Australian jihadist numbers falling By David Wroe and Michaela Whitbourn The number of Australians fighting in Syria and Iraq has fallen for the first time since the rise of the Islamic State terror group as the flow of these "foreign fighters" fails to keep pace with the numbers being killed. 
Attorney-General George Brandis revealed on Friday that up-to-the- minute intelligence indicated about 110 Australians were fighting with extremist groups, mostly the so- called Islamic State. This is down from the recent official figure of 120.
While the reduction is small, it is highly significant because it is the first time the number has dropped since the Islamic State sent shockwaves around the world with its brutal tactics and became a magnet for would-be jihadists from the West.
Fourteen months ago, when ASIO raised the terror alert level in Australia to "high", about 70 Australians were fighting in Syria and Iraq. The figure rose steadily to about 120 by the middle of this year before finally starting to drop off. Senator Brandis said at least 41 have been killed, up from 15 in   September last year.
These deaths are understood to account for the drop in the number of active fighters.
But the decrease also indicates that tough government legislation and the cancellation of passports of suspected extremists are working.
Previously, the flow of new fighters had been exceeding or keeping pace with the rate at which they were being killed but this is no longer the case, suggesting the exit of such "foreign fighters" from Australia has begun to be choked.
Senator Brandis also pointedly said that the Coalition government's determination to confront the threat of terrorism has not diminished "one iota" since Malcolm Turnbull seized the leadership.
"Ever since it was elected in 2013, the Coalition government has shown the political will to deal with the menace of those who incite fear and terrorism at home, or who travel or assist others to travel to fight as jihadist soldiers in Syria and northern Iraq and that political will has not changed one iota," Senator Brandis said at Sydney's Centre for Independent Studies in his first speech since the Turnbull government was sworn in seven weeks ago.