Australia’s Christmas period colored by grief, sadness following Bondi attack: PM Albanese
Canberra, Dec 23 (IANS/GURPUNEET SIDHU) Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that the Christmas period will be colored by ‘grief and sadness’ following the Bondi Beach terror attack.
Albanese said at a press conference in Canberra that the fatal shooting of 15 people that targeted a Jewish festival at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on December 14 was an antisemitic attack on the Jewish community as well as an attack on “Australian values and on Australian society.”
He said that the Christmas period would feel different for many as a result of the attack, but praised the courage, kindness and compassion shown by Australians.
“What is normally a time of celebration and family and faith will this year be colored by grief and sadness, but in the weeks since the attack, we’ve also seen the best of the Australian character and the best of Australian spirit,” he said.
Albanese was speaking in Canberra alongside Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke, who said that the federal government has begun drafting legislation for stricter gun control laws that will be introduced to parliament in 2026.
Burke said that the federal firearms reform package will include a national firearms buyback scheme announced by Albanese on Friday, as well as new import controls for firearm-related goods and new criminal offenses relating to 3D-printed firearms.
Additionally, Burke said that the government is accelerating work to establish a national firearms register and a hate crimes database that will provide the “best possible information” to the public and to authorities responsible for issuing gun licenses, Xinhua news agency reported.
Meanwhile, a vast majority of Australians say they support stricter gun ownership laws in the wake of the fatal mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, two separate polls have found.
The first poll, which was conducted by YouGov over the seven days to Monday, found that 92 per cent of Australians believe gun ownership should be made illegal or that gun ownership laws should be tightened in the wake of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack.
Among poll respondents who identified as supporters of the governing Labor Party, 50 per cent said gun ownership should be made illegal and 47 per cent said laws should be tightened, with the remaining three percent saying there should be no change.
“Australians are united in their support for stronger gun control,” Director of Public Data at YouGov Paul Smith said.
The second opinion poll, which was conducted by market research firm Resolve Strategic and published by Nine Entertainment newspapers on Tuesday, found that 76 per cent of Australians support stricter gun laws, with 10 per cent preferring to keep laws as they are.
The same poll found that 72 per cent of respondents support restricting gun licenses to Australian citizens and over 80 per cent support other measures, including limiting the number of guns a person can own, tougher regulations on high-powered rifles, and a national database to track firearms.
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