Australian PM announces national gun buyback following Bondi Beach shooting

Canberra: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday announced that a national firearm buyback scheme will be established to reduce the number of guns in the community following the Bondi Beach shooting.

Albanese said at a press conference in Canberra that the federal government will establish a national buyback to purchase and destroy surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms.

The scheme will mimic a buyback that was established in response to the fatal shooting of 35 people at Port Arthur in the island state of Tasmania in 1996.

The fatal shooting of 15 people at Bondi Beach on Sunday night was Australia’s most deadly mass shooting since the 1996 attack, which prompted a major overhaul of the country’s gun laws.

Albanese said on Friday that there are currently over 4 million firearms in Australia, more than there were at the time of the Port Arthur massacre.

Australia’s states and territories will be responsible for collection, processing and payments under the buyback, and the Australian Federal Police will be responsible for destroying the surrendered firearms.

Albanese said he expects hundreds of thousands of firearms will be collected and destroyed, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Sajid Akram, one of the two armed men involved in Sunday’s mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that left 16 people dead, originally hails from Hyderabad but had limited contact with the family after migrating to Australia in 1998, police said.

Telangana Director General of Police B. Shivdhar Reddy said that the state police has no adverse record against Akram during his stay in India prior to his departure in 1998.

The factors that led to the radicalisation of Sajid Akram and his son, Naveed, appear to have no connection with India or any local influence in Telangana, the DGP said in a statement.

He also stated that Telangana Police remain committed to cooperating with central agencies and other counterparts, as and when required.

The police chief urged the public and media to avoid speculation or attribution without verified facts.

The mass shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney, on Sunday, by two perpetrators, during a public Hanukkah celebration, resulted in the deaths of 15 victims and one of the two attackers.

The attackers have been identified as Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed Akram, 24.

Reports indicate that they were inspired by ISIS ideology. Further investigation in this regard is being carried out by Australian authorities.

Sajid Akram is originally from Hyderabad. He completed his B.Com degree in Hyderabad and migrated to Australia in search of employment, approximately 27 years ago, in November 1998.

He subsequently married Venera Grosso, a European origin woman, before settling permanently in Australia. They have one son, Naveed (one of the two attackers) and one daughter.

IANS