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 deadliest mass shooting in nearly three decades during a Jewish holiday event.

The alleged father-and-son gunmen opened fire as hundreds of people gathered to celebrate Hanukkah on Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing 15 people. Authorities said the attack was inspired by the Islamic State group, shocking the nation and raising concerns over rising antisemitism.

Albanese said the government will move to introduce legislation that makes it easier to charge individuals who promote hate speech and violence, impose harsher penalties, and establish a framework to target organizations whose leaders engage in hate-driven rhetoric.

“Australians are shocked and angry. I am angry,” Albanese said during a news conference announcing the reforms. “It is clear we need to do much more to combat this evil scourge.”

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 offenses on Wednesday after waking from a coma. The charges include murder and terrorism-related offenses.

On Wednesday, the premier of New South Wales, where the attack occurred, said he would recall the state parliament next week to pass urgent reforms to tighten gun laws.

Funeral of Youngest Victim Begins

The parents of 10-year-old victim Matilda earlier criticized the government for failing to address what they described as a growing tide of antisemitism.

“We have been saying for years … they didn’t do anything,” said Valentyna, Matilda’s mother, in an interview with Australian media on Wednesday. The family requested that their surname not be used.

Matilda, whose funeral was held on Thursday, was the youngest of the 15 victims killed in the shooting. Her service followed the first funerals held on Wednesday, including those for Rabbis Eli Schlanger, 41, and Yaakov Levitan, 39.

Albanese’s government said it has consistently denounced antisemitism over the past two years. It has passed legislation criminalizing hate speech and, in August, expelled Iran’s ambassador after accusing Tehran of directing two antisemitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.

Antisemitic Threats

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

Police said the man made antisemitic threats and gestures indicating violence toward the victim, whom he knew to be affiliated with the Jewish community.

The center-left Labor government has ruled out holding a Royal Commission — a high-level inquiry with judicial powers — into the shooting for now.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Thursday that launching a Royal Commission would distract Australia’s security agencies at a time when they should remain focused on investigating the attack.

Police are also examining possible Australia-based Islamic State networks and the alleged links between the gunmen and militants in the Philippines.

The Philippines’ National Security Council said on Wednesday that while Sajid Akram and his son had spent a month in the country in November, there was no evidence they received military training.

Islamic State-linked networks are known to operate in parts of the southern Philippines.

“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,” Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said in a statement. -Reporting by Scott Murdoch and Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Additional reporting by Christine Chen, Karen Lema; Editing by Stephen Coates and Lincoln Feast/Reuters