Australia to introduce laws to crack down on hate speech after Bondi shooting

SYDNEY, - Australia will introduce wide-ranging reforms to crack down on hate speech, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday, days after the country's worst mass shooting in nearly three decades at a Jewish holiday event. The alleged father-and-son gunmen opened fire as hundreds of people celebrated Hanukkah on Sydney's famous Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing 15 in an attack inspired by Islamic State that shocked the nation and led to fears over rising antisemitism.

Albanese said the government will seek to introduce legislation that makes it easier to charge people promoting hate speech and violence, as well as increased penalties, and develop a regime for targeting organisations whose leaders engage in hate speech.

"Australians are shocked and angry. I am angry. It is clear we need to do more to combat this evil scourge much more," Albanese told a news conference announcing the reforms. Police allege the attack was carried out by Sajid Akram, 50, and his 24-year-old son Naveed. Sajid was shot dead by police at the scene, while Naveed Akram was charged with 59 offences on Wednesday after waking from a coma, including murder and terror charges.


On Wednesday, the leader of New South Wales where the attack took place said he would next week recall the state parliament to pass urgent reforms on gun laws.

FUNERAL OF YOUNGEST VICTIM TO BEGIN

The parents of 10-year-old Bondi Beach shooting victim Matilda had earlier criticised the government for failing to respond to a rising tide of antisemitism. "We have been saying for years ... they didn't do anything," Valentyna, Matilda's mother, told Australian media on Wednesday, speaking about a string of antisemitic attacks in Sydney. The family has asked the media not to use their surname. Matilda, whose funeral was being held on Thursday, was the youngest of 15 people killed in the shooting. Her funeral follows the first of the services for the victims on Wednesday, including those for Rabbis Eli Schlanger, 41, and Yaakov Levitan, 39.

Albanese's government said it has consistently denounced antisemitism over the last two years. The government passed legislation to criminalise hate speech and in August it expelled the Iranian ambassador after accusing Tehran of directing two antisemitic arson attacks in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne.

ANTISEMITIC THREATS
In the latest incident, a 19-year-old Sydney man was charged and will face court on Thursday after allegedly threatening violence towards a Jewish person on a flight from Bali to Sydney on Wednesday.

"Police will allege the man made antisemitic threats and hand gestures indicating violence towards the alleged victim, who the man knew to be affiliated with the Jewish community," Australian Federal Police said on Thursday.

The centre-left Labor government has ruled out holding a Royal Commission, a high-level inquiry with judicial powers, into the shootings for now.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Thursday said a Royal Commission would distract Australia's security agencies at a time when they should be focused on investigating the shootings.

Police are looking into Australia-based Islamic State networks as well as the gunmen's alleged links to militants in the Philippines. The Philippines National Security Council on Wednesday said that while Sajid Akram and his son had been in the country for a month in November the pair had not engaged in any military training.

Islamic State-linked networks are known to operate in the Philippines and have wielded some influence in the south of the country.

"There is no valid report or confirmation that the two received any form of military training while in the country and no evidence supports such a claim at present," Philippines national security adviser Eduardo Ano said in a statement.