Jamaine Punzalan

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17663709464991766370943304.jpeg" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">A mourner lays Israel&#x27;s flag among floral tributes outside Bondi Pavilion in Sydney on December 16, 2025, to honor victims of the Bondi Beach shooting. Australia&#x27;s leaders have agreed to toughen gun laws after attackers killed 15 people at a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach, the worst mass shooting in decades decried as antisemitic &quot;terrorism&quot; by authorities. David Gray, AFP </span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><p>Australia&#x27;s most populous state pushed ahead Monday with what it said were the country&#x27;s strictest gun laws and a ban on displaying &quot;terrorist&quot; symbols after two gunmen killed 15 people celebrating a Jewish festival in Sydney last week.</p><p>A father and son are accused of targeting a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach, killing 15 people in the nation&#x27;s deadliest mass shooting in almost three decades.</p><p>The country observed a minute&#x27;s silence at 6:47 p.m. on Sunday -- exactly a week since the first reports of gunfire.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/12/16/10-year-old-girl-holocaust-survivors-among-bondi-beach-dead-1349">10-year-old girl, Holocaust survivors among Bondi Beach dead</a></div><p>On Monday, the government of New South Wales -- where the shooting took place -- recalled its parliament for two days to introduce what it called the &quot;toughest firearm reforms in the country&quot;.</p><p>&quot;We can&#x27;t pretend that the world is the same as it was before that terrorist incident on Sunday,&quot; New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told reporters.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;d give anything to go back a week, a month, two years, to ensure that didn&#x27;t happen, but we need to make sure that we take steps so that it never happens again.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/12/16/pnp-validating-reports-bondi-beach-shooters-stayed-in-ph-prior-to-attack-0932">Bondi Beach shooters stayed in PH prior to attack, BI confirms</a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2025/12/21/-a-region-moving-forward-minda-rejects-terror-hotspot-tag-over-bondi-shooters-visit-1255">‘A region moving forward’: MinDA rejects &#x27;terror hotspot&#x27; tag over Bondi shooters’ visit</a></div><p>The new rules will cap the number of guns an individual can own to four, or ten for exempted individuals like farmers.</p><p>There are more than 1.1 million firearms in the state, officials said.</p><p>The legislation would also ban the display of &quot;terrorist symbols&quot;, including the flag of the Islamic State, which was found in a car linked to one of the alleged shooters.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/12/16/australia-pm-says-islamic-state-ideology-drove-bondi-beach-shooters-0949">Australia PM says &#x27;Islamic State ideology&#x27; drove Bondi Beach shooters</a></div><p>Authorities will also be able to prohibit protests for up to three months following a terrorism incident.</p><p>Police had said the two alleged gunmen were inspired by &quot;Islamic State ideology&quot;.</p><p>One, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the Bondi attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.</p><p>His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen, remains in hospital under police guard and faces multiple charges, including terrorism and 15 murders.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/12/16/timeline-how-the-bondi-beach-mass-shooting-unfolded-1658">Timeline: How the Bondi Beach mass shooting unfolded</a></div><p>Minns said Monday he would also look into stricter hate speech legislation next year, including restrictions on the phrase &quot;globalise the intifada&quot;.</p><p>The phrase is a common chant at pro-Palestinian rallies and refers to past uprisings against Israeli forces in the occupied territories.</p><p>Australia&#x27;s federal government has also flagged a suite of reforms to gun ownership and hate speech laws, as well as a review of police and intelligence services.</p><p>Australia&#x27;s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced last week a sweeping buyback scheme to &quot;get guns off our streets&quot;.</p><p>It is the largest gun buyback since 1996, when Australia cracked down on firearms in the wake of a mass shooting that killed 35 people at Port Arthur.</p><div><iframe width="725" height="408" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zeicuaCXjJ0" title="Mourners lay flowers by Bondi beach in Sydney memorial | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><iframe width="726" height="408" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_zK7FkUWYlY" title="Bondi Beach shooters barely left Davao hotel room while in PH — sources | ANC" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<p>Australia's most populous state pushed ahead Monday with what it said were the country's strictest gun laws and a ban on displaying "terrorist" symbols after two gunmen killed 15 people celebrating a Jewish festival in Sydney last week.</p>

Australia's most populous state pushed ahead Monday with what it said were the country's strictest gun laws and a ban on displaying "terrorist" symbols after two gunmen killed 15 people celebrating a Jewish festival in Sydney last week.

Australian state pushes tough gun laws, 'terror symbols' ban after shooting

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Australian state pushes tough gun laws, 'terror symbols' ban after shooting

Agence France-Presse

Published Dec 22, 2025 10:39 AM PHT

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Austalia

Bondi Beach

shooting

gun violence

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