Minns outlines proposed gun and anti-protest laws
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, is speaking outside NSW Parliament now after introducing new gun and anti-protest laws.
He’s described the new laws as doing the following:
The legislation bans the public displays of terrorist symbols, outlaws violence, incitement to violence and backs New South Wales and gives police stronger powers during public assemblies. It also delivers the toughest firearm reforms in the country. It does restrict access to high risk weapons, strengthening license, storage and oversight regimes in the state…
Things need to change or New South Wales and as a result we are making and taking extraordinary measures in relation to public assemblies during a terrorism event. That is in recognition of the fact that while it may be a tinderbox out there in the community during the summer period, we can’t let unrestrained violence or disunity in our community run without a strong police presence.
Chris Minns in Parliament earlier today. Photograph: Dominic Lorrimer/ReutersShare
Updated at 20.22 EST
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Guardian Australia’s Anne Davies has followed up, noting the Palestine Action Group’s statements over the past week – and earlier today – rejecting any link between the anti-genocide protests and the Bondi massacre, and has asked why, given that, the government is pushing laws that will even restrict Invasion Day protests on 26 January.
Minns responds:
They’re entitled to their view but I don’t have to take it as, you know, sacrosanct here. I mean, I don’t agree with them. Ultimately as I said a number of times, I think in some cases, ratcheting up the pressure, ratcheting up the rhetoric and the language can unleash forces that you can’t control. And it’s not necessarily their job to control it but it is my responsibility, because we can’t have a repeat of what happened on Sunday or any variation of it.
Things are tense at the moment. It’s obviously a tinderbox. But we’re going to take steps to ensure that we’re reducing the pressure in the community, that kind of division. Everything from arresting someone that is trying to organise a vigilante rally in Cronulla to ensuring that we’re changing the gun laws in New South Wales to keep the community safe and we got to keep going.
Minns refuses to specify alleged ‘violent imagery’ at pro-Palestine protests
Farid Farid at AAP is pressing the NSW premier again to be specific about what he claims is “violent imagery” at pro-Palestine protests.
Minns says it is “the stuff that I see in Hyde Park”, but refuses to “go into the ins and outs of it”.
He says:
People shouldn’t believe it’s consequence-free if you do jump on the back of a lorry in Hyde Park and make an inflammatory speech …
I understand freedom of speech laws are very important, of course they are. But you should also have the to enjoy a city free from intimidation and violence from racism, from people yelling at you in the street.
Updated at 20.45 EST
Asked if he believed that a federal royal commission would be better than a state-based one, and whether Jewish people living outside NSW could be confident the state inquiry would adequately examine the federal government’s actions, Minns said a federal inquiry was a matter for the commonwealth.
He continued:
But we are going to ensure that our royal commission is comprehensive as possible and has the information available so that we can present a full picture or as much as we know – as much as we can possibly find out to the people of this state as to what happened. …
I’m responsible for New South Wales. So in these circumstances, we will make sure it’s full and comprehensive as well as being independent. There are challenges though, there’s an ongoing, very serious, criminal case that will take alongside any royal commission. Now, I have pledged to make it run alongside, but we’re obviously going to need a very senior jurist who can manage that dilemma because we – in addition to this criminal investigation, the most important thing we can do is deliver justice to the people who have been killed and injured on Sunday and that means prosecuting the person who’s in police custody.
He went on to praise the federal government’s proposed changes to anti-vilification laws to crack down on hate speech and hate preachers.
They’re going to make a big difference, and what it will mean is that for those that put hate in people’s hearts, in parts of New South Wales or anywhere across the country, we need to make sure we are confronting them and closing them down. Because if it happens in the public, if anti-Semitism happens in the public and we can identify and we can call it out and they have broken the law, we can charge them with crimes.
The PM’s announcement on hate speech and hate preachers is very important for our country and one that we will – we will be getting behind 100% to confront that kind of evil right throughout our state.
Updated at 20.42 EST
Minns reiterates claim without specifics that pro-Palestine protest organisers ‘are unleashing forces that they can’t control’
Minns is asked why he is banning an Arab word – intifada – while also saying he doesn’t want to whip up fear and racism. The reporter, Farid Farid from AAP, asked Minns what he thought intifada meant, and said: “If it is going to be banned then people need to know what it means.”
Minns responds:
I think we understand the meaning of it.
As mentioned in a previous post, intifada means uprising or resistance, and is the term used by Palestinians for uprisings against Israel. The first intifada started in 1987, the second in 2000. Minns refers to the “two intifadas in those territories”, though he doesn’t mention Israel and Palestine by name.
He also reiterates the suggestion that there is a relationship between pro-Palestinian protests and violence in Sydney, but without specifying exactly how.
Minns says:
The two intifadas in those territories were a violent uprising, the circumstances relating to it are specific to the Middle East, I completely acknowledge and accept that. Its use in common parlance in demonstrations both here and around the world are a call to a global intifada. That is what it means. Not in the Middle East, not in Israel or Gaza but here in Sydney. In our streets … in those circumstances I do believe that it leads to a culture and environment of heightened disunity and an invitation to violence.
And ultimately, I know that these changes are going to be met with opposition, but I strongly believe that we have to do everything we can to ensure that words that are said at a rally are not used by somebody at a later point for violent retribution on city streets and that means drawing a line in the sand and saying that this phrase used in this context can lead to violence.
I think in many cases the organisers of these protests despite their sincerely held views are unleashing forces that they can’t control and we need to be in a position to do that.
Updated at 20.39 EST
Minns rejects accusations responses are ‘kneejerk’ and ‘politicising a shooting’
Asked if he thinks that the responses he’s taking are kneejerk and politicising a shooting rather than looking at longer term solutions, Minns says:
Look, I’ll reject that. I think it is really important that we take action in relation to guns, in relation to reducing the pressure in the community when it comes to the protests that we have seen. I’ve said this before that the increasing rhetoric, the ratcheting-up of images, often violent images are having a divisive effect in our community and we are determined to take action in relation to that.
I know people are concerned about issues around the world, I know there is a deep concern about international events and wars and that people’s passions are heightened and there is genuine concern about it and I am not criticising them for holding those views. What I’m saying is my responsibility is in Sydney right now, and right now we need to make sure that the community is not divided. We do our level best at uniting us.
Updated at 20.27 EST
Minns does not answer questions on gun licences of alleged gunmen to ensure accuracy
Minns has been asked a few questions about the gun licences for alleged gunmen Savid and Naveed Akram, but has rebutted them without answering on the basis that he doesn’t want to give answers that may later prove to be incorrect.
Minns said:
I am not trying to be coy, I know the reason you are asking the question, I’d just want to make sure that anything we give you, particularly in relation to these two perpetrators is 100% accurate.
Updated at 20.26 EST
Man arrested for allegedly organising ‘violent protest’ at Cronulla Beach
As an addendum to the discussion of the new laws, Minns said that this morning NSW Police arrested a 20-year-old man “for using a carriage service to harass and intimidate in relation to organising a violent protest down at Cronulla beach”.
Minns said:
I want to make it absolutely clear that anyone who is interested in whipping up racial hatred or violence or disunity in our community will be smashed by NSW Police. There is zero tolerance for it right now.
We know temperatures are high, we understand that our community in some cases are a combustible situation and we will not tolerate anyone trying to insight via the internet or Facebook or social media post and attempt to bring our communities together in violent, we cannot allow that to happen. I just urge people to listen to the message from the rabbis at last night’s memorial event where they said hate can’t beat hate and this is an opportunity for us to come together.
Police are on a hair trigger when it comes to this kind of racism and hatred directed against anybody and racism directed against anybody in our community as in affect directed against everybody because we are all going to suffer as a result of it so don’t do it.
Updated at 20.21 EST
Minns to refer hate speech changes including phrase ‘globalise the intifada’
Minns has also flagged his intention to refer hate speech legislation changes to committee next year as part of further reforms, including the Palestinian resistance phrase “globalise the intifada”.
Intifada means uprising or resistance, and is the term used by Palestinians for uprisings against Israel. For Palestinians it means resistance against oppression, but some Israelis associate the term with violence against them.
You can read more about Minns’ plans for banning the phrase here:
Minns said:
We have a responsibility to knit together our community that comes from different races and religions and places from all over the world but we can do it in a peaceful way because I’m convinced that most Australians want to live together in peace and harmony and have no interest in poking each other, either in malicious, violent ways or even in incitement to violence and hatred and racism in our communities.
That is why this changes are unnecessary and I am hoping they get bipartisan or multipartisen support as they travel through the parliament later today and into tomorrow.
Updated at 20.21 EST
Minns outlines proposed gun and anti-protest laws
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, is speaking outside NSW Parliament now after introducing new gun and anti-protest laws.
He’s described the new laws as doing the following:
The legislation bans the public displays of terrorist symbols, outlaws violence, incitement to violence and backs New South Wales and gives police stronger powers during public assemblies. It also delivers the toughest firearm reforms in the country. It does restrict access to high risk weapons, strengthening license, storage and oversight regimes in the state…
Things need to change or New South Wales and as a result we are making and taking extraordinary measures in relation to public assemblies during a terrorism event. That is in recognition of the fact that while it may be a tinderbox out there in the community during the summer period, we can’t let unrestrained violence or disunity in our community run without a strong police presence.
Chris Minns in Parliament earlier today. Photograph: Dominic Lorrimer/ReutersShare
Updated at 20.22 EST
NSW emergency laws being debated
If you’re just catching up: gun laws will be significantly tightened and protests restricted for up to three months in New South Wales at the behest of the police commissioner, under an emergency set of laws introduced to the state parliament in the wake of the Bondi shooting.
The bill is being debated in the lower house on Monday and is expected to pass the lower house on Monday afternoon with the support of the NSW Liberal party, and pass the upper house on Tuesday. But the NSW Nationals are expected to oppose the legislation because of the impact that the gun restrictions will have on farmers and their use in rural NSW.
Read what we know so far here:
Updated at 20.11 EST
Bowen defends state-level commission into Bondi attack and says federal government will cooperate ‘in every possible way’
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, was asked about the government’s response to the Bondi attack at the end of that press conference into the gas reservation policy, and specifically why they have not announced a federal royal commission.
Bowen said:
The right thing to is a thorough but sharp and quick review of the response of the policy settings and the approach of the relevant agencies. Dennis Richardson is the right man to do it. He won’t be holding back. Dennis Richardson knows that is a fiercely independent expert and he’ll be reporting quickly to government and that’ll enable us to get on with it.
Asked if the prime minister would give the proposed NSW royal commission access to federal law enforcement agencies, Bowen said:
The prime minister has indicated will be cooperating in every possible way. And, you know, obviously we’re talking to the New South Wales government, you know, when they release the terms of reference and what have you, there’ll be no doubt the federal government will cooperate with that.
Updated at 19.22 EST
Penry Buckley
State opposition leader includes pro-Palestine protests when talking about antisemitic actions that she says led to Bondi shootings
Sloane went on to name and pay tribute to each of the victims, and thank those who saved lives, including Ahmed al-Ahmed, the Australian Syrian man who tackled and wrested a gun from an alleged gunman, and a 14-year-old girl, Chaya, who was shot as she lay on top of two small children, protecting them from the bullets.
Sloane, who says she did not expect her first speech as NSW opposition leader to be a motion of condolence, drew a timeline of events leading up to last Sunday’s attack – and included pro-Palestine protests.
To anyone who believes that 14 December was unimaginable, it is because we have failed to hear the Jewish community. When Jews were told not to go to the Opera House on 7 October, when thugs were allowed to denigrate the steps of the Opera House and spew their hatred, we should have known then.
When students have been subjected to harassment and vile abuse on our university campuses, when Jewish parents have had to tell their children not to wear their Jewish uniforms, we should have known then.
She continued:
When protesters were allowed to descend on our city each week and scream ‘From the river to the sea’, ‘Globalise the Intifada’, we should have known then. When cars were firebombed, when neo-Nazis stood outside this parliament with a sign that said: ‘Abolish the Jewish lobby’, we should have known then. When hate becomes normalised in a nation, how can we possibly believe there is any outcome other than what we saw on last Sunday?
Updated at 19.42 EST
Penry Buckley
Kellie Sloane says ‘my community changed’ on 14 December
The NSW opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, has also spoken in favour of the motion of condolence for the 15 victims of the Bondi Beach attack.
Sloane, the local state member for Vaucluse, begins by saying, “On Sunday, 14 December, at 6.47pm, my community changed”:
Our country changed. On a summer evening filled with the laughter of children and music, beachgoers and families were coming together to celebrate the first night of Hanukah and enjoy the weekend.
It was happy and it was joyful. It was Bondi as we know it, our Bondi, the beach that is the embodiment of all that is good about Australia, our free spirit, our diversity and our optimism, a community that welcomes you with open arms no matter what your background.
In a matter of minutes, though, that Bondi was left shattered and the Jewish community’s worst fears were realised.
Updated at 19.14 EST
Penry Buckley
Minns goes on to name each victim, including the youngest, 10-year-old Matilda, who he describes as “a ray of light to everyone who’d met her”.
He also pays tribute to Marika Pogany, 82, who he says was given the New South Wales Mensch award for hand delivering 12,000 kosher Meals on Wheels over 20 years of service to the community.
And I ask you, what kind of malevolence could motivate a person to murder an 82-year-old Meals on Wheels volunteer, an elderly lady who loved her community and was looking for nothing but peace, the peace to celebrate her religion?
Minns thanks first responders, including lifesavers who ran barefoot towards danger, off-duty police officers who rushed to Bondi, and the two officers who were injured in the line of duty. He also pays tribute to doctors, nurses and blood donors.
The premier closes with a call to parliament to pass the legislation proposed today, saying “We must make these changes”:
I know I speak for all members of this Parliament, all members of this Parliament, when I say to the Jewish people of this state, this is your home, this has always been your home, and we must do everything we possibly can to ensure that you are safe and you are protected in this city.
SharePenry Buckley
Minns begins individual tributes to victims of Bondi shooting
Back in NSW Parliament, Chris Minns has led individual tributes to each of the victims of last Sunday’s attack, beginning with Boris and Sofia Gurman, who were killed in the terrorist attack after trying to stop one of the gunmen. He says:
Mr Speaker, eight days ago, Sofia and Boris German saw a black Isis flag on the windscreen parked along Campbell Parade at Bondi.
Now they could have easily edged away having seen the flag and put themselves in a position of safety. They were walking away from the Hanukah festival, but they didn’t do that. And instead, and despite the obvious danger, they tried to – without being armed themselves – disarm the gunman, and in the struggle, they became the first victims of this terrible crime.
With my wife, Anna, we met their sole surviving son, Alex last week, who spoke of his deep sense of gratitude that the footage of their final moments was in fact found so that he knew that they died heroes.
Updated at 19.02 EST
Sarah Basford Canales
Bowen says gas reservation policy will put downward pressure on prices
Returning to gas for a second – Chris Bowen says the cost of extracting gas is getting more expensive in Australia and that the policy is aimed at putting maximum downward pressure on prices.
The energy minister said new gas fields will be needed, given the depleting levels within the Bass Strait – which is around 12% – and that gas would be important moving forward to “calibrate and support renewables”.
He said:
The fundamentals of the market are such that gas is getting more expensive to extract in Australia, as the Bass Strait is declining that fundamental remains, but this is the way that the government can put the maximum downward pressure on prices by engineering a slight oversupply of Australian needs in relation to international counterparts.
Our economics editor, Patrick Commins, asks what the government will do in the interim about the affordability of household and industry gas prices. Bowen doesn’t quite address that but suggests there might be further responses.
Bowen said:
We’re doing it from today, in effect, to ensure that no further export contracts are entered into from today, regardless of when they might happen. That is insured, obviously, because this is a big reform, it is going to take a bit of detail to work through. We’ll do that expeditiously. This is not the only thing we’ve done. It’s not the only thing we will do, but this is a big thing.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, in November. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare
Updated at 19.02 EST
Penry Buckley
NSW premier remembers ‘15 beautiful souls’ in motion of condolence
The NSW premier Chris Minns has moved a motion of condolence to the 15 victims of last Sunday’s attacks.
Speaking in favour of the motion to mourn for the victims of the attack on 14 December, extend sympathies to their families and friends and thank first responders for their bravery, Minns says:
We have returned to this house of parliament to acknowledge in one unanimous voice that we too are spent with grief after an hour of terror and a week of sorrow.
This morning, we remember 15 beautiful souls on Sunday, 14 December, victims of violent [anti-]Jewish hate, but in the course of their lives, wonderful, generous, big hearted members of our community, and it’s in that spirit that we mourn their death today, not by the evil that found them, but by the lives that they lived, the love that they gave, the good that they shared with us and the rest of the world.
Updated at 18.58 EST
The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has taken four Origin Energy subsidiaries to the federal court for alleged breaches of the national energy retail rules and law.
In a media release today, the AER said the proceedings related to Origin allegedly continuing to receive payments from customers of the government bill-paying service Centrepay who had closed their accounts and had fully paid all amounts they owed.
You can read some background to the Centrepay issue here:
The AER said it would allege in court that Origin failed to inform these Centrepay customers about these overcharged payments or refund them within the timeframe required by the retail rules; that Origin knew its systems were processing payments in this way as early as 2017; and that it put on hold a previously approved process that could have prevented further payments from occurring.
More than 3,400 people were affected by Origin’s alleged conduct between December 2019 and March this year, with it allegedly resulting in more than 77,000 breaches and Origin retaining more than $2.5m from affected customers, including one customer who was allegedly overcharged by more than $11,000 over a period of almost 2 years, the AER said.
AER Chair Clare Savage said:
Many customers affected by this alleged conduct were likely experiencing economic vulnerability and could have otherwise used the money they were overcharged to spend on essentials.
The AER is seeking orders for pecuniary penalties, declarations, customer remediation, a compliance program and an independent review of such a program, and costs.
Ley’s response to Penny Wong suggestion on temperature: ‘I haven’t seen Penny Wong shed a single tear’
Sussan Ley has ended the press conference in Sydney, shouting in response to a question about whether she agreed with foreign minister Penny Wong’s suggestion this morning on RN that Australians needed to “take the temperature down”.
Ley said, her voice rising as she went on:
I haven’t seen Penny Wong on the streets of Bondi. I haven’t seen Penny Wong at the vigil for 15 innocent murdered Australians. I didn’t see Penny Wong at Bondi last night at the eighth night of Hanukah. I didn’t see Penny Wong attend a single funeral. I haven’t seen Penny Wong shed a single tear.
So maybe if more government members and ministers were like Mike Freelander and actually came to the streets of Bondi and listened and not just listened but heard heard the pain, heard the anguish, heard the call to action, we wouldn’t have the ridiculous remarks that she made this morning.
Updated at 18.58 EST