Bourke St killer's brother admits terrorism over Fed Square massacre plot
The brother of Hassan Khalif Shire Ali, the man who killed restaurant owner Sisto Malaspina in last year's Bourke Street terror incident, has pleaded guilty over a plot to gun down New Year's Eve revellers at Federation Square.
Ali Khalif Shire Ali, 22,was preparing to stand trial in the Supreme Court but on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a single terrorism charge over his planned massacre.
Ali was arrested in November 2017 and police at the time believed he planned to arm himself with an automatic rifle and shoot as many people as he could on December 31 that year.
The then-university student, an Australian-born Muslim, was arrested not far from his Werribee home and has been in custody ever since. He had been monitored by police for months before his arrest.
Police have previously said Ali was in possession of an al-Qaeda guidebook, although they believe he was a sympathiser with rival terror group Islamic State.
It can now be revealed Ali's older brother Hassan Khalif Shire Ali was the man who killed much-loved restaurant owner Sisto Malaspina, the owner of Pellegrini's cafe, in an Islamic-State inspired terror attack in Bourke Street on November 9 last year.
Hassan, 30, drove a ute packed with gas cylinders to near the top of the Bourke Street mall and set them alight, and then fatally stabbed Mr Malaspina.
He also stabbed two other men, Tasmanian businessman Rod Patterson and a security guard identified as Shadi.
Hassan then confronted police and was shot by an officer. He died in hospital that night.
Police believe Hassan tried to create a deadly explosion that would have spread shrapnel about 100 metres.
The day after the attack, the Supreme Court imposed a suppression order preventing media from reporting that Ali and Hassan were brothers, given Ali was at that point awaiting trial, and any coverage of the family link was considered prejudicial.
The court ordered media that had already published stories naming the pair as brothers remove those details from online articles.
Justice John Champion on Wednesday revoked that suppression order after Ali pleaded guilty to one charge of doing an act in preparation or planning for a terror act.
Ali was in court, supported by his father and other family friends, to enter his plea.
Justice Champion remanded him in custody to return to court for a plea hearing on August 23.
More to come