Australians should not be put off attending the NRL grand final after a fatal shooting of a police employee outside NSW police headquarters in Sydney's west, NSW Premier Mike Baird says.
Curtis Cheng, who had worked in the NSW police finance department for 17 years, was shot dead at close range with a handgun as he left the State Crime Command in Parramatta on Friday afternoon.
His killer has been identified as a 15-year-old boy of Iraqi-Kurdish background, who was born in Iran and his actions were linked to terrorism, police say.
The boy was shot dead as officers returned fire.
Mr Baird said it was a "chilling act" and his thoughts were with the family of Mr Cheng.
"(But) the important message as part of this is we have to go on with our lives," he told the media in Sydney on Saturday.
"This is an incredibly important weekend both here and in Melbourne in terms of grand finals. They should go on and they will go on."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Australia's security and police agencies were among the best in the world.
"It is important to stress that fans going to the grand finals of the AFL and NRL this weekend are not deterred from attending," he said.
Police commissioner Andrew Scipione said those organising security at the AFL and NRL grand finals had taken the events of Friday into consideration.
"The planning around these events doesn't just happen five minutes before kick-off," he said.
"There will be a very high police presence regardless (but) you may well expect to see higher visibility."
