New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has supported calls for a royal commission to be held into the Bondi Beach terror attack, which claimed the lives of 15 innocent people.
Gunman Sajid Akram was wounded and died at the scene, with his son Naveed Akram facing 59 charges with 15 counts of murder related to the incident on December 14.
Mr Minns this week announced he would recall parliament to fast-track urgent firearm and hate-speech reforms as part of the state government’s response to the shooting.
Fronting the media today, he said he believed a royal commission was necessary to determine how the event was able to occur.
The pedestrian bridge at the centre of the Bondi Beach crime scene has been reopened. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
“I think we need a royal commission right now,” he said.
“Until we’ve got a full and accurate picture of exactly how this happened, with a plan to ensure that it doesn’t happen again, then I don’t have answers [for] the people of New South Wales about what happened on Sunday.
“This is the most serious event that’s affected New South Wales for decades. If we’re not going to have a royal commission into this — when would you use the powers of that extraordinary provision in our act?”
When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked if he would also support a royal commission into the attack, he said he would back “whatever actions the New South Wales government take”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the Commonwealth would support whatever action the NSW government deemed necessary after the Bondi attack. (ABC News: Matt Roberts )
Mr Albanese said the National Security Committee had met seven times since last weekend, and safety and other support measures continued to be rolled out in response to the incident.
“Over recent days, we’ve announced new measures to eliminate the scourge of antisemitism, to stop the hate preachers, to get guns off our streets and to ensure that law enforcement agencies have the resources that they need to prevent future attacks,” he said.
Bolstered hate speech, firearms laws
Mr Minns also announced legislation would be introduced to parliament on Monday to give authorities greater powers to remove face coverings during public assemblies and outlaw terrorist symbols such as Islamic State flags.
Under current laws, police can only remove face coverings if they believe a person is in the midst of committing an indictable offence.
A raft of measures are in the process of being introduced to state and federal parliament in response to the attack. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
Mr Minns said he would seek to classify the chant “globalise the intifada” as hate speech due to its ability to incite violence.
He said authorities in London have started charging people for using the same phrase in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.
“If London police are taking action to arrest people for hateful rhetoric in the UK, then we need to be doing it here too.”
The final moments of the Bondi Beach mass shooting
The proposed laws would be subject to a committee investigation to ensure any changes are constitutional.
Parliament will also consider reforms to prevent most firearm owners from holding more than four guns, with primary producers to have up to 10.
The NSW legislation would also reclassify straight-pull, pump-action and button, lever release firearms to limit their access primarily to primary producers.
Gun club membership would be mandatory for all firearms licence holders, and Australian citizenship will be made a requirement for obtaining a licence, with the exception of New Zealand permanent residents engaged in primary production or security roles.
Gunman still in hospital
Naveed Akram remains in police custody in a NSW hospital.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said authorities continued to review evidence and conduct search warrants as part of the investigation.
“The location of the search warrants will not be made public, but let me reassure Australians we are leaving no stone unturned in Australia and overseas in this investigation,” she said.