Lower House slated to rubber-stamp bills later Wednesday

Australian state lawmakers advance bills curbing guns, protests 10 days after Bondi attack

Reforms capping number of guns one can own and granting authorities power to ban protests for up to 3 months after a terror attack pass upper house of New South Wales parliament

Sydney (AFP) — Lawmakers in Australia’s most populous state on Wednesday approved sweeping laws cracking down on guns and giving authorities the power to ban protests after the nation’s deadliest mass shooting in decades.

Father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram are accused of targeting a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing 15 people in what authorities have said was an antisemitic terrorist attack.

Facing growing political pressure over the attack, state and federal governments have proposed changes to gun laws and a broad hate speech ban.

The government of New South Wales — where the shooting took place — has recalled its parliament to introduce what it called the “toughest firearm reforms in the country.”

The reforms passed the Upper House of the New South Wales parliament early Wednesday by a vote of 18 to eight. The legislation now goes back to the Lower House to be rubber-stamped later in the day, public broadcaster ABC reported.

The new rules will cap the number of guns an individual can own to four, or 10 for exempted individuals like farmers.

The legislation will also give authorities the power to prohibit protests for up to three months following a terrorist incident.

State Premier Chris Minns said the laws will “keep the people of New South Wales safe.”

“Whether that’s on gun regulation in New South Wales, or secondly, changes to protest, in order to lower the temperature in Sydney,” he told reporters.

A broad coalition of groups has vowed a constitutional legal challenge to the anti-protest laws.

Palestine Action Group Sydney, one of those involved in the challenge, accused the state of having “pushed through legislation without due process, attacking our fundamental right to protest.” The group’s sister chapter has already been banned in the UK.

Nonetheless, it accused the state of making “unsubstantiated and plainly dishonest links between antisemitism and the Palestine solidarity movement.”

Australia’s federal government is at the same time pushing for new laws creating an aggravated offence for hate preaching, penalties for those deemed to have sought to radicalize minors, and a new register of allegedly extremist groups it will become illegal to join.

It will also pay gun owners to surrender “surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms.”

It would be the largest gun buyback since 1996, when Australia cracked down on firearms following a shooting that killed 35 people at Port Arthur.

‘Meticulously planned’

Fresh details about the run-up to the Bondi killings have emerged in recent days.

Police documents released Monday said the two alleged gunmen had carried out “firearms training” in what was believed to be the New South Wales countryside.

Authorities alleged the pair “meticulously planned” the attack “for many months.”

The pair also recorded a video in October railing against “Zionists” while sitting in front of a flag of the Islamic State jihadist group and detailing their motivations for the attack, police allege.

And they made a nighttime reconnaissance trip to Bondi Beach just days before the killings, documents showed.

One of the alleged gunmen, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.

His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen, was moved from hospital to Long Bay jail in southeastern Sydney on Monday.

He was charged last week with 15 counts of murder, as well as committing a “terrorist act” and planting a bomb with intent to harm.

He has yet to enter a plea over the charges.