Australia to investigate Bondi Beach shooting
On Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that Australia would launch a royal commission inquiry into the mass shooting at Bondi Beach, which resulted in 15 deaths, amid growing public calls for answers.
"I've repeatedly said that our government's priority is to promote unity and social cohesion. And this is what Australia needs to heal," he told reporters, News.Az reports, citing foriegn media.
Sajid Akram and his son Naveed allegedly targeted Jews attending a Hannukah celebration near the beach in an ISIS-inspired attack on December 14, the nation's worst mass shooting for 30 years.
The federal royal commission -- the highest level of government inquiry -- will probe everything from intelligence failures to the prevalence of antisemitism in Australia.
Victims' families, business leaders, sports stars and eminent scientists have put their names to open letters urging a sweeping investigation into the attack.
Albanese repeatedly brushed off these demands before relenting to mounting public pressure.
"What we've done is listen, and we've concluded that where we have landed today is an appropriate way forward for national unity," Albanese said.
Royal commissions hold public hearings and can sometimes run for years.
The Bondi Beach shooting inquiry will be led by Virginia Bell, a widely respected former High Court judge.
Alleged gunman Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the assault.
An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.
His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen who remains in prison, has been charged with terrorism and 15 murders.
The mass shooting has sparked national soul-searching about antisemitism, anger over the failure to shield Jewish Australians from harm, and promises to stiffen gun laws.
Police and intelligence agencies are facing difficult questions about whether they could have acted earlier.
Naveed Akram was flagged by Australia's intelligence agency in 2019 but he slipped off the radar after it decided that he posed no imminent threat.
Victims' families penned an open letter in December urging Albanese to "immediately establish a Commonwealth Royal Commission into the rapid rise of antisemitism in Australia".
"We demand answers and solutions," they wrote.
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