article_snippet.sent: In January the senior NT Labor party figure fled the country with plans to join Kurdish militants - an action which is penalised with life in prison in Australia.
article_snippet.sent: The 43-year-old, who has an army background, was allowed to leave Australia because Former Northern Territory politician Matthew Gardiner was not on any watch list.
article_snippet.sent: It's believed the 28-year-old was fighting with the Kurdish People's Protection Unit (YPG) and trying to liberate the ISIS-held town of Tal Hamis in Syria.
article_snippet.sent: Gardiner reportedly headed to Iraq or Syria with the view of joining Kurdish militants and fighting against IS .
article_snippet.sent: Mr Gardiner, 43, reportedly served as an Australian Army combat engineer in Somalia in the early 1990s.
article_snippet.sent: In January the senior NT Labor party figure fled the country with plans to join Kurdish militants .
highlights_snippet.sent: Former union official was arrested after returning from the Middle East .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Former union official left the country in January to illegally join the fight against IS .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: It is understood Matthew Gardiner headed to Iraq or Syria to join Kurdish .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: The 43-year-old was allowed to leave the country because he was not on any watch list, report says .
  