Australia’s leaders yesterday agreed to toughen gun laws after attackers killed 15 people at a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach, the worst mass shooting in decades decried as anti-Semitic “terrorism” by authorities.
Dozens fled the tourist hotspot in panic, as a father and son fired into crowds packing the Sydney beach for the start of Hanukkah on Sunday evening.
A 10-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor and a local rabbi were among those killed, while 42 others were rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds and other injuries.
Photo: AFP
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday convened a meeting of the leaders of Australia’s states and territories, agreeing with them “to strengthen gun laws across the nation.”
Albanese’s office said they had agreed to look into ways to improve background checks for firearm owners, bar non-nationals from obtaining gun licenses and limit the types of weapons that are legal.
Mass shootings have been rare in Australia since a lone gunman killed 35 people in the tourist town of Port Arthur in 1996, which led to sweeping reforms that were long seen as a gold standard worldwide. Those included a gun buyback scheme, a national firearms register and a crackdown on the ownership of semi-automatic weapons.
Police shot the two suspected shooters, a father and son. The 50-year-old father died at the scene. His 24-year-old son remained in a coma in hospital, Albanese said.
Police did not reveal their names.
Albanese confirmed that the Australian Security Intelligence Agency had investigated the son for six months in 2019.
Australian Broadcasting Corp reported that the agency had examined the son’s ties to a Sydney-based Islamic State group cell.
Albanese did not describe the associates, but said the agency was interested in them rather than the son.
“He was examined on the basis of being associated with others and the assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence,” he said.
Albanese called it “an act of pure evil, an act of anti-Semitism, an act of terrorism on our shores.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Australian government of “pouring oil on the fire of anti-Semitism” in the months leading up to the shooting, referring to a letter he sent to Albanese following Canberra’s announcement in August that it would recognize Palestinian statehood.
Other world leaders expressed revulsion, with US President Donald Trump condemning the “antisemitic attack.” In Taipei, President William Lai (賴清德) said that Taiwan stands with the people of Australia and the Jewish community.
“I extend my deepest condolences to the victims and all those affected by the horrific attack at Bondi Beach,” Lai wrote on X.
“Taiwan strongly condemns all acts of terrorism and stands with the people of Australia & the Jewish community during this difficult time,” he wrote.
Additional reporting by CNA
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