Minns government ‘actively’ considering if Jewish security group should be armed after Bondi attack | Chris Minns
Chris Minns said his government was “actively” considering whether a Jewish security group should be armed following the Bondi terror attack and confirmed police will carry long-armed rifles for the first time at the major New Year’s Eve event in Sydney.
The New South Wales premier said he was considering taking the extraordinary step of arming the Community Safety Group (CSG) after raising questions about reports that police had ignored warnings from the group that the incident posed a high security risk and a greater police presence was required.
Led by a team of security professionals and supported by trained volunteers, CSG monitors threats to the community and ensures security for Jewish events, according to its website.
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“When there was police on the scene, [it was] “It is clearly not enough to deal with the threat, as history has tragically shown,” Minns said. “That’s one of the reasons why we need a royal commission to get the information.” [and] To provide this to the government so that we can make changes that will keep society safe.
“This now means a fundamental change in security protocols and provisions. It also means that we need to take a longer and deeper look at the weaponization of the CSG.
“This is a step we haven’t taken in the past, but the reality is that when it comes to making sure that the community, the Jewish community, in this case, feels safe within their own community when they hold community events, we need to be able to demonstrate and demonstrate that security will be in place to deal with the threat.”
Minns has pledged to the NSW royal commission into the Bondi terror attack. Police allege father-son duo Sajid and Naveed Akram killed 15 people and injured 40 others in an attack on a Jewish festival driven by religiously motivated extremism “aligned with the Islamic State”. Sajid was shot dead by police at the scene and Naveed was detained on 59 charges, including one of committing an act of terrorism.
Minns said police will be carrying long-armed rifles at New Year’s Eve celebrations in Sydney, adding: “This may be contradictory to some people, but the truth is we want to make sure they are in a position to send out the message that security is the number one obligation of any government, and you’ll see that over the coming weeks.”
Police carried long-armed guns and snipers were positioned atop buildings overlooking Bondi during last Sunday’s vigil, which marked the week since the attack, which fell on the last night of Hanukkah.
Asked by a reporter on Sunday whether he would take that step, Minns said he would not rule out requesting the deployment of army troops to protect Jewish settlements following the attack.
“We are discussing this issue. I am not ready to go ahead because this is obviously a change for us,” he said. “But I’m just marking everyone. I’m not going to rule anything out.”
Guardian Australia understands there are currently no discussions with the government about whether troops should or could be deployed. The Prime Minister’s comments indicated that this was among a number of security options being considered.
The prime minister’s office was contacted to obtain a response to the prime minister’s comment.
Asked at the press conference what his message would be to Sydneysiders who might feel “uncomfortable” seeing police walking around with long-armed rifles, he said: “Look, that’s my feeling and I haven’t spoken to everyone in Sydney… but I’ve spoken to a lot of parents and they would feel a lot more comfortable if there was a heavy police presence.”
“This includes the firepower needed to confront some evil terrorists on a bridge at Bondi if these conditions are repeated.”
