Australian Prime Minister responds to booing at memorial for Bondi Beach victims, addressing anger among local Jews and announcing plans to strengthen penalties for hate speech and further tighten gun regulations.
By World Israel News Staff
Australia’s prime minister responded Monday to anger directed towards him by members of the country’s Jewish community, after he was met with jeers and booing while attending a memorial event a day earlier marking a week since the deadly terrorist attack on a Chanukah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
Speaking at the Australian Parliament, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “sorry” for the Sydney attack, adding that he understands the anger towards him felt by some Australian Jews.
“Emotions were raw and a lot of people in the community are hurting and angry, and some of that anger was directed towards me, and I understand that,” Albanese said.
“As Prime Minister, I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that happened whilst I’m Prime Minister. And I’m sorry for what the Jewish community and our nation as a whole has experienced.”
Albanese said that while the ISIS-inspired attack had been carried out in order to “divide our nation,” it had ultimately brought Australians together, a “triumph” of unity “over division.”
“We’re not going to let the ISIS-inspired terrorists win. We won’t let them divide our society, and we’ll get through this together.”
In his address, Albanese laid out planned policy changes to combat extremism and gun violence.
The measures proposed by his government include tightening the country’s already strict gun-ownership laws, and stricter policing of hate speech.
Other proposed measures include tougher penalties for advocating violence or property destruction against protected groups, making hate motivation an aggravating factor in sentencing, banning extremist and hate organizations, expanding racial vilification and supremacy offenses, canceling visas for individuals linked to hate or extremist activity, tightening hate-symbol laws, and blocking the import of extremist materials.
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