Australian PM announces terms for review into Bondi Beach attack
Canberra, Dec 29 (IANS/GURPUNEET SIDHU) Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday announced the terms for an independent review of the Bondi Beach terror attack, but he again resisted calls to launch a royal commission.
The review, led by former intelligence chief Dennis Richardson, will assess whether multiple agencies, including the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Federal Police, operated as effectively as possible prior to the attack.
The review will also consider what judgements the agencies made and whether any additional measures could have prevented the attack.
The review is expected to be completed and published by April, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
The opposition and some families of Bondi Beach shooting victims have urged the prime minister to launch a royal commission — the highest form of inquiry on matters of public importance in Australia.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said an independent review — instead of a royal commission — would allow the government to “deal squarely with the urgency of national security issues.”
Sixteen people, including one alleged gunman, were killed in the mass shooting at Bondi Beach on December 14. The perpetrators have been identified as 50-year-old Sajid Akram and his son, 24-year-old Naveed Akram, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier on December 24, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had said he had asked the governor-general to institute a special honors list for first responders and other heroes from the Bondi fatal mass shooting.
Albanese had said that the recipients, who would be announced in 2026, would include police, medical staff, and members of the community who rushed to help in the wake of the terror attack.
The parliament of Australia’s state of New South Wales (NSW) had passed tough new gun and protest laws in response to the fatal mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, the ABC had reported.
—
