National Cabinet pledges tougher gun laws after Bondi Beach terror attack — as it happened

We conclude today's live coverage of the aftermath of the mass shooting at Bondi Beach with an update following a snap National Cabinet meeting.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened the meeting of state and territory leaders amid a push to strengthen Australia's gun control laws.

In a statement following the meeting, Albanese said National Cabinet agreed to strengthen these laws across the country. NSW Premier Chris Minns and WA Premier Roger Cook will lead and coordinate this work, with police ministers and attorneys-general across jurisdictions to examine options, including:

• Accelerating work on establishing the National Firearms Register;
• Allowing for additional use of criminal intelligence to underpin firearms licensing that can be used in administrative licensing regimes;
• Limiting the number of firearms to be held by any one individual;
• Limiting open-ended firearms licensing and the types of guns that are legal, including modifications; and
• A condition of a firearm licence is holding Australian citizenship.

"As an immediate priority, the Australian Government will commence work on potential further Customs restrictions of firearms and other weapon-type importations, including 3D printing, novel technology and firearms equipment that can hold large amounts of ammunition," Albanese said in a statement.

The prime minister also said National Cabinet had "pledged to eradicate antisemitism, hate, violence and terrorism".

— David Aidone

National Cabinet is holding a snap virtual meeting in response to yesterday's terror attack at Bondi Beach.

In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Sunday's attack had "shaken the whole nation" and that in particular, members of the Jewish community had been "devastated".

"People are really hurting. What they're looking for is confidence going forward. And today's meeting is about making sure that we have states and territories aligned here, making sure we send a message as well to Jewish Australians that we stand together against antisemitism, giving a message to all Australians that we stand against terrorism and that we will do whatever it is that we can, if laws need to be adjusted, to make changes."

As he flagged earlier in the day, one of the suggestions on the agenda will be a discussion around Australia's gun laws to ensure there are mechanisms in place if any changes are required.

To recap, here's what else has happened so far today:

• NSW Police confirmed 16 people had died in yesterday's attack, including one of the alleged gunmen, who was shot dead by police. It said there would be an increase in the number of police deployed as part of Operation Shelter, which NSW Police commissioner Mal Lanyon said was set up to provide "comfort" to Sydney's Jewish community.
• NSW Health said at 1pm that 27 people are receiving care in several Sydney hospitals.
• The alleged gunmen were identified as a 50-year-old father (who died during the incident) and his 24-year-old son.
• Albanese confirmed ASIO investigated the younger alleged shooter in 2019, due to his links with other people who were being watched by the domestic spy agency.
• Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns delivered press conferences condemning the attacks and pledging to do whatever was necessary to combat antisemitism and prevent another attack like yesterday's.
• Opposition leader Sussan Ley said the attack would be "burned into the nation's soul" and said there was "palpable anger" among the community in Australia because antisemitism had been "left to fester".
• World leaders, including US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, have offered their condolences.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack and criticised Albanese's government for perceived inaction on antisemitism.
• Antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal called for expedited action to combat antisemitism, including the implementation of the 20-page plan she delivered in July. Albanese said his government had acted and would continue to act on implementing the plan.
• Mourners gathered at Bondi Beach to place tributes such as flowers and candles.
• The Red Cross' blood donation centre Lifeblood has praised an "incredible" response from people making appointments to donate blood.

— Alex Gallagher

Anthony Albanese insists his government has taken actions to combat antisemitism amid criticism that he hasn't enacted a plan by Australia's first antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal.

Segal delivered her 20-page plan to combat hostility towards Jewish Australians in July, but the recommendations have remained under consideration, partially due to their controversial nature.

The prime minister now faces pressure to endorse the plan, which includes stripping funding from public broadcasters if they are found to be perpetuating distorted representations of Jews, threats of funding cuts to universities that fail to act against antisemitism and reviewing Australia's hate speech laws.

"We have acted and we'll continue to act on the implementation of the plan," Anthony Albanese said on Monday.

He then listed several actions, many of which, like banning the Nazi salute or criminalising hate speech, occurred before the plan.

— Ewa Staszewska

Australia's world-renowned gun laws have long been a source of national pride for many. After the worst mass shooting in the country since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, those laws are under scrutiny.

As reported earlier, NSW Police says one of the two alleged gunmen — the 50-year-old father who was shot dead — was a licenced firearms holder, with six guns registered.

Data shows the number of guns has risen since 1996, with more than four million registered, privately-owned firearms in Australia.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government is prepared to take "whatever action is necessary" on reforms, while NSW Premier Chris Minns has also flagged changes to state laws.

What does yesterday's attack say about Australia's gun legislation — and what more can be done in its wake? Read more here:

READ MORE

Albanese sets 'immediate' gun control priorities following Bondi Beach terror attack

— Alex Gallagher and Rashida Yosufzai

Wondering what you can do to help after Sunday's attack?

SBS News has spoken to the Jewish Council of Australia's Bart Shteinman, senator and former ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma, and others about actions that Australians can take to provide support and show solidarity with the country's Jewish community.

"It's incredibly important on every other non-Jewish Australian to give them some level of reassurance and support," Sharma said.

"I think people will be surprised at just how valued and appreciated those gestures are at this time."

READ MORE

'Light a candle': How you can help after the Bondi Beach attack

— Alex Gallagher and Charis Chang

SBS News has spoken with Australia's antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal, who called for expedited action to combat antisemitism and urged Australians to embrace the Jewish community.

Segal said "hateful words" had led to Sunday's attack, and that parts of her 20-page plan to combat hostility towards Jewish Australians, released in July but not yet formally accepted by the government, "can and should be accelerated".

In an earlier interview, she conflated the March for Humanity on Sydney Harbour Bridge in August with the attack, but told SBS News she had not urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to crack down on pro-Palestinian protests.

"I understand, of course, we live in a society that values free speech and the right to demonstrate, but it's the hateful speech that we need to consider," she said.

Elsewhere in the interview, Segal said a "blame game" would not help Jewish Australians, instead urging the community to reach out and support those who had been impacted.

She also called for further education about antisemitism and said she had spoken with Islamophobia envoy Aftab Malik, and the two were "united in trying to fight the hatreds that divide us".

Read more from that interview below, or listen to it here.

READ MORE

'Not a blame game': Antisemitism envoy responds to Bondi attack, following Netanyahu snipe

— Alex Gallagher and Ewa Staszewska

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke says the federal government will expedite visas for family members of those killed in the Bondi massacre seeking to travel to Australia from overseas.

"We have set up a specific section of the department rapidly dealing with visa processing at a pace that would not ordinarily be there," Burke said.

He reassured families that the federal government was doing everything to ensure they are reunited and was working on a way to help with the cost of funerals.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the government is working with insurance companies to pay local businesses for eligible losses, as well as boosting security measures by extending funding to the National Council for Jewish Security.

— Ewa Staszewska

Anthony Albanese has urged Australians to express solidarity with the Jewish community on Monday night.

Hannukkah, known as the festival of lights, is celebrated over eight days, with an additional candle lit each night.

The prime minister has encouraged people to show that "we are stronger than the cowards who did this".

He said Australians should join the Jewish community in lighting a candle and placing it in their front window at 6.47 pm, the time of the attack, to show "light will indeed defeat darkness".

— Ewa Staszewska

There was a brief disturbance outside the Bondi Pavilion memorial when a woman wearing a Palestinian scarf was asked to leave by police.

The woman was wearing a black and white keffiyeh, a traditional Middle Eastern scarf that has become widely associated with Palestinian identity and resistance.

A crowd gathered at the pavilion, which has become a makeshift memorial, encircled the woman and started chanting "get her out". She was promptly met by officers.

She could be heard telling them she identifies as Jewish.

"All Jews are entitled to mourn," she said. "Take away the Israeli flags".

Officers asked her to leave the area, which was met by cheers and applause from the crowd.

The scene at Bondi Beach. Source: SBS

— Charis Chang and Sarah Conte

Anthony Albanese has confirmed ASIO investigated the younger alleged shooter in the Bondi terrorism attack in 2019, due to his links with other people who were being watched by the domestic spy agency.

"The assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence," Albanese told reporters.

— Anna Henderson

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is proposing consideration of tougher gun laws in the wake of the Bondi antisemitic terrorism attack.

This will include reviewing licences over a period of time and limiting the number of guns that licensed individuals can possess.

"People's circumstances can change. People can be radicalised over a period of time. Licences should not be in perpetuity," Albanese told reporters.

The issue will be raised at National Cabinet, which will convene at 4pm.

Albanese said Australia can be proud of former prime minster John Howard's gun reforms, introduced following the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre, but he will empower agencies to review them.

"If we need to toughen these up, if there's anything that we can do, I'm certainly up for it."

— Ewa Staszewska, Anna Henderson

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has praised police officers for their bravery in the face of "pure evil".

He said he met with off-duty police on Monday morning to thank them personally for their efforts. Some had travelled from as far as Newcastle, two hours north of Sydney, to get to the scene at Bondi Beach yesterday. Some had been up all night when Albanese met them.

"I think that we need to recognise their incredible work at a time as well when two police officers have been seriously injured as a result of the efforts and bravery that they have shown," he said.

— Ewa Staszewska

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is providing another update this afternoon. Watch it below:

At this afternoon's press conference, Chris Minns elaborated on the kind of legislative changes that could be made to gun laws in NSW.

He said it would require introducing a bill to parliament to make it more difficult to access firearms that have "no practical use" in the community, in particular, the higher-powered long-arm weapons used in Sunday's attack.

"If you're not a farmer, you're not involved in agriculture, why do you need these massive weapons to put the public in danger and make life dangerous and difficult for New South Wales police?"

Minns said that the granting of firearms licences in perpetuity was "clearly not fit for purpose".

"We need to make sure the firearms legislation in New South Wales is fit for purpose. That does mean restricting firearms for the general public, for the people of New South Wales. You don't need them on New South Wales streets."

— Alex Gallagher

Earlier today, NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip and co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin spoke to the media in Bonci Beach, after meeting with Opposition leader Sussan Ley and several Coalition frontbenchers.

Ossip said the federal government had made several "missteps" and been "very slow" when it came to addressing antisemitism in recent years, and it was an "immense failure" that Sunday's attack took place.

"This is a moment of strong, unequivocal and overwhelming leadership. The time for talk is over. We need action to those who have said over the past two years that antisemitism has no place in Australia."

— Alex Gallagher

NSW Health has given an update on the conditions of those who were injured in the attack and remain in hospital.

A NSW Health spokesperson said 27 people are receiving care in several Sydney hospitals, and that patients are continuing to be discharged or transferred to other hospitals when required. Some patients have also self-presented at hospitals for care. NSW Health had said earlier this morning that 40 people had been receiving treatment.

As of 1pm:

• Three patients are in a stable condition at Prince of Wales Hospital.
• One patient is in a critical condition, and two patients are in a stable condition at St George Hospital.
• Three patients are in a stable condition at Sydney Eye Hospital.
• Three patients are in a critical condition, and three patients are in a critical but stable condition at St Vincent's Hospital.
• Two patients are in a critical condition, three patients are in a critical but stable condition, and one patient is stable at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
• Two patients are in a stable condition at Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick.
• Two patients are in a stable condition at Royal North Shore Hospital.
• Two patients are in a stable condition at Liverpool Hospital.

— Alex Gallagher

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has spoken with United States secretary of state Marco Rubio following the Bondi attack.

"I thanked Secretary Rubio for his condolences, for his solidarity with Australia and the Australian Jewish community and for his message of support from the American people," Wong said.

"There is no place for this antisemitism, violence and terrorism in our nation — we are determined to eradicate it."

The US was given a briefing on the investigation and thanks for support for Australia as well as the Australian Jewish community.

According to a readout of the call from the US side:

"The United States strongly condemns the heinous terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Hanukkah celebration hosted by Chabad-Lubavitch of Bondi. As Prime Minister Albanese said, this was 'an act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism'."

"We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community and with the Australian people as we pray for the victims and their families. We are grateful to Australian first responders and bystanders for their heroic response.

"As Jews around the world light Hanukkah candles tonight, they commemorate the triumph of light over darkness and the long history of Jewish resilience in the face of oppression. No community should have to fear publicly celebrating their faith and traditions due to the threat of extremist violence and terror. There can be no compromise with antisemitism — this scourge must be confronted and defeated."

— Anna Henderson, SBS News chief political correspondent

Chris Minns is asked why one of the alleged perpetrators was granted a gun licence. The premier says he can't answer that question and passes to NSW Police commissioner Mal Lanyon.

Lanyon says that the man met the eligibility criteria for a licence and that it was a recreational hunting licence. He says that he was a member of a gun club and was entitled under the Firearms Act to have a licence issued.

It was a category AB licence, which entitled him to have the long-barreled weapons that were recovered.

— Alex Gallagher

Chris Minns is asked how gun laws can be changed, noting that one of the alleged perpetrators had six registered firearms while living in suburban NSW.

"We're looking at that as we speak," Minns replies.

"I think it's time that we have a change in the law in relation to the firearms legislation in New South Wales, but I'm not ready to announce it today. We want to make sure that prospective reform and change in New South Wales has a lasting impact, but it's not the last time I'll be mentioning it and you can expect action soon."

Minns said at an earlier press conference this morning that law reform would "almost certainly" be a part of the measures taken to prevent an incident like Sunday's attack from happening again.

— Alex Gallagher

Chris Minns says a memorial site has been established behind the Bondi Pavilion, noting that people have already left flowers at the site, and encouraging people to continue.

He said it was inspiring that there had been record inquiries and huge lines at blood donation services, asking people to be patient but saying it is "warmly welcomed".

He adds that the NSW Crisis Cabinet Committee met last night and will meet again today and in the coming days. He'll also attend the National Cabinet's crisis committee when it meets again today, alongside NSW Police commissioner Mal Lanyon.

Minns says that if people have information or if they'd like information, they should contact the Public Information and Enquiries Centre, which operates 24/7, on 1800 227 228.

— Alex Gallagher