Steps toward normality as Bondi shooter locked up
Residents and beachgoers woke up to find tributes to dead Bondi terror victims after the survivor and alleged gunman spent his first night behind bars.
Rolls of flowers, photographs and messages have been removed from the outside of Bondi Pavilion and surrounding walkways following the anti-Semitic terrorist attack in Sydney on 14 December.
Surviving gunman Naveed Akram, 24, and his deceased father, Sajid Akram, 50, are accused of carrying out Australia’s worst mass shooting since 1996, which left 15 innocent people dead.
Police allegations about the ISIS-inspired attackers’ defective bombs, their training in the regional area, the arsenal left behind and reconnaissance work at the massacre site were revealed by the court on Monday.
After parking near a footbridge in Campbell Parade, the men allegedly threw three pipe bombs filled with steel balls and a “tennis ball bomb” at Hannukah celebrations in Archer Park before opening fire.
None of the pipe bombs exploded, although a preliminary police investigation concluded they were “feasible”; A box-like bomb was also allegedly found in the trunk of their car.
Footage recorded in late October showed each Akram training with long-armed weapons and “moving tactically” in a rural area where police suspected he was in NSW.
Further footage from security cameras at Bondi Beach shows the Akrams surveying the area around 48 hours before the attack.
Teenager Akram was discharged from a hospital in Sydney’s north on Monday and transferred to an unnamed prison after being shot by police.
He will be held there until his next hearing in April.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese apologized to the Jewish community for the persecution that occurred on his watch, as he outlined legislation to combat hate speech and develop laws to revoke the visas of non-citizens who preach hatred.
Despite urging from Labor backers Ed Husic and Mike Freelander, he resisted calling a national royal commission while supporting a state-based inquiry and launching a more limited review of federal intelligence and law enforcement.
The federal opposition continues to shield the prime minister from the fire by publishing its own terms of reference for the federal royal commission.
Mr Albanese shot down the coalition’s claim that the royal commission could report back within six months, which usually takes several years.
“The idea of multiple royal commissions as well as a review being conducted simultaneously would delay action,” he said.
Ms Ley described the claim as a “dismissal” and said Labor could not credibly claim to be acting on behalf of unity when refusing to heed the community’s “clarion call”.
“Urgency means calling on parliament this week to take immediate action,” he said.
