic officials and ASIO and the Australian Federal Police.

But he complained the issue could be dealt with more effectively if Australia cut off overseas funding from so-called Wahhabist groups in Saudi Arabia.

“I was sitting very close to a Federal police senior official discussing this issue of radicalisation,” the imam told the forum yesterday.

“And I said to him, well you do know that the centres that promote these extremist ideologies are actually foreign, they are not local,” he said.

“And they are primarily financed by the Saudi government, either directly or by Saudi-related proselyting institutions ... so most of the financing actually comes from overseas.”

You do know that the centres that promote these extremist ideologies are actually foreign, they are not local.

The imam said the officer confirmed he was aware of the problem, so he asked why Australia could not simply follow the money trail and cut off the funding.

“He said, ‘Well the answer to that question is above my pay grade’,” the imam said.

Imam Chothia said the response was concerning and he questioned how Federal authorities could reasonably pressure the Muslim community to do more to stop terrorism when the Australian Government was not tackling funding of radicalisation at its source. “My response was, ‘Well that’s absurd to ask us to help you to do anything about the problem’,” he said.

Perth Rabbi Dovid Freilich and former Anglican Dean of Perth Dr John Shepherd also addressed the interfaith forum, held by the Perth Rotary Club.

In May, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop took the unusual step of expressing concern about the spread of an ultra-conservative brand of Islam being pushed by “wealthy backers” in the Middle East.

That followed a visit to Indonesia by the Saudi King when billions of dollars were offered for aid.

Imam Chothia is building a mosque in Fremantle.