Australia eyes tougher gun laws after Hanukkah attack in Sydney

[SYDNEY] Australia will consider toughening gun laws after a father and his son killed 15 people in the nation’s deadliest terror attack.

They opened fire on members of the Jewish community who were celebrating the start of Hanukkah at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach on Dec 14 evening. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday (Dec 15) that the need for stronger gun ownership laws would be on the agenda for a Cabinet meeting. That could include reviews of existing licences for individuals.

“People’s circumstances can change,” Albanese said. “People can be radicalised over a period of time.” 

The suspected shooters – a 50-year-old and a 24-year-old from the city’s western suburbs – were confirmed by New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon on Monday. The gunmen were named as Naveed Akram and his father Sajid by the Australian Broadcasting Corp, citing law enforcement sources. 

The father, who died during the attack, had arrived as a student visa holder in 1998, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Monday, without saying where he had arrived from. He confirmed the son was an Australian-born citizen.

The son had been examined by Australia’s domestic intelligence agency ASIO in 2019, Albanese confirmed, without naming him. Lanyon earlier said, also without identifying him, that a 24-year-old man remained in hospital and would likely face criminal charges.

The father was licensed to own six “long-arms” weapons, was a gun-club member and had held a firearm permit for a decade, Lanyon said. Police were satisfied they recovered six firearms from the scene. 

Three active improvised explosive devices were also found at the scene and rendered safe by police, who are not looking for a third offender. The NSW Joint Counter Terrorism team has started an investigation into the event.

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16 killed in Bondi Beach Hanukkah terror attack; shooters were father-son duo, police say

A bystander who rushed and disarmed one of the attackers has won praise from leaders around the world, including US President Donald Trump and hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, who announced a reward programme for community heroes.

The New South Wales government is also considering firearms law reform following the attacks, Premier Chris Minns said earlier on Monday afternoon. 

“You can expect action soon,” he said. “If you’re not a farmer, you’re not involved in agriculture, why do you need these massive weapons to put the public in danger and make life dangerous and difficult for NSW police?”

Twenty-seven people remain in hospital, according to a New South Wales Health statement on Monday afternoon. Victims ranged from 10 years old to 87, Minns said earlier. Local press identified one of the victims as a rabbi. 

The shooting was a “targeted attack” on the Jewish community, Albanese said in a press conference on Monday. He earlier described the incident as an “act of evil antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” and flagged an uncompromising crackdown on antisemitism. 

“It’s our responsibility to wrap our arms around that wounded community, and let them know that ordinary Australians, regular Australians, are in their corner,” he said. 

On Monday morning, at the northern end of Bondi Beach, less than 100 metres from the bridge where the attackers staged a final stand, police set up a taped perimeter. Nearby, people cried and hugged each other. 

Bouquets of flowers piled up against a fence and pairs of mental health first-aiders mingled in the crowd, dressed in green bibs. Some onlookers were draped in the Israeli flag. News crews descended on the scene. 

At the Bondi Pavilion, halfway along the beach, more than 100 people gathered at the closed front gates. Most stood or sat in silence or quiet conversation. Flowers were already piled up on the concrete slabs between the grass and the pavilion.

Noah Koncepolski said he was a close friend of the rabbi killed in Sunday’s attack and had come to Bondi to honour him. “This is no time for feelings, only good deeds,” he said.

Robert Goot, deputy president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the chair of the antisemitism task force at the World Jewish Congress, said he knew many of those killed and wounded in the attack.

“It’s time for the government to act with moral clarity and leadership to deal with the scourge of antisemitism,” Goot said outside the Pavilion.

Australia’s Jewish population was estimated to be 116,967 in 2021, one of the world’s 10 largest. Bondi, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, is among key Jewish communities in the nation.

The gunmen opened fire just after 6.45 pm local time as more than 1,000 people attended the Chanukah by the Sea event on a warm summer evening. BLOOMBERG