Thousands join paddle-out in honour of Bondi victims
We have some photos from the Bondi paddle-out this morning, when surfers entered the water to pay tribute to the victims of Sunday’s Hanukah terror attack. The ABC reported thousands attended the event this morning.
Key events
Benita Kolovos
“Drink driving is an incredibly serious issue. So is road trauma. We recognise that, and I am truly sorry.
She says prior to the random breath test, Yorick was involved in a “minor collision with another vehicle”.
“To step back through the sequence of events, there had been that minor back end collision – a fender bender, when the cars came to a stop at the intersection. Details were exchanged. The other driver indicated they were okay, and both went on their way. And it was a little bit further up the road towards Bendigo, where Victoria Police had established a roadside breath testing operation where they were waving vehicles in three at a time. And he was waved in as part of that, and quite clearly, was quite willing to submit to a breath test.
The couple will pay for the damage to the other vehicle, she says.
Allan says, “there was no contemplation that he would have received that reading of exactly .05”.
“I was deeply shocked. I was deeply shocked, disappointed and embarrassed.
Benita Kolovos
Allan says the evening before, the couple had celebrated their son’s birthday at a local pub. She says:
We headed home around 8pm. My husband is also currently taking medication for a health issue, and as a result of the medication mixing with the alcohol from the night before, he simply shouldn’t have been driving.
She says the couple have made a $1,000 donation to Amber Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation providing free professional counselling, road incident support and road safety education.
Benita Kolovos
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has announced her husband Yorick, has lost his licence after he blew over the limit following a minor collision.
She says:
I wish to advise it yesterday morning, just before 9am my husband Yorick, was going into the supermarket in Bendigo to pick up some groceries when he was pulled over for a random breath test. As a result of this test, he blew point .05.
He has, as a result received an on the spot fine and lost his license for three months. This will take effect from the 16th of January.
Tom McIlroy
Dan Repacholi says gun laws must not be designed ‘to appease public anger without improving safety’
Labor MP and Olympic shooter Dan Repacholi has pushed back on plans by the Albanese government and the states to tighten gun laws, warning new rules must not be responsible for law-abiding firearms owners.
In a lengthy post on social media on Friday, Repacholi said measures that are blunt or symbolic, “or simply designed to appease public anger without improving safety” are not the answer.
The member for Hunter, Repacholi is a five-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
“Like you, I am a licensed firearms owner. I’ve gone through the same background checks, fit and proper person assessments, training, waiting periods and storage requirements as everyone else. I understand the responsibility that comes with lawful ownership, and I know that the overwhelming majority of firearms owners do the right thing.
“What happened at Bondi was horrific and should never have occurred. People are right to ask hard questions about whether it could have been prevented. From what we are learning, the focus should be on information sharing, risk identification and enforcement of existing powers, not on arbitrary limits that penalise people who have done nothing wrong.
“NSW police already have significant powers to suspend or cancel licences where someone is not fit and proper.
“While I won’t be voting on NSW laws, I will continue to ensure that the concerns raised with my office are passed on to the NSW premier and relevant state MPs, and that the voices of responsible firearms owners are part of that discussion.
“I strongly encourage you to put your concerns directly to your NSW MP and the premier.
“I continue to speak with the relevant NSW ministers, stakeholders and members of my community about these changes and will work throughout the coming days to make sure those in the NSW parliament understand the impacts these changes can have on the sport I love.”
Here’s our story on the detention of seven men in Sydney last night.
We’re hoping to have more details as soon as possible.
Mark Butler says PM open to recalling parliament
The health minister, Mark Butler, said the prime minister was “very much open” to recalling parliament to pass the “complex” laws as quickly as possible.
“We want the laws to work because, obviously, the lawyers advising these organisations have ensured that the preachers are able to get right to the legal limits of speech circumscribed by the laws that exist today,” he told ABC TV.
Jewish groups have also welcomed Labor’s announcement to establish an antisemitism education taskforce that will examine how the education system can prevent the issue taking root.
It will be led by David Gonski, a prominent businessman and member of the Jewish community who conducted a landmark review of school funding.
– AAP
The PM has announced the government will invest $42.6 million in immediate mental health supports to meet the needs of those impacted.
This package of supports includes dedicated funding to support the Jewish community, the broader Bondi community, first responders, children and young people. Targeted mental supports for the Jewish community ($14.2 million) will be made available through organisations with established links to communities nationally. A further $4.5 million will be provided to Primary Health Networks in the Sydney region and broader areas with significant Jewish communities, who’ve been impacted to provide additional psychological therapies.
Police patrol Bondi as part of Operation Shelter
Police are continuing proactive patrols at Bondi and other key locations as part of Operation Shelter.
In a statement, NSW police said after the Bondi Beach terror attack on Sunday, Operation Shelter has been strengthened, with an increase in support and resources.
Currently, the high-visibility operation includes public place patrols and proactive taskings – with assistance from officers attached to central metropolitan, south-west metropolitan and north-west metropolitan region, public order and riot squad, tactical operations unit, PolAir, traffic and highway patrol command, marine area command, rescue and bomb disposal unit and the dog squad.
The Operation Shelter commander, Assistant Commissioner Stephen Hegarty, said:
NSW police officers, tasked under Operation Shelter, have been conducting proactive patrols at key locations and working closely with locals in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and across the state.
Every Australian, no matter their race or religion, should be able to live without prejudice or discrimination.
There is no place in New South Wales for hate-related crimes or discrimination of any kind; anyone with intent to incite or cause fear, harm, or commit any criminal offence will be dealt with accordingly.
More than $5m donated across Bondi fundraisers
From AAP:
More than $5m has been donated across various fundraisers, with more than 70,000 donations from people in more than 60 countries made to verified pages for victims, GoFundMe said.
This includes $2.5m for Bondi hero Ahmed al-Ahmed, who wrestled a firearm from one of the gunmen before being shot twice in the arm.
“I deserve it?” he asked, as he was presented with the oversized cheque.
In a video posted to social media, he urged people across the world to “stand with each other, all human beings and forget everything bad … keep going to save lives”.
The Police Association of NSW has also set up appeals for two officers injured in the attack, including one who could lose his vision permanently, that have reached nearly $750,000.
More than 25,000 blood donations have been made since an appeal for help from Lifeblood after the attack.
Sussan Ley says security agencies have insufficient funding
Sussan Ley earlier mentioned the terror threat level – it was raised from “possible” to “probable” in August 2024 and has remained there since.
Ley said security agencies have not been properly funded.
They can’t do it without the resources they need. And part of our package is actually to lift those resources. Because the threat went from possible to probable, but the resources went down.
How can we support our agencies to do the work? And how can we leave it to them to gather the intelligence that they clearly need to? Because people have been allowed into this country without being properly screened to have the values that we want them to, that we need them to have, to contribute to our community.
Fifteen patients still in hospital with Bondi shooting injuries
There are currently 15 patients receiving care in several Sydney hospitals for their injuries, NSW Health has said.
No new people were discharged overnight, but one patient has moved from critical to critical-but-stable, and one from critical-but-stable to stable.
As of 8am, Friday 19 December:
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One patient is in a stable condition at Prince of Wales hospital.
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One patient is in a critical but stable condition and one patient is in a stable condition at St George hospital.
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Two patients are in a critical but stable condition and two patients are stable at St Vincent’s Hospital.
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One patient is in a critical but stable condition and four patients are stable at Royal Prince Alfred hospital.
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Three patients are in a stable condition at Royal North Shore hospital.
We have some more photos here that show the huge numbers of people who headed to Bondi this morning for the paddle-out, organised by members of the Jewish community and local surf clubs.
A recitation of Psalm 23 was held in the moment before the paddle-out.
Thousands join paddle-out in honour of Bondi victims
We have some photos from the Bondi paddle-out this morning, when surfers entered the water to pay tribute to the victims of Sunday’s Hanukah terror attack. The ABC reported thousands attended the event this morning.
Sussan Ley says parliament should be recalled
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is speaking to the ABC. She says parliament should be recalled urgently.
They haven’t addressed the antisemitism that has been allowed to fester, particularly on our university campuses. With respect to hate speech, it is quite simple.
Will we look at the environment that we’re in now and what happened in south-western Sydney with counter-terrorism police, car ramming, getting people out on the streets in a situation you would expect to see in an overseas war zone? That tells you the threat level is probable.
The resources given to our agencies have dropped. My message is clear, and laws can be put in place to implement this. If you preach hatred, if you preach radical Islam in a way that hurts and harms your fellow man, if you incite violence or glorify terrorism, and you are here and you are not an Australian citizen, you will be deported.
Shadow immigration minister calls for expanding powers to strip citizenship
Scarr also called for expanding powers to strip citizenship:
We would expand the elements that would trigger that power to actually strip an Australian citizenship from a dual citizen. If you go to the relevant provisions of the act in the Citizenship Act, you’ll see a list of triggers for that power, which would be expanded so it captures hate preachers and other people who were disseminating antisemitic material, engaging in that sort of conduct in our community.
And then, secondly, it should be remembered that this applies to dual citizenship, so the assistant minister referred to people not being left stateless, and that is correct. But this would only apply where someone has a citizenship of another country as well as Australian citizenship. It wouldn’t apply to someone who would be left stateless.
