No evidence Bondi attack gunmen operated as part of a terror cell - police

By Sarah Spina-Matthews for ABC News

There is no evidence the two men alleged to have carried out the Bondi terror attack were operating as part of a broader terrorist cell, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) boss has said.

In providing an update on the AFP's counter-terrorism operation launched in wake of the 14 December tragedy, Commissioner Krissy Barrett said Naveed Akram, 24 and his father Sajid - who was shot dead by police at the scene - were alleged to have operated alone.

She said there was no evidence the pair were directed by others to allegedly carry out the antisemitic attack, which left 15 people dead.

"Given impending court processes and other security matters, I can't provide all the details that we have," Barrett told media.

"But I want to provide some information that goes to broader questions and concerns."

Commissioner Barrett also confirmed the pair had spent almost a month in the Philippines in November, but the AFP's "initial assessment" was that they did not undertake any training or "logistical preparation" for the attack there.

"However, I want to be clear, I am not suggesting that they were there for tourism," she said.

When asked if there was any evidence that the pair were supported in their attack in Australia, Barrett declined to answer, saying she did not want to jeopardise the investigation or the ongoing prosecution of Akram.

He has been charged with 59 offences over the shooting, including 15 counts of murder.

"This is one of, if not the most important investigation that the AFP and our partners will ever, ever do," Barrett said.

"We have got a grieving community and we have got a community that is looking for answers, and that is my focus."

Investigation into 'hate preachers'

Commissioner Barrett said the AFP had also been investigating "hate preachers" to potentially pursue prosecutions against them, including under new hate speech reforms announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier this month.

She said her agency has been going through the sermons of such figures "line-by-line".

"We've been focused on these hate preachers and their sermons for a long time, over the last two years. This is not something that has started in the last few weeks.

"We have sought legal advice and expert advice. At this point in time, we don't have any active prosecutions underway.

"That's not to say that we don't have ongoing investigations. And of course, with the new legislation that we will have available to us, that will be very helpful in terms of putting matters before the court."

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke added there were "automatically issues of concern in what has been being said by some of these individuals".

"You have a significant number of individuals who, if they had been on visas, they would no longer be in Australia," he said.

'Expert' needed for review

Speaking at the same press conference, Albanese again defended his government's decision not to hold a national royal commission into the attack following despite calls to do so, including from families of the victims.

Albanese said the government's focus was to "bring the country together".

"This is an atrocity that was opposed by overwhelmingly all but a minuscule element in our society," he said.

"All of these issues, we should not play politics with.

"What we should do is go to the heart of what occurred and, importantly, how do we make sure that this never happens again?"

Burke added that a national review of intelligence agencies, to be led by former defence department secretary Dennis Richardson AC, was more suitable.

He said the work of the review, which would include investigating how potential terror activity could be flagged between countries, was "complex".

"It is best done by the experts. And that's why to review that sort of work, you don't get anyone better than Dennis Richardson," he said.

"You don't get anyone better than a national security expert who has lived his life making these sorts of assessments, rather than somebody who is learning it in the course of an inquiry."

- ABC