TRANSCRIPT:
Australia's top police officer is aware of the weight of the moment as she leads the investigation into what may be Australia's deadliest terror attack.
"This is one of if not the most important investigation that the AFP and our partners will ever, ever do. We have got a grieving community and we have got a community that is looking for answers and that is my focus."
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett has revealed details from an initial assessment of the two alleged offenders who killed 15 people in the mass shooting at Bondi Beach.
Police believe Naveed and Sajid Akram left Sydney for Manila on the 1st of November before arriving in Davao City that same day.
According to the Philippines National Police, they rarely left their hotel and came home nearly a month later.
The police have found, so far, there's no evidence they received training or logistical preparation there for the attack they allegedly committed in Bondi two weeks later.
Commissioner Barrett says the alleged shooters appear to have acted alone.
"These individuals are alleged to have acted alone. There is no evidence to suggest these alleged offenders were part of a broader terrorist cell, or were directed by others to carry out an attack. However I want to be clear, I am not suggesting they were not there (in Philippines) for tourism."
The AFP have praised collaboration with their Filipino counterparts who helped access CCTV footage of the alleged gunmen's movements in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has held a national security committee nearly every day since the Bondi massacre but has refused calls for a Commonwealth Royal Commission into the attack made by the victims' families.
He argues such an inquiry would take years and has instead sought an urgent, independent review into the country's federal agencies led by former defence secretary and ASIO boss Dennis Richardson.
"Our position is not out of convenience, it is out of conviction that this is the right direction to go in and the actual current experts have all recommended this course of action. A comprehensive examination of what occurred, if there are any gaps between the Commonwealth and New South Wales, as well what response is required, reporting in months not years ahead. Acting with unity and urgency, not division and delay."
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke also argues a Royal Commission would require the surviving alleged shooter to give public submissions repeating antisemitic statements, forcing victims to relive the trauma and hate.
"Now no-one can tell me that that is in the interest of unity, to re-platform some of the worst voices but a Royal Commission by definition does that and does that publicly. I understand why families and different people would call for it but when you then look at - is it the right way to deal with national security? The answer is no. Is it the right way to deliver unity? The answer again is no."
However Opposition leader Sussan Ley argues the government is ignoring the wishes of the Jewish community, who want a comprehensive review of the antisemitism which is believed to have fuelled the attack on the Hannukah festival.
"May I present the Prime Minister with the experts themselves, the victims' families, who have suffered no greater loss than their loved ones but have experienced no greater terror than they have in the last two years with the way that antisemitism has crept like a curse across this country. And why would we not have this Commonwealth Royal Commission to shine a light into every dark corner where it has been allowed to grow and fester."
To honour the 15 lives lost in Bondi, a menorah will be projected onto the Harbour Bridge during the New Years Eve fireworks display an hour before midnight.
But the day will look different too, with one of the biggest police operations the city has ever seen.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns says 3,000 officers will roam Sydney's streets, some carrying long-arms, in an attempt to make people feel safe going out.
"I want the public to be assured that there is a comprehensive and massive police response to these terrible terrorist events. And we want the people in this state to show defiance to these evil terrorists by spending some time on the beautiful harbour in the most beautiful city in the world."
