Australian PM Anthony Albanese will recall both houses of parliament to pass legislation and offer condolences to Bondi victims. Photo: ABC News / Matt Roberts
Australia's parliament will re-open two weeks early to crack down on hate crimes and gun ownership, following the mass shooting at Bondi Beach.
Australia has flagged a suite of reforms to hate crime and gun laws since the 14 December attack on a Jewish festival that killed 15 people - the country's deadliest mass shooting in nearly three decades.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would recall both houses of parliament for a sitting from 19/20 January to pass the new legislation and offer condolences to the victims.
Members of parliament were scheduled to return from their summer break on 3 February.
"The terrorists at Bondi Beach had hatred in their minds, but guns in their hands," Albanese told a news conference. "This law will deal with both."
The legislation would create new offences for "hate preachers", stiffen hate crime penalties, expand a ban on prohibited symbols and set the framework for a new list of banned hate groups.
It would allow the home affairs minister to reject or cancel visas for people intending to spread hatred, the prime minister said.
The laws would enable the launch of a national guns buyback scheme, the largest since Australia last targeted firearms, following a mass shooting in 1996 that killed 35 people at Port Arthur, Tasmania.
Stricter checks would also be imposed for gun licences, the government said.
Details of the draft laws were to be released publicly on Tuesday.
Last week, the government announced a royal commission inquiry into the Bondi Beach shooting.
The federal royal commission - the highest level of government inquiry - would probe everything from intelligence failures to the prevalence of antisemitism in Australia.
Sajid Akram and son Naveed allegedly targeted Jews attending a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach.
Sajid, 50, was shot and killed by police during the assault. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.
Tweny-four-year-old Naveed, an Australian-born citizen who remains in prison, has been charged with terrorism and 15 murders.
- AFP
