And that's exactly the point. The 'raising' of the terror status I don't think has been adequately explained. What does it mean? What is the threat? If you are going to announce it and make it public... shouldn't you be telling us what to look for? In the UK the advice was clear... report unattended bags for example. Report suspicious behaviour.
Is the threat here from returning militants? If it is, that is a border protection issue, handled by immigration officials at the airport. What can I do about that? Or is the threat out and about in the public?
Without any seemingly concrete advice to follow up this 'raised' level or terror (or alarm) - the discussion of political benefit is a potentially valid one. We have had a quantum shift from the budget to Iraq/Syria and now the domestic terror threat. We are all told we are now either 'in' or 'out' of being team Aussie. That starts to sound a little political.