Political leaders across party lines united Monday in condemning the Bondi Beach shooting that killed 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese leading the response by laying flowers and calling it antisemitic terrorism. Flags flew at half-mast nationwide following Australia’s deadliest gun violence in decades.
Opposition leaders, state premiers, and local officials joined the prime minister in expressing grief and solidarity with victims’ families. The bipartisan response emphasized that protecting communities from targeted violence transcends political divisions. Leaders from across the spectrum visited the beachside park where approximately 1,000 Jewish community members had gathered for holiday observances before the roughly ten-minute attack shattered the celebration.
Father-son shooters Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, carried out the assault until security forces killed the elder and critically wounded the younger. The father’s death brought total fatalities to sixteen. Political leaders committed to working together on measures to combat antisemitism and protect religious minorities, though specific policy proposals would emerge after the investigation concluded.
Forty people remained hospitalized, including two police officers whose serious injuries had stabilized. Victims aged ten to 87 represented Australian families that political leaders vowed to support through recovery. Among those wounded was 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, who wrestled a gun from an attacker, with politicians praising his heroism as an example of community courage.
This incident marks Australia’s worst shooting in nearly three decades and created rare political unity during a typically partisan era. Leaders recognized that responding appropriately to targeted violence required rising above routine disagreements to demonstrate shared values. As investigations continued, the unified political response provided some reassurance to traumatized communities that their government stood together against hatred, though the true test would come in sustaining that unity through policy implementation and resource allocation.