Police say the group were
detained on Tuesday after driving more than 1,800 miles from Melbourne to Cape
York in northern Queensland, towing a seven-metre-long boat.
The men, aged between 21
and 33, are believed to have previously had their passports cancelled over
concerns they intended to join extremist groups abroad.
The five Australians,
including an extremist Islamic preacher, have been arrested on suspicion of
trying to leave the country on a small boat to join Islamic State fighters in
Syria.
According to ABC News, Musa
Cerantonio, an influential preacher who made calls on social media for
Australians to fight jihad in Syria, was among those arrested.
Cerantonio was arrested in
the Philippines in 2014 for posts made on Twitter and deported back to
Australia, where his passport was cancelled, but no charges were brought.
Victoria Police Deputy
Commissioner Shane Patton said police will consider charges after the men were
questioned.
"We're investigating
the allegation they were planning to make their way through Indonesia to the
Philippines, with a view to ending up in Syria," he said.
"We have a requirement
to ensure that people can't get offshore to go and fight in other countries,
can't get offshore to become hardened terrorists and come back here and pose a
risk.
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