Posted November 21, 2018 15:24:21

Photo: The Prime Minister said radical Islamist extremism was the greatest threat to Australians' way of life following the Bourke St attack earlier this month. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)

The Prime Minister has accused some of Australia's most senior Muslim leaders of boycotting a meeting with him following his response to the deadly Melbourne terror attack.

He was due to meet with Muslim leaders this week for a round-table discussion in light of the Melbourne incident on November 9, in which two people died.

In the days after that incident, Mr Morrison described "radical, violent, extremist Islam" as the greatest threat to Australia's national security.

A group of nine, including the Grand Mufti, have now told him they're deeply disappointed by his comments and want the meeting deferred until their concerns have been addressed.

"These statements have achieved nothing to address underlying issues, but rather, have alienated large segments of the Muslim community," the group wrote.

In a series of tweets, Mr Morrison said boycotting the meeting continued the leaders "down a path of denial" that "makes their communities less safe and more vulnerable".

"The meeting is going ahead with those who want to deal with this issue seriously rather than look the other way," he said on Twitter.

Earlier this month, Hassan Khalif Shire Ali stabbed three people in Melbourne's CBD, killing renowned restaurateur Sisto Malaspina. Shire Ali later died in hospital from gunshot wounds.

Speaking after the incident, Mr Morrison dismissed mental health as an "excuse" for the deadly actions.

"He was a terrorist. He was a radical extremist terrorist who took a knife to another Australian because he had been radicalised in this country," Mr Morrison said.

He said he wanted Imams to pay greater attention to people at risk of radicalisation and called on them to report concerns to authorities.

In their letter, the senior Muslim leaders said Mr Morrison's comments, "infer that the community is collectively culpable for the criminal actions of individuals".

"In order to have a meaningful meeting that will result in positive outcomes, attendees must be confident that their views and concerns will be genuinely respected and that such a forum will not be used to emphasise the very sentiments that the Muslim community consider to be invalid and divisive," they wrote.

"The stated objective of the meeting does not provide any such confidence."

The ABC understands about 10 groups will still attend the meeting with the Prime Minister tomorrow.

Topics: government-and-politics, islam, community-and-society, terrorism, unrest-conflict-and-war, australia