Australian PM apologises over Bondi attack, calls for tougher hate laws

The Jewish community was appalled last week at the Bondi Beach attack, which resulted in the deaths of 15 people at a Hanukkah ceremony, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese demanded stricter laws against hate speech and violent behavior.

Albanese promised to protect Jewish Australians a week after Australia’s nation was shaken by the country’s deadliest mass shooting in a generation.

He said, “I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that occurred while I’m prime minister, and I’m sorry for what the Jewish community and our country as a whole have gone through.”

Albanese pledged that his administration would work to advance the rights of Jewish Australians to “practice their faith, educate their children, and participate in Australian society.”

Attack was “preciously” planned.

Authorities in Australia continue to look into the December 14 attack, which included a 10-year-old girl and a Holocaust survivor, as a form of “terrorism.”

Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed, 24, are suspected of being inspired by ISIL (ISIS), according to police, who claim their car’s flags were discovered in their vehicle.

Naveed has been charged with 59 crimes, including murder and terrorism, despite the police killing him and still recovering from his bullet wounds in a hospital.

Police claimed the men had video surveillance of “Zionists” and that they were “their motivation for the Bondi attack” in a court filing.

According to the court documents, the suspects allegedly planned the attack for months “meticulously” and “meticulously” by “executing” “firearms training” in the New South Wales countryside.

“We won’t allow the terrorists motivated by ISIS to prevail.” In his remarks, Albanese said, “We won’t let them divide our society, and we’ll work through this together.”

He said, “Urgency and unity is what we need,” and he demanded that “create an aggravated offence for hate preaching” be supported by both parties.

Despite Australia already having some of the strictest gun laws in the world, Albanese has also proposed some of the most radical changes to gun laws, which appear to have decreased since the attack.

On Monday, the state where Bondi Beach is located, New South Wales, attempted to pass strict new draft gun laws as well as a ban on displaying “terrorist” symbols.

The new regulations would increase the number of firearms a person can own to four or ten, as opposed to 10 for exempt individuals like farmers.

Following a occurrence deemed “terrorism,” protests would also be prohibited for up to three months.

This week, the reforms are expected to pass the legislature.