Terrorism expert Neil Fergus says authorities must not get hung up on legal definitions and declare the Flinders Street an act of terror.

Victoria Police have finally admitted the suspect did have religious motives.

“He made a number of utterances in hospital. He spoke about dreams, he spoke about voices. But he also did attribute some of his actions to the poor treatment of Muslims.”

Despite this, they are still refusing to link the incident to terrorism.

CEO of Intelligent Risks Neil Fergus tells Mark Levy authorities have got it wrong.

“I’m afraid some of the authorities are getting hung up on the legal definition and not understanding it doesn’t pass the pub test.

“It is an act of terror, but they should just make the distinction and say we haven’t declared it a ‘legal act of terror’ and we’re not doing so until we get a better understanding.

“But, it’s an act of terror by any layman’s definition.”

Asked why authorities are reluctant to use the word ‘terror’, Neil Fergus explains.

“It has some, not just legal definitional issues, it has some insurance issues…

“I understand some care’s got to be taken in relation to that, but with the greatest of respect to the Acting Commissioner of the Victorian Police, the public knows that this was intended to be an act of terror.”

Click PLAY below for the full interview