Government ‘focused’ on combating antisemitism and gun control issues, treasurer says
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has just been on RN, where he has said the government is “focused” on combating antisemitism and gun control issues.
He said:
We’re focused on both of those things simultaneously, countering these horrifying and evil acts of antisemitism at the same time as we tighten our gun laws.
And frankly, in relation to Mr Howard, I don’t know why in the wake of a mass shooting, some politicians, some current and some former, are trying to diminish our efforts to tighten our gun laws. John Howard, of all people, should understand how important this is.
We are capable of dealing with both serious issues at once, and that’s the prime minister’s approach to it. It’s not an either-or.
And I find it strange in the extreme that, in the wake of a mass shooting, some politicians are trying to diminish or downplay the important role that tighter gun laws could play in our response to this.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 16.41 EST
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Penry Buckley
Hundreds of swimmers paddle out at Bondi in tribute to victims
Hundreds of swimmers at Bondi have formed human circles – in the beach and in the ocean – in honour of the victims of Sunday’s attack.
Bondi is known for its early morning swimmers and surfers, but many have not returned to the water since Sunday’s horrific events.
Today, two swimming clubs, the Great White Swim Club and Bondi Fairy Penguins, organised an event in honour of the 15 people who lost their lives, and in solidarity with the Jewish community.
They held a minute’s silence on the beach before swimming out to form human circles in the ocean.
Bondi Fairy Penguins committee member Sarah Davies said the group felt like it was “the right thing to do”.
We felt that it was important for the community to come together and also for us to show support to people who were affected … particularly the Jewish community.
A steady stream of people filtered down the beach as the sun rose over Bondi. Eventually, hundreds formed a circle several rows deep formed, as swimmers linked arms, lowered their heads in reflection, and exchanged hugs before running into the surf.
From the beach, the spray from an enormous human circle could be seen in the water.
Swimmers also came out to thank first responders, including local lifesavers. They gathered in front of the North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club, which is still inside police tape in the cordoned-off area.
Mick Ormsby, of the Bondi Fairy Penguins, gave a speech which he told Guardian Australia had paid tribute to the victims as well as the “utter courage and light and love … the service that first responders, police, the lifeguards, the volunteers from the clubs, the members of the public that did all that courageous stuff”.
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Luca Ittimani
NSW Liberals say gun reform must not distract from Albanese’s failure on antisemitism
Kellie Sloane, NSW’s opposition leader, has warned gun laws must not distract from the “real issue” including antisemitism, while maintaining her support for the state premier’s reform push.
The Liberal leader and state MP for the Bondi area echoed comments yesterday from Coalition colleagues, including John Howard, discussing gun laws on ABC Radio, Sydney, this morning. She singled out the Albanese government for criticism:
This cannot be a distraction from the real issue at hand, which is ideology, terrorism, radicalisation, and a failure, particularly federally, to stand up to antisemitism, to call it out and to have very strong words and actions on antisemitism.
Sloane also criticised Premier Chris Minns for an inconsistent focus on gun access, noting Minns had initially supported broadening gun use laws earlier in 2025, following a ‘right to hunt’ bill sponsored by the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party.
The Premier’s been talking about some of the toughest gun laws in the country, but Labor has been supportive of expansion of shooting rights this year. … Let’s have a consistent approach to gun reform.
The opposition leader continued to offer support for the crackdown on gun ownership, Minns is now proposing, but said she would consider the details of new laws and declined to commit specifically to limiting gun ownership to Australian citizens when asked.
Our firearms laws must be fit for purpose in the modern state and there are clearly things that we need to look at. … We’d need to see the detail of how that would work practically. We’re open to looking at it. I think this is a difficult area. Consistency in policy is also going to be important.
Sloane continued to offer support for a crackdown on gun ownership proposed by Premier Chris Minns, though with the condition of checking the details of new laws. She declined to commit specifically to limiting gun ownership to Australian citizens when asked.
Our firearms laws must be fit for purpose in the modern state and there are clearly things that we need to look at. … We’d need to see the detail of how that would work practically. We’re open to looking at it. I think this is a difficult area. Consistency in policy is also going to be important.
Updated at 16.37 EST
Luca Ittimani
Policing levels were wrong and left Hanukah attendees ‘sitting ducks’, says NSW Liberal leader
Kellie Sloane, NSW’s opposition leader, has said police didn’t provide enough resources to Sunday’s attack.
Sloane said more needed to be revealed about the decisions on police resourcing to protect Jewish events, both to protect the community and the police. She told ABC Radio Sydney :
The two police officers who ran towards danger and are in critical situations, we owe it to them, we owe it to their colleagues, to be asking questions about what more could have been done …
The Jewish community is at such an extreme risk. We knew this before the event on the first day of Hanukah. And I felt like they were sitting ducks, so no blame here at the moment, but we do need to understand more could have been done and why they weren’t protected.
When asked whether police had provided appropriate policing levels, Sloane said:
“Clearly in retrospect, they did not.”
Updated at 16.35 EST
22 patients still in Sydney hospitals with injuries from Bondi attack
There are currently 22 patients receiving care in several Sydney hospitals for their injuries.
This includes nine patients in critical or critical but stable conditions.
St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst. Photograph: George Chan/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 16.39 EST
Josh Butler
PM says action on gun law reforms should not be a ‘substitute’ for action on antisemitism
Anthony Albanese says the thoughts of all Australians are with the Jewish community today, as funerals for victims of the Bondi terror massacre begin.
The prime minister has also defended his government’s response to antisemitism, while telling ABC News Radio they need to do more.
Albanese wouldn’t say which parts of antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal’s plan would now be further implemented. But he said parts of the plan and the government’s response would “evolve over time”, and that the events of this week would impact on that plan too.
The PM said it was important to examine how the system of gun licensing works, and whether criminal intelligence should be used in deciding licences. Asked about how one of the alleged shooters managed to obtain a licence, despite his son and the other alleged shooter being investigated by Asio several years earlier, Albanese replied: “Quite clearly, there have been real issues. We need to examine exactly the way systems work.”
“We need to look at how commonwealth and state agencies interact,” he added, including police and intelligence services.
The PM added that any action on gun reforms could also not be a “substitute” for action on antisemitism, after Coalition figures, including John Howard claimed it could be a “diversion” from acting on anti-Jewish hatred.
Updated at 16.21 EST
Marles said Sunday was an attack on the “Australian way of life”.
I have never seen antisemitism over what I’ve seen in the last couple of years and it’s really, really important this has no place in Australian society.
I think the other point to make, though, is that, on Sunday night, this was a targeted attack on the community; it was also an attack on the Australian way of life.
There’s nothing more Australian than the celebration of one’s culture, one’s faith, and to be able to do that, and people should have a right to do that in safety and with joy. And Jewish Australians deserve that right as much any other Australian. This was an attack on all of that.
Updated at 16.18 EST
Marles said they have already adopted parts of the Segal report:
There’s a whole lot that’s already in the Segal report we put into place. For example, we’re working with universities in this country to make sure that campuses are safe for Jewish students, but as importantly, Jewish students feel they are safe. We have criminalised more forms of hate speech. But there’s more that needs to be done. We’ll do it.
Updated at 16.14 EST
‘There’s much more that needs to be done’ to make Jewish community feel safe, says Marles
Marles said he understands Sunday night “shattered the sense of security that people in the Jewish community felt”.
We have criminalised more forms of hate speech than governments have in the past, the Nazi salute, we have criminalised doxing, we’re with universities to make them safer places for Jewish students. But not for a moment am I suggesting that all the work is done. There’s much more that needs to be done.
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minster and Defense Minister Richard Marles Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/APShare
Updated at 16.41 EST
Deputy PM describes ‘moving experience’ visiting Bondi
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, has been speaking on the ABC. He was at Bondi yesterday speaking to community members. He said:
There’s something about such an iconic part of Australia being – the place where obviously this has all occurred and to see this scene now. There was a sense of Australians really coming together from every walk of life to pay their respects, to really place the Australian Jewish community in their embrace. And Hanukkah is about bringing light into the darkness.
For me, it was a very, it was – it was a very moving experience to be there.
Updated at 16.13 EST
Edith Brutman the 12th Bondi attack victim to be namedLuca Ittimani
Edith Brutman, the 12th victim of Sunday’s shooting to be named, has been remembered as an active and dedicated member of community service organisations.
Brutman was a beloved grandmother served as vice-president of an anti-prejudice committee in the NSW branch of B’nai Brith, a global inclusive Jewish service organisation, according to the website of Chabad.
She was also a longtime member of Aviv, B’nai Brith’s social group, but had been unable to participate in community events while battling a number of health issues, Chabad reports. She had been excited to return to celebrations and go to Sunday’s Hanukah event at Bondi Beach.
Brutman, 68, attended with friends, including Tibor Weitzen and his wife and was sitting next to them when the shooting began, according to Jewish news website Anash. She died during the attack and is survived by her children and grandchildren.
Edith Brutman, 68, has been named as a victim of the Bondi terrorist attack
An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified Brutman as the tenth, rather than 12th victim to be named.
Updated at 16.24 EST
Australian National Imams Council condemn ‘evil’ Islamic State: ‘ISIS does not represent Islam’
The Australian National Imams Council, as the highest Islamic and religious authority in Australia, together with its member imams and religious leaders, has released a statement unequivocally condemning Islamic State.
It said:
[IS is] an evil, dangerous terrorist organisation whose actions and ideology stand in complete opposition to the teachings of Islam and the values upheld by Muslims worldwide. This position has been clear and consistent by ANIC since the very emergence of ISIS and has been maintained without hesitation ever since.
The Muslim world has suffered firsthand at the hands of ISIS, with the overwhelming majority of its victims being Muslims. Communities across the Middle East, Africa, and beyond have endured mass killings, displacement, and the destruction of places of worship, including mosques.
ISIS does not represent Islam or the Muslim world in any way. Its ideology is evil and rooted in violence and terror. It bears no relationship to Islamic teachings, ethics, or scholarship, which emphasise the sanctity of life, justice, and mercy.
This terrorist organisation does not deserve any association with Islam in name or description. We also reject any attempt to connect ISIS or its members to Islam or to frame its evil and dangerous ideology as a distorted version of the Islamic faith.
All reputable and prominent Islamic institutions, scholars, and Muftis across the Muslim world have openly, repeatedly, and unequivocally condemned and denounced ISIS and its ideology. This includes leading global Islamic authorities such as Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Muslim World League, the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah (Egypt), Majelis Ulama Indonesia, the Council of Senior Scholars in Saudi Arabia, and the European Council for Fatwa and Research, among many others. There is no legitimacy, credibility, or scholarly support for ISIS within mainstream Islam.
Anyone connected to, supporting, or promoting ISIS ideology must be denounced and held accountable. There can be no tolerance for the justification, glorification, or revival of an ideology built on violence and terror.
ISIS flag. Photograph: Mark Gabrenya/AlamyShare
Updated at 16.43 EST
Funeral for Rabbi Eli Schlanger to be held today
A funeral service will be held today for Rabbi Eli Schlanger who was murdered in Sunday’s terrorist attack at Chanukah by the Sea at Bondi Beach.
The service will be held at Chabad of Bondi Synagogue in Bondi at 11am. Due to expected large crowds, Wellington Street will be closed in the area surrounding the synagogue. The service will also be live-streamed.
Rabbi Eli Schlanger (right). Photograph: AJNShare
Updated at 16.01 EST
La Perouse public school remember ‘little ray of sunshine’ Matilda
La Perouse public school said Matilda was their “little ray of sunshine” as they paid tribute to their pupil, who was “deeply respected and loved” by students and staff alike.
Her school wrote online:
We watched as she rose in surprise, and slowly started to make her way to the stage.
Her smile shining brighter than ever, and even though we were told ‘no wooing’ as we weren’t at a concert, how could we resist? We watched Matilda reach every single goal she set out to achieve, and we were so proud of her.
Matilda had just won an International Literacy Award and would be remembered for the strong bond she had with her sister Summer, the school said.
Matilda has a strength and joy for life that we will always cherish and remember.
A portrait of 10-year-old Matilda, killed in Sunday’s shooting, is displayed during a vigil at Bondi Pavilion in Sydney on Tuesday night. Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 15.59 EST
Chalmers vows government will do more to combat antisemitism
Chalmers says the government has made moves to help fight antisemitism, but would do more.
I understand that the Jewish community is extremely angry, and so are we. And we understand that emotions are raw and for good reasons. This was a horrific, evil act.
… I mean, there’s a long list of things that we have progressed. You know, the new sanctions on Terragram, the landmark ban on the Nazi salute, the criminalising of doxing, the hate crimes database, the extra money for security around schools and synagogues, the legislation around hate speech.
The government has acted on a number of fronts, but we say that, understanding that the Jewish community would like us to do more, the Australian community would like us to do more – and we will.
Updated at 15.43 EST