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‘I’m sorry': Australian PM Anthony Albanese to Jewish community over Bondi Beach shooting
Anthony Albanese on Monday acknowledged the anger directed at him, after he was booed at a vigil on Sunday marking a week since the attack occurred.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday apologised to the Jewish community following the deadly attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, saying that he feels “the weight of the atrocity” that happened on his watch.
Albanese on Monday acknowledged the anger directed at him, after he was booed at a vigil on Sunday marking a week since the attack occurred.
“I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that happened whilst I’m the prime minister. And I’m sorry for what the Jewish community and our nation as a whole has experienced,” Bloomberg quoted Albanese as telling reporters.
The Australian PM’s remarks follow days of criticism from Jewish leaders and opposition parties, who say the government has failed to adequately address a rise in antisemitism over the past two years.
Tightening of gun laws in Australia
The Australian state of New South Wales, where Sydney is located, urgently recalled parliament this week in an effort to tighten gun laws in the wake of the Bondi Beach killings. The new curbs include capping the number of firearms a person can own.
Earlier, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also announced a plan to buy back surplus, newly-banned and illegal firearms last week, saying hundreds of thousands will likely be collected and destroyed.
The federal program would be the largest since the aftermath of the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, a landmark moment in Australia’s gun control reforms.
The Bondi Beach attack was carried out by a father-son duo. The father was killed in an ensuing shootout, while the son, identified as 24-year-old Naveed Akram, has been charged with 59 offences, including murder and terrorism.
The father, who lived in suburban Sydney, had licenses to own six rifles. Court documents released Monday showed the pair conducting firearms training at a rural location that police suspect to be in New South Wales, Reuters reported.
