Haneef knew about terror plot: Andrews

 Andrews said the Australian Federal Police (AFP) had told him before making his visa decision that police suspected the internet conversation may be evidence Dr Haneef had prior knowledge of the UK bomb plot.

"And secondly, the AFP consider Dr Haneef's attempted urgent departure from Australia on a one-way ticket for a purpose which appears to be a false pretext to be highly suspicious and may reflect Haneef's awareness of the conspiracy to plan and prepare the acts of terrorism in London and Glasgow.

 "The suspicion which the federal police referred to in terms of Dr Haneef was that he was wanting to get out of Australia not because of the reason proffered, namely that the child had been born - remembering that that child had been born I think six days earlier.

 "That that was a pretext, a false pretext, on which he was wanting to get out of Australia because of his association with the Ahmed brothers, the cousins, and the incidents which had occurred in the UK."

 Andrews said Dr Haneef had not applied for leave from the hospital until after he had received two phone calls, including one from India, in which he was told there was an issue with his SIM card.

 "The whole circumstances surrounding Haneef's attempted hasty departure from Australia, including chat room conversations, when viewed against his clear prior association with the Ahmed brothers, led me to form a reasonable suspicion as required by the migration legislation," Andrews said.

"I received information from the AFP regarding Dr Haneef and I cancelled his visa in the national interest based on that advice.

"I will continue to put the security and safety of Australians first in relation to this matter."