Australia honours Bondi Beach victims, launches probe of security services

Australia is hosting a National Day of Reflection in honor of the victims of the gun attack that occurred last week at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announcing a review of the nation’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

The commemorations were led by indigenous leaders at the waterfront Bondi Pavilion’s traditional smoking ceremony on Sunday morning. A impromptu memorial has been created in honor of the 15 people who died while celebrating Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday.

A minute of silence will be observed at 6:47 PM (07:47 GMT), the time the attack started, and flags are being flown in half-mast at government buildings.

Authorities also urged Australians to light a candle on Sunday evening, the eighth and final day of the Jewish festival of lights, “a quiet act of remembrance with family, friends, or loved ones” for the victims of the allegedly carried out by a father-son duo.

A large police presence, including officers carrying long-arm weapons, will host an evening memorial service at Bondi Beach, according to a statement from the police.

The state of Tasmania saw the deadliest mass shooting in Australia since 1996, when 35 people were killed by an attacker in the state on December 14.

Authorities are looking into the shooting as a “terrorist” plot targeting Jews.

Authorities claim that the attackers’ car, which they took to Bondi, contained ISIL (ISIS), and that the group’s flags were discovered in their vehicle.

Naveed Akram, 24, who was also shot and went into a coma on Tuesday, has been charged with 59 crimes, including murder and terrorism, despite the fact that Sajid Akram, 50, was fatally shot by police at the scene. He is still being held in a hospital.

On Sunday, about 13 of the Bondi wounded people remained in Sydney hospitals.

In the wake of the mass shooting, Albanese claimed that there were “real issues” with the nation’s intelligence service.

“We need to examine how systems operate specifically. He told the national broadcaster ABC, “We need to look back at what actually happened in 2019 when this person was looked at and what was determined.”

The prime minister further stated in a statement that a former Australian spy agency chief would lead the review of the nation’s security agencies and that it would look into whether federal police and intelligence agencies have the “right powers, structures, processes, and sharing arrangements in place to keep Australians safe.”

He claimed that the review would be finished by April’s end.

Gun safety experts claim that the country’s toughest gun laws are rife with gaps while Albanese has previously announced a nationwide buyback.

The prime minister continued to denounce anti-immigration rallies that took place on Sunday in Sydney and Melbourne.

In the wake of last Sunday’s antisemitic terrorist attack, organized rallies have no place in Australia, he said in a statement. People should not attend them, and they should not proceed.