What we learned: Monday 22 December
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. I hope you have a nice evening. We’ll be back tomorrow with more news. Until then, here were today’s top stories:
Palestine supporters gathered in Sydney to protest the Minns governments’ proposed anti-protest laws, where they defied the premier and chanted the “globalise the intifada” phrase he has signall plans to band.
New South Wales parliament resumed for an emergency sitting to debate new protest laws and gun law reforms, with the Coalition indicating it would support both pieces of legislation despite reservations.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, announced her government would introduce new police protest powers similar to those introduced to NSW parliament.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said “I feel the weight of responsibility” for the Bondi terrorist attack as he addressed the media in Canberra. He continued to brush off calls for a federal royal commission into the attack.
Federal Labor lashed the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, for politicising the Bondi beach shooting, calling efforts by the Coalition to launch partisan attacks on Labor over the deaths of 15 people “incredibly unfortunate”.
The attorney-general, Michelle Rowland, announced federal cabinet had agreed to progress a new package of anti-hate speech legislation.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, promised tougher action against organisations such as neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network.
Alleged Bondi shooter Naveed Akram left hospital under riot squad guard and was moved to a New South Wales prison, police have confirmed.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, announced Australia will have a gas reservation policy preventing gas exports from going overseas unless the government is satisfied domestic demand is sufficient.
And the agreement for the transition of the Northern Beaches hospital to the state’s public hospital system was signed after months of negotiations.
Updated
NSW Coalition split over gun reforms
In New South Wales parliament, which has been recalled for an emergency sitting week in the wake of the Bondi terrorist attack, the government’s proposed gun law reforms are causing all sorts of pain for the state Coalition.
The Nationals have already indicated they will oppose them, causing another split on an issue with the Liberals.
Now Wendy Tuckerman (the Goulburn Liberal MP) has just indicated in her second reading debate contribution that she’s planning to cross the floor and vote against the government’s bill.
Updated
Crowd at Sydney rally defy NSW premier’s plan to ban phrase
The crowd rallying at the town hall has chanted “globalise the intifada”, defying the NSW premier’s plan to ban the phrase and his warning that it may already be illegal.
The chant followed an address from author Sara Saleh, who said the shooting at Bondi had been weaponised to limit the human right to protest:
It was Zionists who betrayed this moment, and once again showed their true colours, before bodies were even buried. Before blood was dried grief was cynically and grotesquely weaponised to push an existing political agenda.
Not for Jewish safety. No, but for Zionist impunity and the protection of the Israeli Zionist state.
Anti-protest laws do not make the community safer. They make governments safer from accountability. They do not prevent harm. They ensure that violence carried out by the state or sanctioned by it happens without resistance.
Saleh ends by quoting a Palestinian journalist:
I don’t want any child anywhere in the world to die the way Matilda did and I don’t want any father in any community in the world to go through what her father went through in her final moments, or what he must be feeling now.
And that is precisely why I intend to keep saying, ‘Globalise the intifada. Free Palestine.’
The crowd cheers and the MC leads a chant of “from Gadigal to Gaza, globalise the intifada”. More than a dozen police watch on.
Updated
Anti-Zionist speaker says rally against new anti-protest laws also a vigil for Bondi victims
Michelle Berkon, who was escorted from the Bondi memorial while wearing a keffiyeh a week ago, says Sydney’s rally serves as vigil for those unwilling to mourn at the Bondi site where 15 were killed
Berkon, a speaker at tonight’s rally and member of the group Jews Against the Occupation ’48, tells Guardian Australia the memorial’s Israeli flags prevented anti-Zionist Jews from mourning at the site:
It should not have been politicised, but it was stolen from us and our right to mourn … [So] we wanted this [rally] as a vigil.
People have spoken to us that they couldn’t come to the vigil, because they were not prepared to show deference to the Israeli flag … turning up to lay flowers or whatever when the whole event had been co-opted to look like nothing to do with the Jewish community, and everything to do with the Zionists.
The rally begins with an acknowledgment of country and condemnation of the terror attack. Berkon is welcomed with loud applause by a still-growing crowd, which she invites to observe a minutes’ silence.
Protesters listen calmly, cheer as new speakers take the microphone and cry “shame” when Chris Minns’ name is mentioned.
Updated
Palestine supporters gather in Sydney to oppose NSW’s new anti-protest laws
Protestors are gathering outside Sydney’s town hall to advocate against new laws restricting protests, expected to pass New South Wales parliament tomorrow.
Close to 200 are standing between Town Hall and the light rail stop. Some are handing out flyers reading “No to Minns’ new anti-protest laws”.
More than a dozen are wearing keffiyehs. One waves a flag for Teachers for Palestine, one of four groups promoting the rally on Instagram over the weekend. An attender hands out magazines for leftwing activist group Solidarity; another flies a flag for Extinction Rebellion; another holds a sign reading “to the sea”.
As the bells struck 5pm, the rally’s scheduled start time, more police approached the square. At least a dozen officers are watching the growing crowd.
Updated
Sydney man charged after allegedly calling for kidnapping of federal parliamentarian, AFP says
A Sydney man has appeared in Manly Local Court today charged with allegedly using social media to threaten a federal parliamentarian, the Australian Federal Police says.
The AFP released a statement a short time ago detailing the alleged incident, saying that a 27-year old man from Beacon Hill in Sydney’s north was charged yesterday after an investigation into an alleged online threat.
The AFP’s national security investigations team – which was set up in September this year - allegedly linked the threat to the man and executed a search warrant at a Beacon Hill home yesterday evening.
A number of electronic devices were seized for forensic examination, the AFP said.
The AFP will allege that the man made an online post calling for the kidnapping of the federal parliamentarian.
The man was charged with one count of using a carriage service to threaten serious harm and one count of contravening a section 3LA order.
These offences carry maximum penalties of seven and 10 years imprisonment, respectively, the AFP said.
Under a section 3LA order, a person can be compelled under the commonwealth Crimes Act to to provide access to a police officer to computer data required for an investigation.
The AFP said the man was granted strict conditional bail in court today and will return to court on 3 March.
Riot squad helped transfer alleged Bondi shooter from hospital, police say
More on Naveed Akram’s move to prison: police have told Guardian Australia the riot squad helped transfer the high-risk prisoner from hospital to ensure he was moved safely and without interference from any third parties.
The alleged shooter was on Wednesday charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act. Corrective Services NSW declined to detail the specifics of his prison conditions.
Speaking generally, a CSNSW spokesperson said offenders who represent a special risk to national security, including those who enter custody charged with terrorism offences, are given the highest security categorisation: AA.
Inmates who pose a high risk to a prison’s security or a threat to the community could also be designated Extreme High Risk Restricted or National Security Interest, the spokeswoman said.
Such inmates would typically be housed within the top-security Supermax centre in Goulburn.
The CSNSW spokesperson said:
The High Risk Management Correctional centre is the most secure prison in the state, and equipped to accommodate inmates who pose the highest levels of risk.
Labor accuses opposition leader Sussan Ley of politicising Bondi attack
Labor has lashed the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, for politicising the Bondi beach shooting, calling efforts by the Coalition to launch partisan attacks on Labor over the deaths of 15 people “incredibly unfortunate”.
Ley has been aggressively pursuing the government over its handling of antisemitism in Australia before the shooting, and highlighting criticism of Anthony Albanese, from the Jewish community in the past week.
On Monday, Ley criticised Albanese’s refusal to call a royal commission into the shooting and slammed the foreign minister, Penny Wong, for not grieving with Jews at the site of the shooting.
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said she was surprised and disappointed by the political response. She praised Albanese for doing a good job in very difficult circumstances and said:
I would say I’m surprised that the opposition have taken the view and the approach that they have.
I can’t think of another time in this country’s history where there has been a terrorist event like this, a terrorist attack on Australian citizens, whether it be here or internationally, where the opposition has chosen to take the path that they have this week.
I think in almost every other example you would have seen the opposition work with the government …that has not been the approach, and I think that’s incredibly unfortunate.
Updated
Australian Palestine Advocacy Network criticises new anti-protest laws in NSW
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (Apan) has added its voice to the chorus of civil liberties and progressive groups criticising new anti-protest laws to be introduced to NSW parliament in the wake of the Bondi terrorist attack.
Apan has released a statement this afternoon saying it “is deeply disturbed” by the Minns government’s proposed new laws which it described as “some of the most extreme protest restrictions NSW has seen in decades.
The statement said:
Under the guise of public safety, these laws hand the executive unprecedented power to ban peaceful assemblies, sideline the courts, and criminalise dissent.
This is not a measured response to tragedy – it is a fundamental attack on democracy.
These laws allow police, with ministerial approval, to prohibit all authorised public assemblies in designated areas for up to 14 days, renewable for months, while expressly preventing courts from intervening. That is an extraordinary suspension of democratic rights.
Apan continued:
Premier Chris Minns claims these powers are ‘targeted’ and ‘proportionate’. They are not. The legal test is vague and subjective – based on what a “reasonable person” might fear – creating a clear pathway to arbitrary enforcement and political policing.
Apan calls on the NSW government to stop this legislation or fundamentally amend it.
At a minimum, that means restoring judicial oversight, narrowing the terrorism trigger, explicitly protecting peaceful assembly and cultural expression, and imposing a firm sunset clause with independent review.
Updated
Helen Haines joins calls for federal royal commission into Bondi mass shooting
Federal independent MP Helen Haines has urged the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to initiate a commonwealth royal commission with the states into the Bondi terrorist attack.
The prime minister has backed a NSW royal commission proposed by the state premier, Chris Minns, but has resisted calls for an investigation at the federal level.
In a statement this afternoon, Haines said:
A royal commission would provide the independence, transparency and powers for a comprehensive review of factors which led to the attack in Bondi and could prevent such violent extremism in the future.
Such an inquiry would give clarity into both our state and federal police and intelligence agencies, guide evidence-based prevention strategies and support the healing of the Jewish community and our nation.
It is critical that we chart a clear path forward – one that strengthens community safety while upholding the tolerance, compassion and social cohesion that define us as a nation.
Updated
Acoss welcomes gas reservation policy but calls on government to do more
In other news, Australia’s peak body for community services has welcomed the federal government’s proposal for a domestic gas reservation scheme on the east coast.
In a statement, the Australian Council of Social Services climate and energy program director, Kellie Caught, said there was no gas shortage in Australia and allowing companies to export most of the supply was “driving domestic … prices through the roof”.
Caught said:
We warn against future initiatives to incentivise more gas production or subsidise rich multinational companies through the government bulk buying gas for manufacturers.
Given the domestic gas reserve won’t start until 2027, we are also urging the government to do more to immediately help people struggling the most with energy bills.
Acoss is calling for measures including government help for First Nations, renters and low-income home owners to electrify their homes to get off “costly, polluting and unhealthy” gas.
The organisation is also calling on the federal government to introduce a gas export levy of 25% on gas producers.
You can read more about the domestic reservation policy here:
Allan attacking civil liberties, Students for Palestine say
Students for Palestine (SfP) has released a statement saying it “unequivocally opposes” the new anti-protest legislation proposed by the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan.
The SfP has joined other civil liberties groups in criticising the laws proposed by the NSW and Victorian governments in the wake of the Bondi mass shooting.
The SfP national convener, Jasmine Duff, accused Allan of exploiting the tragedy of the mass shooting in Bondi to “attack civil liberties”.
Duff said:
The right to demonstrate is a core democratic right. The government of the day should not have the power to decide whether those who elected it can assemble in the streets.
Allan, the Albanese government and the federal police all know that the peaceful protest movement for Palestine has nothing to do with this despicable attack by two Isis-inspired gunmen.
We oppose the political opportunism of those seeking to use this tragedy to further their own political projects of deepening racism, pushing back on the Palestine movement, and suppressing civil liberties.
We call for the Allan government to immediately cease the process of developing legislation that would undermine the right to demonstrate.
Updated
71% of renters say they rent due to financial reasons, survey finds
The latest Renter’s Voice survey from Rent.com.au, based on responses from more than 2,600 Australian renters, has been released.
It reveals who responded to the survey and what is keeping them in the rental market instead of buying.
Key findings include:
71% of renters say they rent due to financial reasons, including saving for a deposit and being priced out of their desired area.
Renting is no longer just for young adults, with nearly one in three respondents over 55, highlighting renting as a long-term reality for many.
Women made up almost two in three respondents, with a smaller but still notable proportion of men, and a small group identifying as non-binary or preferring not to say.
Single renters make up nearly two in three respondents, with families a smaller but significant portion, and a small number living in share housing.
Almost two in three respondents are in full-time or part-time work, showing renting is common even for people with steady employment.
Updated
Home affairs minister promises to crack down on organisations such as National Socialist Network
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has promised tougher action against organisations such as neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network that have previously evaded criminal consequences.
At the press conference with the prime minister, Burke said the home affairs department was creating a new listing to outlaw organisations that didn’t meet the threshold for a terrorist organisation.
Burke singled out the National Socialist Network and fundamentalist Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir as he announced the new listing, saying:
I’ve spoken before about my disgust for a very long time at organisations like Hizb ut-Tahrir and the National Socialist Network, otherwise known as the neo-Nazis.
These organisations, for a long time have been able to take hate right to the threshold without using the words ‘violence’ and escape any further terrorist listing.
We will be establishing a new form of listing for those who do not meet the terrorist organisations [to be] able to proscribe organisations.
I’m asking my department as a drafting is done to check it against previous behaviour of Hizb ut-Tahrir and the National Socialist Network.
Their behaviour needs to be unacceptable. Their behaviour needs to be unlawful, their behaviour needs to be enough that we can proscribe the organisation and prohibit their activity in Australia.
Updated
Alleged Bondi shooter moved from hospital to NSW prison
Naveed Akram has left hospital under riot squad guard and is now in a New South Wales prison, police have confirmed.
Police said a 24‑year‑old prisoner was transferred from a North Shore hospital to a correctional facility.
Officers from traffic and highway patrol, aviation command and the public order and riot squad assisted Corrective Services NSW with the transfer, police said.
Attorney general says cabinet has agreed to progress anti-hate speech package
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, says the federal cabinet has agreed to progress the new anti-hate speech legislative package, reiterating comments made by the prime minister.
Speaking at the same press conference with the prime minister, Rowland said:
The package will crack down on those who spread hate, division and radicalisation in our community, and build upon the government’s existing hate speech laws.
Rowland said the legislative package will include the measures outlined by the prime minister last week, including:
An aggravated hate speech offence for preachers and leaders who promote or threaten violence against protected groups or members of groups.
Increased penalties for hate speech offences relating to advocating or threatening force or violence against protected groups or members of groups and their property.
Making hate an aggravating factor in sentencing in terms of a number of commonwealth crimes.
There will also be a new serious vilification offence that criminalises inciting hatred, which Rowland says the government will consult the Jewish community on.
Additionally, there will be a new aggravated offence targeting adults who seek to influence and radicalise children.
Updated
PM says he understands community anger as he announces reforms after Bondi
Anthony Albanese says he feels responsibility for the pain felt by the Jewish community in the wake of last Sunday’s terrorist attack in Bondi.
The prime minister is holding a press conference in Canberra, saying the federal cabinet has just met for a second time since the mass shooting to discuss legislative reforms.
Albanese attended a vigil in Bondi yesterday, where he was booed by some people.
He said:
Emotions were raw, and a lot of people in the community are hurting and angry. And some of that anger was directed towards me, and I understand that.
As prime minister, I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that happened while I’m prime minister. And I’m sorry for what the Jewish community and our nation as a whole has experienced.
Among the changes being considered by cabinet are creating an aggravated offence for hate preaching advocating violence against protected groups, increasing penalties for existing offences for hate speech, making hate motivation a factor in sentencing for commonwealth crimes, and making it a criminal offence to join, recruit or support listed prohibited hate organisations.
Albanese says the government is also considering changes to gun laws and will work with the states and territories on this.
Updated
Australian Democracy Network criticises new anti-protest laws in NSW
The Australian Democracy Network has criticised the Minns government’s proposed new anti-protest laws, warning they would undermine the right to peaceful protest and unreasonably expand police powers.
The laws, which have already drawn criticism from the Greens and civil liberties groups, give the New South Wales police commissioner, with the concurrence of the minister, the power to ban protests for three months after a terrorist attack.
The new laws – which are being debated by NSW parliament – would allow police to ban protests in a particular area and the whole state, and give police new powers to remove face coverings.
The Australian Democracy Network has issued a media release today warning the “rushed lawmaking” targets and undermines the “fundamental democratic right” to peaceful protest.
In the statement, the group’s protest campaigner, Anastasia Radievska, said:
Premier Chris Minns has linked anti-genocide protests to the Bondi terror attack without evidence, while a police investigation into the Bondi massacre is still underway.
Antisemitism must be addressed, but restricting peaceful protest will not curb it and will only weaken democratic participation and community trust.
With January 26 approaching, these laws could shut down public protests involving First Nations communities and their supporters.
Under the changes before Parliament, police powers would be significantly expanded, which is deeply concerning given protesters have already been injured and pepper-sprayed under existing laws, and extending those powers to face coverings risks increasing violence without making communities safer over the summer.
Updated
NSW Nationals leader says regional stakeholders received ‘one late phone call’ on gun restrictions
The NSW Nationals leader, Gurmesh Singh, has spoken about his party’s decision not to support the Minns government’s attempt to impose tighter gun controls in response to the Bondi beach attack.
Singh says regional stakeholders only received “one late phone call” yesterday afternoon about the changes from the government. He says the changes proposed, limiting farmers to 10 firearms, “do not reflect how firearms are used in regional and rural settings” and that:
One of the questions that we have had from people in metro areas is: Why do farmers need potentially more than 10 firearms?
If you are out on a large station, and you might have 30, 40, 50, 100 employees, and you have to do pest control out on your property.
Just like your employees aren’t expected to bring their own tractor to work, they aren’t expected to bring their own firearms to work either. So that licence belonging to the owner of the farm will have tools. The firearms are tools that they need to be able to go about their business.
The opposition received a briefing on the changes on Friday afternoon. A draft of the bill was shared with them yesterday afternoon, but the final version was not made available until parliament resumed this morning.
Earlier, the attorney general, Michael Daley, rejected the idea that the government had not properly consulted on the bill, saying laws introduced after the 2005 Cronulla riots had been presented to the opposition under a similar timeframe and received bipartisan support.
Updated
Bondi Pavillion memorial removed for historical preservation – in pictures
People have been helping to clear the masses of flowers and notes from the Bondi pavilion, left as tributes for the victims of last Sunday’s terrorist attack.
The New South Wales government and Waverley council had flagged the floral memorial left by community members to honour the memory of those killed would be removed on Monday for historical preservation.
Notices announcing the decision were posted on lamp-posts around the Bondi Pavilion yesterday – saying the Australian Jewish Historical Society and Sydney Jewish Museum would help collect and preserve the materials.
Here are some photos from the clean-up today.
Updated
NSW health secretary welcomes Northern Beaches hospital ‘into our family’
Regarding the agreement to change Northern Beaches hospital from the private system into a public hospital, the New South Wales health secretary, Susan Pearce, said:
On behalf of NSW, I am looking forward to welcoming the professional, hard-working, and caring staff from Northern Beaches hospital into our family.
I know this has been a challenging period for staff at Northern Beaches hospital and the transition period will also not be without its challenges, but throughout it all they have continued to put their patients and community first.
...This agreement provides staff with much-needed clarity and confidence about the future of the hospital.
Updated
Northern Beaches hospital officially under public ownership
Following months of negotiations, the agreement for the transition of the Northern Beaches hospital to the state’s public hospital system has now been signed.
The government announced the in-principle deal in October that would see the entire hospital integrate into the public system, despite some senior medical staff expressing disappointment that a private component would not be retained.
The New South Wales government has now signed the contract with Healthscope and its receivers to hand back the hospital next year.
The hospital is anticipated to be under the management of the Northern Sydney local health district and part of NSW Health on 29 April 2026, the government said.
The signing of the final binding agreement will allow employment offers to commence this month, with all clinical and support staff currently working at the hospital to be offered jobs by NSW Health at the facility.
Updated
Victorian premier says ‘some’ have used Israel-Gaza war as an ‘opportunity to drive hate’
At that same press conference where she announced anti-protest laws, Jacinta Allan has just been asked: “Is there going to be any room for criticism of Israel as a state?”
She replied:
In terms of being critical of the decisions of governments or nation states globally, that is a principle of the freedom of speech.
But what has occurred, particularly since the 7th of October … and the ensuing conflict that has gone on since then has been used by some, not by many … as an opportunity to drive hate, to behave in extremist ways that are not acceptable.
It is hateful, and we have seen at times it is being disgracefully antisemitic. So there is a distinction here between having a disagreement, having a difference of opinion with the decisions and actions of another government or another nation, and using that to drive hateful behaviour on the streets.
That is my focus and my target.
Updated
New Victorian anti-protest laws to be introduced to parliament early in 2026
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, says legislation will be introduced to parliament early next year to give police powers to stop or move on a protest within a certain time following a designated terror event.
She says the government will receive advice from the solicitor general, through the attorney general, as to whether it will apply to terror events in other states:
I want to make it absolutely clear that this is work that will be concluded over the course of the coming weeks, over January, because we do have seen that there is a requirement for in the aftermath of a terrorist incident.
It happened on Bondi Beach, but it affected all of us. It affected communities everywhere. And there is a need for there to be calm, for there to be cohesion.
No one should be using an incident, a terrorist, anti-semitic terrorist event, as an opportunity to protest. But we need to make that very clear under the law.
And the the examination by the solicitor general will look at how - within the existing framework here in Victoria - this can be achieved.
Asked what sort of time limit would be introduced, she pointed to the New South Wales legislation:
I note the NSW position is for up to 14 days. I’m not here today to put a time limit on that. We will be getting that advice from the solicitor general.
Updated
Victoria to introduce new anti-protest powers similar to NSW
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, says Victoria will announce powers similar to the anti-protest laws introduced to NSW parliament a part of what she described as the “five next steps” to combat antisemitism.
Allan told reporters in Melbourne that they will introduce legislation to grant the police commissioner new powers for police to “stop or move on a public protest within a certain time following a designated terrorist event”.
She also promised a review into Victoria’s gun laws headed by former police commissioner Ken Lay; a release of the state’s new “strategy for preventing and countering extremism 2025-28”, and appointing a commissioner to implement it; and convening a council of “eminent Victorians to develop a set of big, simple and measurable long term goals” to combat anti-semitism and implement the recommendations of Jillian Segal’s federal review.
She also promised to fast-track the civil anti-vilification scheme, which passed parliament this year, to commence in April 2026, instead of mid-year. The government will also amend the laws to remove the requirement that the Director of Public Prosecutions must consent to police prosecutions for the criminal vilification part of the bill. It says it will also introduce new laws to “hold social media companies and their anonymous users to account”.
Allan says:
Now I cannot fully personally comprehend the unique sadness, pain and fear of Jews in this moment. But I can share in their horror that the worst massacre of Jewish lives since October the 7th took place here on an Australian beach in the summer, the very backdrop of our gentle, carefree way of life.
December the 14th was a direct attack upon Jews and a direct attack upon our way of life. It demands action … I cannot stand here today revealing a simple answer, but I do stand here making this simple long term commitment in the name of the Victorian community, I take responsibility for everything that happens in this state. I am sorry, and I stand with you for the long term. I will fight for you.
Updated
Hi, I’ll take you through the rest of this afternoon’s news.
I’m going to hand you over to my colleague Catie McLeod now who will take you through the rest of the afternoon.
More detail on the Public Assembly Restriction Declarations law
Further to the previous post, the most controversial element of the NSW bill will create a power for the police commissioner or deputy commissioner, with the approval of the police minister, to make a “Public Assembly Restriction Declaration” (Pard) if a terrorist incident is declared, restricting public assemblies such as protests in a specified area, “if likely to cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety or pose a risk to community safety”.
The declaration, which would mean protests could not be “authorised” under NSW’s form 1 system and give police the power to move on protests in the designated area, must be made within 14 days of a terrorist incident being declared. The declaration an be extended for a period of up to 90 days, but would do not apply public assemblies that are part of industrial action.
The shadow attorney general, Alister Henskens, stands up to speak. He expresses concern that parliament is debating a bill which the opposition only saw in draft at 1.20pm yesterday, and in its final version during the motions of condolence about an hour ago:
We have had no investigation into how our security services did not pick up that these two had traveled and stayed and probably trained in a terrorist hot spot in the Philippines for a month prior to these [alleged] murders, yet without knowing the true and full facts, the premier, in order to try and look like he is doing something, is presenting rushed and piecemeal legislation to this parliament with limited, if not zero, community consultation.
Henskens says the Liberals, who have indicated their general support for the bill, will seek to introduce amendments to increase the sentence for displaying terrorist symbols to 5 years, with a standard non-parole period of 1.5 years in jail.
On the protest laws, he expresses concern that only two terrorist incidents have been declared in the history of NSW, the Bondi Beach attack and the Lindt cafe siege in December 2014 and the laws do not go far enough. He says the Liberals will seek to introduce a $1,000 fine for those who participate in a protest in a designated area after the declaration of a terrorist event.
Updated
NSW parliamentary debate begins as final reforms revealed
The parliamentary debate on the NSW changes to gun control, hate speech, and protest laws has begun, after the police minister, Yasmin Catley, gave the bill its second reading.
Catley has laid out the final version of the bill being put forward by the government. The gun control elements of the bill include:
Limiting the number of firearms that can be possessed to four for recreational licensees and ten for those using them for primary production or pest control, as well as sports and target shooters. Firearms dealers and collectors will still have no limit on the number of weapons.
Reducing the length of a general term for a firearms licence from five to two years.
Requiring licensees to be Australian citizens.
Removing the right for most appeals against license decisions to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Ncat).
Giving the power to police to refuse a license on the basis of criminal intelligence or other information that a person is a risk to public safety.
Recategorising straight pull, pump action and button or lever-release firearms to category C, “prohibited except for official purposes”.
The changes to hate speech laws will criminalise the public display of prohibited terrorist organisation symbols, including the Isis flag, with a maximum sentence of 2 years.
In addition, new police powers will give officers the power to direct protestors to remove face coverings if they have a reasonable suspicion that person is committed or is likely to commit an offence, and criminalising the refusal to comply, with penalties of up to a year in jail.
Updated
Bush maintains protest permits not needed in Melbourne but anti-Zionist protest this afternoon ‘inappropriate’
Mike Bush was also asked about a protest planned in Melbourne’s CBD this afternoon being organised by an anti-Zionist group. He says it shouldn’t go ahead:
I think it’s very inappropriate to protest on the back of what occurred at Bondi, people need to be sensitive to other people’s feelings. That was an absolute tragedy, and we need to respect each other.
Asked if he would welcome the introduction of protest permits – which the Victorian opposition have been pushing for some time – Bush maintains they’re not needed. He says:
I haven’t changed my mind on the permit system, but I’m sure there’s something else we can do. I’m more focused on having the ability to veto protests when they’re not appropriate.
He says he’s in “discussion with the government” and was “waiting to see what’s going to be announced” at a press conference today by the premier, Jacinta Allan.
Updated
Figures on warrantless searches in Melbourne CBD to be provided
Victorian police commissioner Mike Bush was asked whether police also planned to ramp up warrantless searches – given the MCG is included in the designated area that will be in place until 29 May. The designated area gives police and protective service officers (PSOs) the ability to randomly stop and search anyone without a warrant or reasonable grounds.
He says such searches will be conducted on a “case by case” basis. Bush went on:
It is very important that we ensure that nothing occurs inside this event. So as required, people will be subject to search.
He says he doesn’t have a figure for the amount of searches conducted since the declaration was made on 30 November but it would be provided.
Updated
Police deployed with long-arm guns at Boxing Day Test ‘not in response to any new or specific threat’
The Victorian police commissioner, Mike Bush, has held a press conference about the decision to deploy specialist police carrying long-arm semi-automatic rifles at the Boxing Day Test.
Flanked by two members of the Critical Incident Response Team (Cirt) carrying the firearms, Bush says the decision is proactive in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, not in response to a specific threat.
He says:
The reason we’re doing this is to provide reassurance to the public that we are here always to keep them safe but also as a deterrent. We are not doing this in response to any new or specific threat. It’s very much in relation to the current threat environment, and also, of course, on the back of last weekend’s horrendous event.
Bush says they will consider “on a case by case basis” deploying the Cirt at other events over the summer, including the Australian Open.
He says it the first time he’s done so since becoming police commissioner six months ago - though he noted long arm rifles are common in New Zealand, where he lead the police force previously:
I come from a jurisdiction in New Zealand where a long-arm [gun] is actually the primary weapon of the police department there, so I don’t think anyone should be fearful of the fact that their police service, their police force, actually have long arms. It’s very much about ensuring people are kept safe.
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Minns rejects Palestine Action Group statement rejecting link between anti-genocide protests and Bondi shootings
Guardian Australia’s Anne Davies has followed up, noting the Palestine Action Group’s statements over the past week – and earlier today – rejecting any link between the anti-genocide protests and the Bondi massacre, and has asked why, given that, the government is pushing laws that will even restrict Invasion Day protests on 26 January.
Minns responds:
They’re entitled to their view but I don’t have to take it as, you know, sacrosanct here. I mean, I don’t agree with them. Ultimately as I said a number of times, I think in some cases, ratcheting up the pressure, ratcheting up the rhetoric and the language can unleash forces that you can’t control.
And it’s not necessarily their job to control it but it is my responsibility, because we can’t have a repeat of what happened on Sunday or any variation of it.
Things are tense at the moment. It’s obviously a tinderbox. But we’re going to take steps to ensure that we’re reducing the pressure in the community, that kind of division. Everything from arresting someone that is trying to organise a vigilante rally in Cronulla to ensuring that we’re changing the gun laws in New South Wales to keep the community safe and we’ve got to keep going.
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Minns refuses to specify alleged 'violent imagery' at pro-Palestine protests
Farid Farid at AAP is pressing the NSW premier again to be specific about what he claims is “violent imagery” at pro-Palestine protests.
Minns says it is “the stuff that I see in Hyde Park”, but refuses to “go into the ins and outs of it”.
He says:
People shouldn’t believe it’s consequence-free if you do jump on the back of a lorry in Hyde Park and make an inflammatory speech …
I understand freedom of speech laws are very important, of course they are. But you should also have the to enjoy a city free from intimidation and violence from racism, from people yelling at you in the street.
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Asked if he believed that a federal royal commission would be better than a state-based one, and whether Jewish people living outside NSW could be confident the state inquiry would adequately examine the federal government’s actions, Minns said a federal inquiry was a matter for the commonwealth.
He continued:
But we are going to ensure that our royal commission is comprehensive as possible and has the information available so that we can present a full picture or as much as we know – as much as we can possibly find out to the people of this state as to what happened. …
I’m responsible for New South Wales. So in these circumstances, we will make sure it’s full and comprehensive as well as being independent. There are challenges though, there’s an ongoing, very serious, criminal case that will take alongside any royal commission. Now, I have pledged to make it run alongside, but we’re obviously going to need a very senior jurist who can manage that dilemma because we – in addition to this criminal investigation, the most important thing we can do is deliver justice to the people who have been killed and injured on Sunday and that means prosecuting the person who’s in police custody.
He went on to praise the federal government’s proposed changes to anti-vilification laws to crack down on hate speech and hate preachers.
They’re going to make a big difference, and what it will mean is that for those that put hate in people’s hearts, in parts of New South Wales or anywhere across the country, we need to make sure we are confronting them and closing them down. Because if it happens in the public, if antisemitism happens in the public and we can identify and we can call it out and they have broken the law, we can charge them with crimes.
The PM’s announcement on hate speech and hate preachers is very important for our country and one that we will – we will be getting behind 100% to confront that kind of evil right throughout our state.
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Minns reiterates claim without specifics that pro-Palestine protest organisers ‘are unleashing forces that they can’t control’
Minns is asked why he is banning an Arab word – intifada – while also saying he doesn’t want to whip up fear and racism. The reporter, Farid Farid from AAP, asked Minns what he thought intifada meant, and said: “If it is going to be banned then people need to know what it means.”
Minns responds:
I think we understand the meaning of it.
As mentioned in a previous post, intifada means uprising or resistance, and is the term used by Palestinians for uprisings against Israel. The first intifada started in 1987, the second in 2000. Minns refers to the “two intifadas in those territories”, though he doesn’t mention Israel and Palestine by name.
He also reiterates the suggestion that there is a relationship between pro-Palestinian protests and violence in Sydney, but without specifying exactly how.
Minns says:
The two intifadas in those territories were a violent uprising, the circumstances relating to it are specific to the Middle East, I completely acknowledge and accept that. Its use in common parlance in demonstrations both here and around the world are a call to a global intifada. That is what it means. Not in the Middle East, not in Israel or Gaza but here in Sydney. In our streets … in those circumstances I do believe that it leads to a culture and environment of heightened disunity and an invitation to violence.
And ultimately, I know that these changes are going to be met with opposition, but I strongly believe that we have to do everything we can to ensure that words that are said at a rally are not used by somebody at a later point for violent retribution on city streets and that means drawing a line in the sand and saying that this phrase used in this context can lead to violence.
I think in many cases the organisers of these protests despite their sincerely held views are unleashing forces that they can’t control and we need to be in a position to do that.
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Minns rejects accusations responses are ‘kneejerk’ and ‘politicising a shooting’
Asked if he thinks that the responses he’s taking are kneejerk and politicising a shooting rather than looking at longer term solutions, Minns says:
Look, I’ll reject that. I think it is really important that we take action in relation to guns, in relation to reducing the pressure in the community when it comes to the protests that we have seen. I’ve said this before that the increasing rhetoric, the ratcheting-up of images, often violent images are having a divisive effect in our community and we are determined to take action in relation to that.
I know people are concerned about issues around the world, I know there is a deep concern about international events and wars and that people’s passions are heightened and there is genuine concern about it and I am not criticising them for holding those views. What I’m saying is my responsibility is in Sydney right now, and right now we need to make sure that the community is not divided. We do our level best at uniting us.
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Minns does not answer questions on gun licences of alleged gunmen to ensure accuracy
Minns has been asked a few questions about the gun licences for alleged gunmen Savid and Naveed Akram, but has rebutted them without answering on the basis that he doesn’t want to give answers that may later prove to be incorrect.
Minns said:
I am not trying to be coy, I know the reason you are asking the question, I’d just want to make sure that anything we give you, particularly in relation to these two perpetrators is 100% accurate.
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Man arrested for allegedly organising 'violent protest' at Cronulla Beach
As an addendum to the discussion of the new laws, Minns said that this morning NSW Police arrested a 20-year-old man “for using a carriage service to harass and intimidate in relation to organising a violent protest down at Cronulla beach”.
Minns said:
I want to make it absolutely clear that anyone who is interested in whipping up racial hatred or violence or disunity in our community will be smashed by NSW Police. There is zero tolerance for it right now.
We know temperatures are high, we understand that our community in some cases are a combustible situation and we will not tolerate anyone trying to insight via the internet or Facebook or social media post and attempt to bring our communities together in violent, we cannot allow that to happen. I just urge people to listen to the message from the rabbis at last night’s memorial event where they said hate can’t beat hate and this is an opportunity for us to come together.
Police are on a hair trigger when it comes to this kind of racism and hatred directed against anybody and racism directed against anybody in our community as in affect directed against everybody because we are all going to suffer as a result of it so don’t do it.
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Minns to refer hate speech changes including phrase ‘globalise the intifada’
Minns has also flagged his intention to refer hate speech legislation changes to committee next year as part of further reforms, including the Palestinian resistance phrase “globalise the intifada”.
Intifada means uprising or resistance, and is the term used by Palestinians for uprisings against Israel. For Palestinians it means resistance against oppression, but some Israelis associate the term with violence against them.
You can read more about Minns’ plans for banning the phrase here:
Minns said:
We have a responsibility to knit together our community that comes from different races and religions and places from all over the world but we can do it in a peaceful way because I’m convinced that most Australians want to live together in peace and harmony and have no interest in poking each other, either in malicious, violent ways or even in incitement to violence and hatred and racism in our communities.
That is why this changes are unnecessary and I am hoping they get bipartisan or multipartisen support as they travel through the parliament later today and into tomorrow.
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Minns outlines proposed gun and anti-protest laws
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, is speaking outside NSW Parliament now after introducing new gun and anti-protest laws.
He’s described the new laws as doing the following:
The legislation bans the public displays of terrorist symbols, outlaws violence, incitement to violence and backs New South Wales and gives police stronger powers during public assemblies. It also delivers the toughest firearm reforms in the country. It does restrict access to high risk weapons, strengthening license, storage and oversight regimes in the state…
Things need to change or New South Wales and as a result we are making and taking extraordinary measures in relation to public assemblies during a terrorism event. That is in recognition of the fact that while it may be a tinderbox out there in the community during the summer period, we can’t let unrestrained violence or disunity in our community run without a strong police presence.
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NSW emergency laws being debated
If you’re just catching up: gun laws will be significantly tightened and protests restricted for up to three months in New South Wales at the behest of the police commissioner, under an emergency set of laws introduced to the state parliament in the wake of the Bondi shooting.
The bill is being debated in the lower house on Monday and is expected to pass the lower house on Monday afternoon with the support of the NSW Liberal party, and pass the upper house on Tuesday. But the NSW Nationals are expected to oppose the legislation because of the impact that the gun restrictions will have on farmers and their use in rural NSW.
Read what we know so far here:
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Bowen defends state-level commission into Bondi attack and says federal government will cooperate ‘in every possible way’
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, was asked about the government’s response to the Bondi attack at the end of that press conference into the gas reservation policy, and specifically why they have not announced a federal royal commission.
Bowen said:
The right thing to is a thorough but sharp and quick review of the response of the policy settings and the approach of the relevant agencies. Dennis Richardson is the right man to do it. He won’t be holding back. Dennis Richardson knows that is a fiercely independent expert and he’ll be reporting quickly to government and that’ll enable us to get on with it.
Asked if the prime minister would give the proposed NSW royal commission access to federal law enforcement agencies, Bowen said:
The prime minister has indicated will be cooperating in every possible way. And, you know, obviously we’re talking to the New South Wales government, you know, when they release the terms of reference and what have you, there’ll be no doubt the federal government will cooperate with that.
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State opposition leader includes pro-Palestine protests when talking about antisemitic actions that she says led to Bondi shootings
Sloane went on to name and pay tribute to each of the victims, and thank those who saved lives, including Ahmed al-Ahmed, the Australian Syrian man who tackled and wrested a gun from an alleged gunman, and a 14-year-old girl, Chaya, who was shot as she lay on top of two small children, protecting them from the bullets.
Sloane, who says she did not expect her first speech as NSW opposition leader to be a motion of condolence, drew a timeline of events leading up to last Sunday’s attack – and included pro-Palestine protests.
To anyone who believes that 14 December was unimaginable, it is because we have failed to hear the Jewish community. When Jews were told not to go to the Opera House on 7 October, when thugs were allowed to denigrate the steps of the Opera House and spew their hatred, we should have known then.
When students have been subjected to harassment and vile abuse on our university campuses, when Jewish parents have had to tell their children not to wear their Jewish uniforms, we should have known then.
She continued:
When protesters were allowed to descend on our city each week and scream ‘From the river to the sea’, ‘Globalise the Intifada’, we should have known then. When cars were firebombed, when neo-Nazis stood outside this parliament with a sign that said: ‘Abolish the Jewish lobby’, we should have known then. When hate becomes normalised in a nation, how can we possibly believe there is any outcome other than what we saw on last Sunday?
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Kellie Sloane says ‘my community changed’ on 14 December
The NSW opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, has also spoken in favour of the motion of condolence for the 15 victims of the Bondi Beach attack.
Sloane, the local state member for Vaucluse, begins by saying, “On Sunday, 14 December, at 6.47pm, my community changed”:
Our country changed. On a summer evening filled with the laughter of children and music, beachgoers and families were coming together to celebrate the first night of Hanukah and enjoy the weekend.
It was happy and it was joyful. It was Bondi as we know it, our Bondi, the beach that is the embodiment of all that is good about Australia, our free spirit, our diversity and our optimism, a community that welcomes you with open arms no matter what your background.
In a matter of minutes, though, that Bondi was left shattered and the Jewish community’s worst fears were realised.
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Minns goes on to name each victim, including the youngest, 10-year-old Matilda, who he describes as “a ray of light to everyone who’d met her”.
He also pays tribute to Marika Pogany, 82, who he says was given the New South Wales Mensch award for hand delivering 12,000 kosher Meals on Wheels over 20 years of service to the community.
And I ask you, what kind of malevolence could motivate a person to murder an 82-year-old Meals on Wheels volunteer, an elderly lady who loved her community and was looking for nothing but peace, the peace to celebrate her religion?
Minns thanks first responders, including lifesavers who ran barefoot towards danger, off-duty police officers who rushed to Bondi, and the two officers who were injured in the line of duty. He also pays tribute to doctors, nurses and blood donors.
The premier closes with a call to parliament to pass the legislation proposed today, saying “We must make these changes”:
I know I speak for all members of this Parliament, all members of this Parliament, when I say to the Jewish people of this state, this is your home, this has always been your home, and we must do everything we possibly can to ensure that you are safe and you are protected in this city.
Minns begins individual tributes to victims of Bondi shooting
Back in NSW Parliament, Chris Minns has led individual tributes to each of the victims of last Sunday’s attack, beginning with Boris and Sofia Gurman, who were killed in the terrorist attack after trying to stop one of the gunmen. He says:
Mr Speaker, eight days ago, Sofia and Boris German saw a black Isis flag on the windscreen parked along Campbell Parade at Bondi.
Now they could have easily edged away having seen the flag and put themselves in a position of safety. They were walking away from the Hanukah festival, but they didn’t do that. And instead, and despite the obvious danger, they tried to - without being armed themselves - disarm the gunman, and in the struggle, they became the first victims of this terrible crime.
With my wife, Anna, we met their sole surviving son, Alex last week, who spoke of his deep sense of gratitude that the footage of their final moments was in fact found so that he knew that they died heroes.
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Bowen says gas reservation policy will put downward pressure on prices
Returning to gas for a second – Chris Bowen says the cost of extracting gas is getting more expensive in Australia and that the policy is aimed at putting maximum downward pressure on prices.
The energy minister said new gas fields will be needed, given the depleting levels within the Bass Strait – which is around 12% – and that gas would be important moving forward to “calibrate and support renewables”.
He said:
The fundamentals of the market are such that gas is getting more expensive to extract in Australia, as the Bass Strait is declining that fundamental remains, but this is the way that the government can put the maximum downward pressure on prices by engineering a slight oversupply of Australian needs in relation to international counterparts.
Our economics editor, Patrick Commins, asks what the government will do in the interim about the affordability of household and industry gas prices. Bowen doesn’t quite address that but suggests there might be further responses.
Bowen said:
We’re doing it from today, in effect, to ensure that no further export contracts are entered into from today, regardless of when they might happen. That is insured, obviously, because this is a big reform, it is going to take a bit of detail to work through. We’ll do that expeditiously. This is not the only thing we’ve done. It’s not the only thing we will do, but this is a big thing.
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NSW premier remembers ‘15 beautiful souls’ in motion of condolence
The NSW premier Chris Minns has moved a motion of condolence to the 15 victims of last Sunday’s attacks.
Speaking in favour of the motion to mourn for the victims of the attack on 14 December, extend sympathies to their families and friends and thank first responders for their bravery, Minns says:
We have returned to this house of parliament to acknowledge in one unanimous voice that we too are spent with grief after an hour of terror and a week of sorrow.
This morning, we remember 15 beautiful souls on Sunday, 14 December, victims of violent [anti-]Jewish hate, but in the course of their lives, wonderful, generous, big hearted members of our community, and it’s in that spirit that we mourn their death today, not by the evil that found them, but by the lives that they lived, the love that they gave, the good that they shared with us and the rest of the world.
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The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has taken four Origin Energy subsidiaries to the federal court for alleged breaches of the national energy retail rules and law.
In a media release today, the AER said the proceedings related to Origin allegedly continuing to receive payments from customers of the government bill-paying service Centrepay who had closed their accounts and had fully paid all amounts they owed.
You can read some background to the Centrepay issue here:
The AER said it would allege in court that Origin failed to inform these Centrepay customers about these overcharged payments or refund them within the timeframe required by the retail rules; that Origin knew its systems were processing payments in this way as early as 2017; and that it put on hold a previously approved process that could have prevented further payments from occurring.
More than 3,400 people were affected by Origin’s alleged conduct between December 2019 and March this year, with it allegedly resulting in more than 77,000 breaches and Origin retaining more than $2.5m from affected customers, including one customer who was allegedly overcharged by more than $11,000 over a period of almost 2 years, the AER said.
AER Chair Clare Savage said:
Many customers affected by this alleged conduct were likely experiencing economic vulnerability and could have otherwise used the money they were overcharged to spend on essentials.
The AER is seeking orders for pecuniary penalties, declarations, customer remediation, a compliance program and an independent review of such a program, and costs.
Ley’s response to Penny Wong suggestion on temperature: ‘I haven’t seen Penny Wong shed a single tear’
Sussan Ley has ended the press conference in Sydney, shouting in response to a question about whether she agreed with foreign minister Penny Wong’s suggestion this morning on RN that Australians needed to “take the temperature down”.
Ley said, her voice rising as she went on:
I haven’t seen Penny Wong on the streets of Bondi. I haven’t seen Penny Wong at the vigil for 15 innocent murdered Australians. I didn’t see Penny Wong at Bondi last night at the eighth night of Hanukah. I didn’t see Penny Wong attend a single funeral. I haven’t seen Penny Wong shed a single tear.
So maybe if more government members and ministers were like Mike Freelander and actually came to the streets of Bondi and listened and not just listened but heard heard the pain, heard the anguish, heard the call to action, we wouldn’t have the ridiculous remarks that she made this morning.
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‘To hate Israel is to hate Jews’: Bridget McKenzie claims recognition of a Palestinian state played role in rising antisemitism
Deputy Nationals leader, Bridget McKenzie, said Albanese had “failed Jewish Australians” and claimed the Australian government’s recognition of Palestine played a role in rising antisemitism.
McKenzie said:
No one who’s been paying attention for the last two years is at all surprised that our beautiful country and this beautiful city has been hijacked as part of a global Islamic extremist terrorist campaign, a PR campaign that too many Australians signed up to in the name of compassion.
Australia formally recognised Palestine in September, following the UK and Canada. A two-state solution has long been bipartisan Australian foreign policy.
McKenzie said:
To hate Israel is to hate Jews. It that simple. Chants may seem meaningless on a beautiful summer’s day across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but prime minister, they are antisemitic, they fuel the hate, the Islamic extremism that is in our suburbs of our cities. And you cannot fix a problem, prime minister, if you are not prepared to name it.
We will know this prime minister is serious about tackling antisemitism when he names it for what it is … it’s Islamic extremism, and it’s in our suburbs. And for too long we’ve papered over that reality in some hope of, you know, this multicultural, multicultural nirvana. But it has failed. We are subject to terrorist attacks from Islamic State-inspired Australians. We can’t ignore that.
It’s been his tacit support, his equivalence of Islamophobia with antisemitism… antisemitism needs own space. It shouldn’t be joined in with other experiences of racism and hate.
She continued:
This recognition of Palestine, all of these, your government have brought this upon us. So we need a royal commission to actually uncover that and give our Jewish community and all Australians a chance to get the answers, because there are way many questions for us all and why this occurred.
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Bowen announces gas reservation policy
Chris Bowen has announced Australia will have a gas reservation policy preventing gas exports from going overseas unless the government is satisfied domestic demand is sufficient.
Speaking from Canberra now, the energy minister said there will be national reservation of 15% to 25%, subject to further consultation. It will apply to new contracts from today, not existing ones.
Bowen said:
Most Australians think that Australians should have first rights to the gas that’s under Australian soil, Australian waters, and that gas should be available to Australians at reasonable prices. And Australians are right about that.
Most Australians think it makes no sense that Australia can be one of the largest gas producers and exporters in the world, and yet we have report after report showing us that there are gas shortages for domestic use in coming years, and Australians are right about that as well.
Chris Bowen says the new gas policy will apply to gas contracts entered from today but will come into effect from 2027.
We have shortages forecast in coming years, not next year, but in years after that. And so it’s important that this policy start to operate. It will operate from 2027 but will apply from today in terms of any new contracts entered into by our gas companies.
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NSW parliament resumes to rush through gun reform, hate speech and protest laws
NSW parliament has just resumed to vote on laws created in response to last Sunday’s attack at Bondi beach.
Parliament has been recalled for two days, today and tomorrow, to rush through gun control reforms, hate speech laws, and the controversial restrictions on protests in the aftermath of terrorist attacks. The changes have been put together into a single bill.
The house speaker, Greg Piper, began with acknowledging the “extraordinary circumstances” that have seen MPs return:
I’m sure that this will be somewhat difficult for members for a number of reasons, so I’m not going to say it’s good to see you all back here, but I do wish you absolutely all the best as we go through this and into the holiday period.
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Leeser joins criticism of Albanese over ‘half-measures’
Liberal MP Julian Leeser has been speaking at the Coalition press conference in Sydney.
Leeser praised Sussan Ley and NSW Liberal leader Kellie Sloane, particularly the latter, who he says “put herself in harm’s way and helped the many victims of the shooting that night” and whose actions he described as “heroic”. He also praised Minns for “[doing] something about” the issues.
Leeser then angrily criticised prime minister Anthony Albanese, saying the Jewish community had been subsisting on “the crumbs of this government” and fighting “his half measures”.
Leeser said:
We’ve put forward proposals in the parliament to improve the security of Australians. And he’s voted consistently against them. He’s dragged his feet. He’s claimed credit for things that were not his idea or that he did having been dragged kicking and screaming. And the community is sick and tired of it …
And rather than looking at the root causes of what caused those gunmen to pick up those weapons in the first place, that only a royal commission would get to, he calls for another departmental review.
Leeser reiterated the Coalition’s call to bring federal parliament back.
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NSW Nationals refuse to support state gun reform
The NSW Nationals have indicated they will not support the government’s bill to reform gun control, splitting the Coalition on the changes.
In a statement, the Nationals leader, Gurmesh Singh, said the party “will not be supporting the legislation and will continue to stand up for the diverse communities of NSW who deserve better”.
Singh continued:
Last week, the NSW Nationals, alongside our Coalition partners, agreed to work in good faith with the Minns Labor Government on a bipartisan solution.
We had hoped to strengthen hate speech laws, illegal assembly laws, as well as review the settings on firearms laws, but bi-partisanship works both ways.
Not only has there been a clear lack of meaningful engagement with the opposition and crossbench, the Minns Labor government failed to consult key regional stakeholders including NSW Farmers and the Country Mayors Association.
We cannot support a bill that relies on arbitrary limits and doesn’t give our regional businesses the tools they need to do their jobs.
The proposed reforms would not have stopped last Sunday’s attack and fail to address the root cause of the issue – antisemitism.
The changes have been put together with changes to hate speech laws, and controversial restrictions on protests into a single bill, meaning the Nationals will be voting against the changes proposed after the Bondi Beach attack in their entirety.
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The energy minister, Chris Bowen, will hold a press conference in Canberra shortly alongside Tim Ayres, the industry minister, where it’s expected the government will unveil plans for an east coast gas reserve after a six-month review of the gas market.
We’ll bring you the latest when it happens.
Read more here:
Coalition say state royal commission into attack would have its ‘hands tied’ dealing with state matters
Shadow attorney general Andrew Wallace is speaking now, going into further detail about the Coalition’s justification for and preferred structure of a commonwealth royal commission.
Wallace says:
The prime minister himself may be wondering why a commonwealth royal commission is required as opposed to the state royal commission that the premier is considering.
The issues that we have experienced in this country since the 7th of October 2023 are multidimensional and multi-jurisdictional.
It is totally inappropriate and insufficient to simply have a state royal commission, which would effectively have its hands tied in dealing with state matters.
We know that there are likely to be have many failings as a result of what happened at Bondi, not the least which certainly are cross jurisdictions of our states territories and our Commonwealth.
The Coalition would like any commonwealth royal commission to be led by “at least three commissioners”, one from the Jewish community, one from law enforcement, and one “should be a current or former superior court judge”.
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Ley says she will move to establish royal commission: 'it's up to Labor to decide' if they support it
The prime minister’s refusal to call a commonwealth royal commission or “offer an unqualified apology” is “adding insult to the injury”, the federal opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has said.
Speaking in Sydney, Ley has been reiterating calls for a commonwealth royal commission, and says the Coalition has drafted its own terms of reference for one.
Ley said:
Australians are looking to you, prime minister. And so far you are letting them down … It requires humility and moral courage to accept responsibility and honestly deal with the failings over the last few years that have led [to] this rise in antisemitism, particularly since October 7th, 2023…
As a constructive opposition, we have listened carefully and I invite the prime minister to sit down with me immediately to refine and finalise these terms of reference so we can establish a royal Commission, a commonwealth royal commission before Christmas.
Now this is a good-faith offer to work together on a bipartisan basis to establish this very much needed commonwealth royal commission. But let me be very clear. Whenever the prime minister decides to bring the Parliament back and it should have been today, I will be moving in the House of Representatives to establish this commonwealth royal commission. Now it’s up to Labor to decide whether they support it or they don’t.
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‘Come home!’ Israeli minister calls on diaspora Jews to move to Israel to escape antisemitism
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Sunday for Jews in Western countries to move to Israel to escape rising antisemitism, one week after 15 were shot dead at a Jewish event in Sydney, AFP reports.
Saar said at a public candle lighting marking the last day of the Jewish festival of Hanukah, held with leaders of Jewish communities and organisations worldwide:
Jews have the right to live in safety everywhere. But we see and fully understand what is happening, and we have a certain historical experience. Today, Jews are being hunted across the world.
Today I call on Jews in England, Jews in France, Jews in Australia, Jews in Canada, Jews in Belgium: come to the Land of Israel! Come home!
Since the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza in 2023 and the Hamas attack that precipitated it, Israeli leaders have repeatedly accused Western governments of failing to curb antisemitism in those countries.
On Tuesday, Israeli’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said:
I demand that Western governments do what is necessary to fight antisemitism and provide the required safety and security for Jewish communities worldwide.
In October, Saar accused British authorities of failing to take action to curb a “toxic wave of antisemitism” following an attack outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, in which two people were killed and four wounded.
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We’re expecting the federal opposition leader, Sussan Ley, to speak to media shortly. We’ll bring that to you as it happens.
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NSW Greens decry ‘draconian, authoritarian anti-protest laws’
Chris Minns’ proposed anti-protest laws are “the most draconian, authoritarian anti-protest laws this country has ever seen” and likely unconstitutional, the NSW Greens’ justice spokesperson, Sue Higginson, has said.
Speaking outside parliament, Higginson said:
I have no doubt this power that the premier is asking NSW parliament to pass today and tomorrow is unconstitutional. I have no doubt it impermissibly burdens the implied freedom of political communication that is in embedded within our constitution …
Once again, the Greens in the New South Wales parliament will stand with our civil society organisations to defend our absolute, fundamental and paramount right within our democracy to gather on public land peacefully as people to express our political views and to communicate our vision for peace and harmony and uphold our democracy.
The idea that diluting our democracy right now is a reasonable measure is beyond reason. It’s incomprehensible. The conflation that peaceful protest is somehow in need of attack right now by the state is just unfathomable.
The state could not arrest its way to social cohesion, Higginson said.
That is not leadership, that is not the measure of a healthy democracy.
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Palestine Action Group decry ‘campaign of lies’ they say is being waged against Gaza genocide protesters
A “ludicrous”, “deliberately dishonest” “campaign of lies” is being waged against those protesting the genocide in Gaza, Josh Lees from Palestine Action Group said this morning.
Speaking outside NSW Parliament this morning, Lees said “a concerted campaign being waged by some to try to link the horrific Bondi attack to the Palestine protest movement” without evidence, and despite the campaign having always stood vocally against antisemitism and all forms of racism, and being comprised of hundreds of thousands of people in Australia, including members of the Jewish community.
Lees said:
The people to blame for that attack are those killers who carried it out, who in turn apparently were inspired by the twisted ideology of Isis. Now anyone who knows anything about Isis knows that they are completely opposed to the cause of Palestinian liberation and always have been and of course that they violently oppose our movement that we have built against that genocide in this country and all around the world…
Chris Minns knows very well that there is absolutely nothing linking these ISIS gunmen to the Palestine protest movement. He knows very well that there is absolutely nothing linking the state of other high-profile antisemitic attacks which have targeted the Jewish community over the past two years; there is absolutely nothing linking any of those to the Palestine protest movement, either.
He knows this because his own New South Wales police and the Australian Federal Police have said so, very clearly, about what actually motivated those attacks, who orchestrated them, and so on. And it has nothing at all to do with the Palestine protest movement. And yet, he, Chris Minns, and unfortunately, many in the media are just regurgitating these complete fabrications and distortions.
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Jewish Council calls on NSW Labor not to 'politicise our grief' with anti-protest laws
It was “outrageous” to link criticism of Israel and the anti-genocide protests to the Bondi attack, Jewish Council of Australia executive Dr Naama Blatman said this morning.
Blatman has been speaking alongside Greens MLC Sue Higginson, Palestine Action Group spokesperson Josh Lees and the NSW Council for Civil Liberties president, Timothy Roberts, outside NSW parliament this morning against the anti-protest laws.
The path forward must be “informed by our solidarity and our shared values, not punitive policies and divisive politics,” Blatman said.
She continued:
We call on the Minns government and members of the NSW parliament not to politicise our grief and not to capitalise on our tragedy, not to pass laws that stifle our freedoms and punish us for our commitment to justice.
We can only heal and recover from this tragedy and ensure that our communities are safe by standing together as an entire community against hateful atrocities.
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NSW Liberals to support Labor’s gun and protest laws despite ‘serious reservations’
The NSW Liberal party will has said it will support the Minns government’s proposed laws but has “serious reservations” about the speed with which they have been pushed.
Here’s the full statement from the opposition leader, Kellie Sloane:
The NSW Liberals will support the Government’s Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, while moving sensible and proportionate amendments to improve community safety and strengthen social cohesion.
Our approach is constructive and responsible. It is incumbent on Parliament to ensure these reforms are as strong as possible, the framework is robust, targeted and fit for purpose, and consistent with the principles we have previously outlined.
However, the Opposition has serious reservations about the way the Government has sought to rush this legislation through Parliament.
There has been a clear lack of meaningful engagement with key stakeholders, including the Opposition and crossbench, stakeholders and those responsible for implementation.
That is not best practice law-making, particularly in an area as sensitive and consequential as counter-terrorism and community safety.
The NSW Liberals will therefore use the parliamentary process in the coming months to ensure these reforms are implemented in a way that genuinely meets their stated objectives.
We call on the Government to engage in good faith with the Opposition, the Parliament and relevant stakeholders on the detail and implementation of these measures.
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Allegra Spender joins calls for federal royal commission into Bondi attack
Independent federal MP Allegra Spender was also on ABC RN this morning, having spent Sunday evening at the vigil in Bondi.
Spender said:
There are all big emotions at the moment in the [Jewish] community, and anger is absolutely, absolutely one of them … there’s still enormous concern that not enough has been done and that more needs to be done now. And I think that’s really where we need to move: to say, what do we need to protect and keep safe the Jewish community, but also to make sure that Australia lives up to its values: that we don’t care about your religion, we don’t care about your ethnicity, we don’t care about your sexuality. You will be safe here, you are welcome here.
She said she had been pushing for hate speech laws, but that they had been rejected by the government and opposition, and that she had been wondering whether if she had pushed harder, she might have been able to get them into parliament.
Spender said she thought the review announced by the prime minister was “inadequate”, and on the question of a potential royal commission, said:
I think the government looking at the intelligence, it’s not good enough. We need a national royal commission that looks at all levels of government.
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Wong defends government’s response to Bondi attacks
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, was on ABC RN this morning talking about the Bondi attacks and the government’s response to antisemitism.
She defended the Labor government against claims that they had not done enough to combat antisemitism, saying they had “engaged very closely with [antisemitism envoy] Jillian Segal.”
Wong continued:
I’d make the point – two points actually. The first is the action that was taken by the government over the last couple of years. You’ve seen us crack down on hate speech, you’ve seen us criminalise doxing, you’ve seen us be very clear about counter-terrorism laws, banning Nazi salutes and so forth. We expelled the Iranian ambassador following the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s role in the firebombing of the Adass synagogue.
But I said last week that we needed to do more, and we are, which is why we have announced a stronger package of legislative reforms to crack down on those who spread hate, division, and radicalisation.
On the calls for a royal commission into the Bondi attacks, Wong said:
I think the prime minister said we would cooperate with the state royal commission, but again, if I can come back to why we want to ensure our agencies have the powers they need. We have to make sure that our national security arrangements are fit for purpose and are able to keep people safe. And we need to learn from any mistakes, if there were any, made in the context of these attacks.
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Man arrested after allegedly brandishing knife at Launceston carols event
Tasmanian police have charged a man for being unlawfully armed in public after an incident at the Carols in the Park event in City Park in Launceston on Sunday evening.
Police said a 48‑year‑old Kings Meadows man was arrested after he sat among a large crowd near the stage and “produced a black‑handled knife approximately 30 centimetres in length,” causing members of the public to scatter.
A statement this morning said:
Police responded immediately, and the man was taken into custody without further incident, and he was detained to appear before the court on Monday morning.
Nobody was physically injured in the incident and there was no further threat to anyone at the event.
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Victoria police to carry semiautomatic rifles at Boxing Day Test
Victorian police forces will be armed with long-arm semiautomatic rifles at the cricket on Boxing Day, claiming this will be “an additional safeguard for the community.”
Victoria police said in a statement this morning that the decision was proactive and “based on the current threat environment and not a specific new threat”. It would involve officers from the Critical Incident Response Team patrolling outside the MCG for the five days play is scheduled. Police say the plan has the support of Cricket Australia and the Melbourne Cricket Club.
Police say the semiautomatic rifles “are part of their regular tactical equipment”.
The statement continues:
The increased presence is in addition to Victoria Police’s planned resources involving general duties police, Mounted Branch and the Public Order Response Team who will be roaming both inside and outside the ground.
The chief commissioner, Mike Bush, said:
This overt presence is about adding another layer of protection to make sure cricket fans feel safe.
It’s important to stress this is a proactive, precautionary measure based on the current threat environment and not a specific new threat to this event.
We know it’s unusual to see police with these weapons outside the MCG but I want to assure everyone this is about greater safety and providing reassurance to the community.
These deployments are part of our usual, broader effort which sees police and MCC security working in and outside the ground.
Be it at the cricket, or anywhere else people are spending the summer, Victoria Police is here for all Victorians.
As a modern, forward-thinking police force we should always be looking for new and different ways to be there for our communities.
Updated
Good morning
Good morning folks, thanks for joining us today. I’m Stephanie Convery and I’ll be taking you through the news as it happens this morning. I hope you’re all well caffeinated (or on the way to being so).
Updated
Thirteen people injured in the Bondi terror attack remain in hospital
Thirteen people injured in last Sunday’s mass shooting remain in hospital, NSW Health said this morning.
Nine people are in a stable condition across five major Sydney hospitals, while four people are in a critical but stable condition.
Albanese orders review of AFP and Asio processes in lead-up to Bondi attack
While he has resisted calls for a federal royal commission, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has announced a major review into intelligence and law enforcement processes in the lead-up to the Bondi beach attack.
As political editor Tom McIlroy reports, the four-month review will examine whether federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies have the right powers, structures, processes and sharing arrangements in place to keep Australians safe.
In a statement on Sunday, Albanese said the Bondi attack “reinforces the rapidly changing security environment in our nation” and “our security agencies must be in the best position to respond”.
You can read his full story here.
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Kellie Sloane supports call for federal royal commission into Bondi attack
Asked about the Put Australia First anti-immigration rally, which went ahead in Sydney on the weekend despite pleas from authorities to cancel, Kellie Sloane said there were “important public safety reasons” for shutting down public assemblies.
She added that if the laws to be debated today were already in place, it would not have been able to go ahead.
We need our police around Bondi and Sydney’s east at the moment. People, again, should feel free to express their opinions – they can do it in an ongoing fashion after that terrorist designation.
Sloane also threw her weight behind calls for a federal royal commission, not just a state inquiry as promised by the premier, Chris Minns.
I would like to see a royal commission. I’d like to see that led by the commonwealth. New South Wales can’t go it alone in this. Terrorism doesn’t know borders. So, yes, I support a royal commission.
We need understand exactly what happened – not just on the day, not just in the weeks and months leading up to it, but the broader buildup – what has contributed. Australia needs answers on what was the root cause of this terrible attack and what we can do to ensure that we never see this on our beaches, on our cities and our soil again.
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Sloane says Liberals want ‘proportionate response’ to protests
Kellie Sloane said the Coalition had been pushing for stronger protest laws since the start of the year.
Last Friday, I wrote to the premier saying: “Premier, now is the time to reconsider the opposition’s proposals.” He has taken some of our ideas and included that in the laws that we will be debating in parliament today.
We want to see a proportionate response – one that is measured, one that balances the rights and freedoms of protest, which is a fundamental pillar of democracy in this country, and a way for people to let off steam – that is important. We want to see that continue. But equally, we need to give police the tools that they need to clamp down on protests if that is in the public interest, if it is a present danger to the community, or impacts on social cohesion.
Sloane said the core of the issue, “putting aside gun laws”, was rising levels of antisemitism.
So, even beyond these laws today, we have a lot of work to do. This is going to be a long process. And we’re all committed to do a better outcome.
Among the proposals is giving police greater powers to remove face coverings, which Sloane said the Coalition supported and had included in their legislation earlier this year.
There would be carve-outs for people with religious face coverings – that’s very important. But if you turn up to a protest and you are spewing hate and you are hiding your identity, the police need to be to say, ‘that’s not OK’. You can turn up to a protest, you can show your face – but if you are spewing hate and your face is covered, that is not OK. And improving the laws to stop that will be supported by, certainly, the Liberals.
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NSW Liberals to discuss proposed firearms and protest bills today
The NSW opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, has told ABC News Breakfast that she will meet with the Liberal party room this morning to discuss the proposed firearms, protest, and hate speech laws being introduced to state parliament today.
We received this legislation on Saturday. It’s an omnibus bill – that means it includes a whole lot of stuff – protest laws, which we feel are incredibly important, and also the gun reforms that are being proposed.
It’s been a rushed piece of legislation when it comes to the gun reforms. There’s been zero consultation, or very little consultation with stakeholders. Certainly not with the opposition. So we’ve been working through that detail over the last 24 hours, and we’ll be making a statement later this morning.
But we are here in extraordinary circumstances. It is important to address, particularly, the issues around protest laws – and I said last week that I will work in a bipartisan fashion with the government to get this done. These are extraordinary circumstances, and it requires a lot of cooperation to get it through.
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Philippine authorities continue retracing Bondi shooting suspects’ steps
Memories of a 2016 Islamic State bombing have been resurfaced for many residents in Davao City. The city in the southern Philippines has become the centre of the investigation into the Bondi terror attack after it was revealed that alleged shooters Sajid and Naveed Akram travelled there last month.
Reporter Carmela Fonbuena has been speaking to the city’s predominantly Catholic residents, who are preparing for Christmas.
She writes:
The Philippine government has pushed back against claims that it was a terrorist training ground for the accused Bondi shooters. The country has a long history of unrest and marginalisation that has seen some Muslim separatist groups forge ties with international jihadist groups. But while IS-linked groups remain present, security officials say they are small and weakened.
What is clear, said Eduardo Año, the Philippines’ national security adviser, is the two never left the city nor received military-style training in the country, as was earlier claimed.
You can read her full piece here.
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Gun control can provide ‘ray of hope’ in wake of tragedy, reform advocate says
One of Australia’s leading experts on gun control, Roland Browne, has told ABC News Breakfast that in the wake of a tragedy the community looks for hope, and taking swift action on gun control can provide that hope.
In my involvement in gun law reform in over 40 years, after these terrible events – and I’m talking about what happened at Bondi, what happened at Port Arthur and indeed from my own experience what happened in Dunblane in Scotland in 1996 – people looked to political leadership for a ray of hope, and gun law reform is what they look for.
It gives people a sense that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that is the best thing for the grief and anguish and loss that people experience. So it’s very important that these reforms move rapidly and all the states and territories and political parties get behind them.
He said that the 1996 reforms post the Port Arthur massacre were a landmark, but that the laws could not be set and forget. He added that gun control was “only as good as the weakest link in the chain” so any changes should be nationalised.
Those states that aren’t recalling their parliaments now need to do so in February and get a move on and get these laws introduced.
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National Farmers Federation urges ‘proper consultation’ over gun reform
The National Farmers Federation has called for the rush to introduce gun reforms to be slowed, saying there has been “limited engagement with the farm sector, despite acknowledgment that agriculture requires firearms”.
The National Farmers’ Federation president, Hamish McIntyre, said:
We support sensible reforms that strengthen community safety, but those reforms must be developed carefully and with proper consultation to ensure they don’t undermine farm safety, animal welfare and environmental management.
McIntyre said the Bondi terror attacks were a tragedy that demanded a “serious response, and we understand the need for governments to act decisively to ensure something like this never happens again”.
In milder terms than the state peak farming body, he said that any changes introduced in NSW would “set the tone nationally”.
He added:
We will continue to advocate respectfully, responsibly and firmly for farmers, while recognising the gravity of this moment for our nation.
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Proposed firearms laws 'rushed' and 'unworkable', say NSW Farmers
NSW Farmers says Chris Minns’ “rushed” new gun laws were “unworkable” and that farmers had been “misled” by the state government.
The association’s president, Xavier Martin, says the state government had not spoken to the organisation despite “multiple attempts” over the past week, and he was “deeply frustrated that the government has failed to engage in any meaningful way in what is a critical issue for farmers”.
Martin said:
Farmers have been misled by the NSW Government. It’s incredible this government has allowed generous capping exemptions for recreational shooters but for farmers who need firearms to control pests, minimise biosecurity risks and for the humane management of animals, the government hasn’t given us a second’s thought.
The Premier acknowledged farmers and agriculture had unique requirements when it came to firearms but these reforms have been put together in such a rush, the government hasn’t even turned its attention to the unintended consequences and anomalies.
Firearms laws are complex and multifaceted, and it is deeply disappointing that despite our repeated offers to provide practical input and consultation the government has not chosen to talk to us.
Martin said the cap of 10 firearms for primary producers will affect those whose businesses are spread across multiple properties, as it may require them to transport guns between properties, and said reducing the licence renewal period from five years to two was “red tape for law abiding farmers”.
NSW Farmers does not support unworkable rules on firearms for farmers and those working in agriculture, and we will continue to make representations on behalf of our sector.
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Coalition's proposed antisemitism royal commission would include ‘attitudes towards Israel’
The federal Coalition has this morning released its own terms of reference for a federal royal commission to investigate antisemitism in the lead up to the Bondi terror attack.
As AAP reports, the proposal includes scope to probe attitudes to Israel as well as the roles of commonwealth and state governments and agencies, the media, education and cultural sectors, in relation to antisemitism and their potential contributions to the terror attack.
Its proposed terms of reference include “the nature, prevalence and drivers of antisemitism in Australia leading up to the Bondi Beach attack … including antisemitism based on race, religion and attitudes towards, or conduct relating to, the state of Israel”.
Pro-Palestine activists have frequently sought to separate their criticism of Israel for its offensive in Gaza since 2023 from any antisemitic activity that targeting Jews.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, said the Anthony Albanese’s response to the horrors of Bondi had been proposals that were “too little, too late and will take far too long”.
“If the prime minister does not confront the causes of the Bondi massacre with honesty and resolve, the victims of this terrorist attack and their families will be denied the justice they deserve,” she said.
“Bondi is what happens when hate is tolerated and warnings are ignored.”
Updated
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news coverage for Monday 21 December.
Thousands gathered at Bondi beach in Sydney last night to hold a minute’s silence for the 15 people killed in last week’s terror attack. The first speaker at the event, the president of the NSW Board of Jewish Deputies, David Ossip, told the crowd of as many as 15,000 people that it “cannot be disputed” that a federal royal commission was needed. Prime minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday backed plans by the NSW Premier, Chris Minns, to hold a state-based royal commission to provide a “comprehensive look” into the shooting.
Minns was met with loud cheers at the event, as was the state opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, and federal opposition leader, Sussan Ley, while Albanese – who did not speak at the event – was booed.
The loudest and longest cheer came when Ossip acknowledged the “unbelievable bravery” of Ahmed al-Ahmed, who disarmed one of the gunmen and is still in hospital receiving treatment for multiple gunshot wounds. Ahmed’s father lit the first candle of the menorah, which was lit to mark the eighth day of Hanukah.
Meanwhile, the NSW parliament has been reconvened for two days for the introduction of tough new laws on gun ownership and cracking down on “hate speech”. The proposed laws include capping at four the number of firearms most recreational shooters can hold, giving the state “extraordinary powers” to ban protests for up to three months following the declaration of a terror incident, and banning the phrase “globalise the intifada”.
As Luca Ittimani explains, intifada means uprising or resistance, and is the term used by Palestinians to describe uprising against Israel.
Luca writes:
For Palestinians and their supporters it can mean resistance against oppression, but many Jewish groups and leaders see it as a call to violence against people of their faith.
Two Jewish groups in NSW which are vocal supporters of the Palestinian movement have spoken out against the proposed crackdown on protests, saying long-running pro-Palestine rallies had “nothing to do with the attacks”.
We’ll bring you more details on that proposed legislation as the day unfolds.
