Tough new laws will see symbols of hate banned and NSW police empowered to demand people of interest remove face coverings during public events. Minns also backed calls for a Royal Commission to be held into the Bondi Beach terror attack, which claimed the lives of 15 innocent people.Gunman Sajid Akram was wounded and died at the scene, with his son Naveed Akram facing almost 60 charges related to the incident on December 15.
Speaking at a press conference Saturday morning, Premier Chris Minns promised a doubling down on the ban of hateful slogans, and wants to legislate to ban “Globalise the intifada” a term often used by pro-Palestinian protesters.
The Premier of NSW pointed to how two days ago in Britain, police arrested two people “for racially aggravated public order offences” after they allegedly “shouted slogans involving calls for intifada” at a pro-Palestinian protest in central London. Five people in total were arrested, including one for obstructing the arrests of people shouting slogans and two more for public order offences, one of which was “racially aggravated”, the Metropolitan Police told the BBC.
Mr Minns, this week, announced he would recall parliament to fast-track urgent firearm and hate-speech reforms as part of the state government’s response to the shooting. Mr Minns said the laws would make it an offence punishable by up to two years’ jail or a $22,000 fine for anyone publicly displaying terrorist symbols, including ISIS flags.
The penalty would increase to $110,000 where an organisation became involved in any wrongdoing.
While face coverings are currently only required to be removed for police to confirm someone’s identity after arrest, the new restrictions would lower the threshold to include all suspects.
NSW Premier Chris Minns attends the funeral of Tibor Weitzen, who is carried from Chabad of Bondi during his funeral in Sydney, Thursday, December 18, 2025. Photo: AAP /Dean Lewins
Minns also said he believed a Royal Commission was necessary to determine how the event had occurred.
“I think we need a Royal Commission right now,” he said. Legislation underpinning the measures in the wake of last weekend’s deadly Bondi terror attack will be introduced to the NSW parliament on Monday.
“I think we need a Royal Commission right now,” NSW Premier, Chris Minns
“Until we’ve got a full and accurate picture of exactly how this happened, with a plan to ensure that it doesn’t happen again, then I don’t have answers to the people of New South Wales about what happened on Sunday.
“This is the most serious event that’s affected New South Wales for decades. If we’re not going to have a Royal Commission into this, when would you use the powers of that extraordinary provision in our act?”
Albanese: “the darkest week in Australia’s history”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that Sunday, December 21, will be a Day of Reflection to honour the victims of the horrific Bondi Beach terrorist attack.
“Sunday 21 December will be a Day of Reflection to honour the victims of the horrific Bondi Beach terrorist attack. Light a candle and observe a minute of silence at 6:47 PM, exactly one week on, as a quiet act of remembrance. This day is about standing with the Jewish community, wrapping our arms around them, and all Australians sharing their grief.”
He called for a moment of silence, “60 seconds for 15 Australians that should be with us today.”
“Sunday 21 December will be a Day of Reflection to honour the victims of the horrific Bondi Beach terrorist attack. Light a candle and observe a minute of silence at 6:47 PM, exactly one week on, as a quiet act of remembrance.” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
The prime minister also announced that he will be looking to create a “day of mourning” to commemorate the murder of 15 Jewish Australians last Sunday.
Asked by the media if he would take on the NSW Premier’s call to set up a Royal Commission on the tragic events, the PM said he would follow what the NSW government does. This after only days ago discounting the idea of a Royal Commission.
Show of solidarity by Bondi’s lifesaving community on Saturday morning
The announcement of the measures follows an outpouring of solidarity by Bondi’s lifesaving community on Saturday morning. Hundreds of volunteers stood hand in hand with the beach’s world-famous lifeguards, lining almost the entire kilometre-long shoreline.
The red and yellow front, punctuated by the lifeguards in blue, paid tribute to the 15 civilians killed during Sunday’s Hanukkah celebrations at Bondi. Their two-minute silence hung heavy over the beach, as the rhythm of the waves beat against the sandbank.
“The emotions are extremely raw for everyone, and it’s hard,” Waverley Council lifeguard services co-ordinator Daniel McLaughlin told AAP.
“We do a lot of training, knowing these emotions are the normal reaction to a horrific, traumatic event.
“But that doesn’t make it easy.”
Volunteers hugged and cried together in the aftermath of the silence, many reflecting on the people around them, touched by the shocking violence.
Members of the Bondi Surf Life Saving club and lifeguards ran into the fray on Sunday when they heard the gunshots ring out.
Some offered shelter while others provided medical care to those who had been shot.
Many are still decompressing from the events, and Mr McLaughlin acknowledged it would be some time before a sense of normalcy returned to the beach. But he refused to focus on the negative.
“The Australian spirit of bravery and pride came out that day,” the lifeguard said.
“As a community, we will show strength and plant that foot forward and keep going.”
Victims of the shooting are still being treated, with 15 remaining in the hospital.
The NSW government is also set to introduce snap changes that will give the police commissioner powers to suspend the state’s protest authorisation system after a terrorism incident.
The declaration would last two weeks and could be renewed for up to three months.
It could be applied to specific locations or statewide.
But the proposed laws, set to be rushed through a special sitting of NSW parliament next week, are likely to be immediately tested in court.
“These are far too broad powers for the police commissioner,” NSW Council for Civil Liberties president Tim Roberts said.
“The banning of protests will not stop anti-Semitism.”
Jews Against the Occupation ’48 and Greens MP Sue Higginson also came out against the changes.
“Restricting the civil liberties of all Australians due to the actions of two depraved terrorists with guns is not conducive to social cohesion,” Ms Higginson said.
Jewish peak bodies have praised the changes, but say more needs to be done to combat anti-Semitism specifically.
“The right to protest is an Australian value, but so is letting us come together without harassment and intimidation,” NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said.
NSW parliament struck down other protest restrictions earlier this year.
When asked if he was confident his new laws could withstand a court challenge, Mr Minns insisted they were robust.
The state’s Supreme Court can hear urgent applications, including protest matters, every day of the year.
