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Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Australians are right to ask how the Sydney siege gunman, Man Haron Monis, was "entirely at large in the community".
Mr Abbott admitted the national security committee of cabinet had asked itself, when it met on Tuesday, the same question after the tragic events in Martin Place had unfolded.
But the Prime Minister said that even if Monis had been "front and centre on our watch lists, even if this individual had been monitored 24 hours a day, it's quite likely, certainly possible, that this incident could have taken place".
And Mr Abbott vowed that if a review of Australia's counter-terrorism measures found that a further strengthening of laws was needed "I'll be doing more. My job is pretty simple, to try and protect and ensure the community is safe".
"How can someone who has had such a long and chequered history not be on the appropriate watch lists and how can someone like that be entirely at large in the community?"
"These are questions that we need to look at carefully and calmly and methodically, to learn the right lessons, and to act upon them. That's what we'll be doing in the days and weeks ahead."
Mr Abbott said that while he believed the federal government had responded appropriately to intelligence reports of "terrorist chatter", "we do have to ask ourselves the question, could it have been been prevented?"
Mr Abbott said that Monis had been "well known" to the Australian Federal Police, spy agency ASIO and the NSW police "but I don't believe that he was on a terror watch list at this time".
"There was nothing consistent with this individual's life except he was consistently weird."
During the siege, Monis issued three demands – including for direct contact with Mr Abbott.
He forced three female hostages to record videos spelling out those demands, which he then uploaded to video-sharing website YouTube.
The three demands were for an Islamic State flag to be delivered in exchange for the release of one hostage; for media to broadcast that the siege was an attack on Australia by the Islamic State; and third, for Mr Abbott to contact "The Brother" – understood to be Monis – on a live feed in exchange for five hostages.
On Tuesday, after the siege had ended, Mr Abbott's office would not formally confirm whether Monis' demand to speak to the Prime Minister had been met.
However, it is understood that, acting on the advice of intelligence and security agencies advice, Mr Abbott did not directly engage with the gunman.
Late on Monday night, the Prime Minister left his office for a few hours but continued to monitor developments in Martin Place through official channels and the media.
He was alerted immediately the siege moved towards its conclusion and returned to Parliament House just after 2am.
After the siege came to its tragic conclusion, Mr Abbott and key advisers including chief of staff Peta Credlin and foreign affairs adviser Andrew Shearer received rolling updates from NSW Premier Mike Baird, NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin.
Early on Tuesday, a lengthy meeting of the National Security Committee meeting was convened.
The committee is chaired by Mr Abbott and also includes Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Attorney-General George Brandis, Treasurer Joe Hockey, Defence Minister David Johnston and Immigration and Border Protection Minister Scott Morrison.
On Tuesday afternoon, Mr Abbott flew to Sydney for further briefings from Mr Baird and Mr Scipione.
