Mourn for Bondi Beach, but now hard questions must be asked

2 months ago 3

Editorial

December 16, 2025 — 7.30pm

Revelations that the two Bondi Beach shooters travelled to the Philippines, parts of which are notorious for Islamic extremism, just weeks before their murderous attack, open the door to the possibility that they may not be just lone fanatics.

While the nation mourns and outflanked authorities scramble to catch up, details emerging about Sunday evening’s massacre suggest failure at every level – federal, state, intelligence and law enforcement.

A Bondi lifeguard places flowers at the makeshift memorial for Bondi shooting victims on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the advice he had received was that the father and son acted alone and “weren’t part of a wider cell”. But the discovery of homemade black ISIS flags in their vehicle at Bondi Beach, together with the Philippines trip, carries sinister wider interpretations.

We have been told the surviving alleged terrorist, Naveed Akram, was previously investigated by Australia’s domestic intelligence agency, ASIO, six years ago, but no action was taken. His dead father, Sajid Akram, had applied to own guns years before and was issued a category AB firearm licence in 2023 that allowed him to possess six guns.

Some of the Akrams’ alerts predate the Hamas raids on Israel in October 2023. While ASIO chief Mike Burgess regularly warns that the national terrorism threat stands at 50 per cent, the fact that the pair travelled to the Philippines without apparently raising alarm bells underscores an inability by both ASIO and NSW authorities to join the dots amid the mounting furore over antisemitism.

There is clearly much ASIO has not told us, but 48 hours after the greatest slaughter of Jews since 2023, Australian authorities remain in the dark about the Akrams’ movements in the Philippines.

The shootings will be the focus of ongoing police investigations led by the Counter Terrorism Command and assisted by the State Crime Command. Premier Chris Minns has indicated there will be an inquiry into the police response.

But people are hurting now. Minns moved to quell criticism, saying police with pistols took on assassins with rifles, and two had been wounded in the line of duty. “They weren’t shot in the back as they were running away. They were shot in the front. I’m sorry to be graphic about it, but if there’s any suggestion that NSW Police didn’t live up to their responsibilities to the people of this state, it should be rejected,” he said.

Of course, there is no criticism of officers on the scene who selflessly faced danger, but the mass shooting does seem to have been a definite failure of police leadership: why, with such a large gathering of Sydney’s Jewish community expected, was there such a paltry police presence, and where were the tactical squads?

If it had not been for hero Ahmed al Ahmed briefly disarming one of the killers before police moved in, where would we be?

The Akrams’ actions have raised the spectre of antisemitism stalking our nation and reopened the divisive debate about immigration. It beggars belief that their history did not reactivate authorities’ interest after the Hamas raids. Better preparedness may have avoided such a tragedy. And a future one.

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