SYDNEY: Australia will mark one week since the Bondi Beach mass shooting with a national day of “reflection”, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Friday as he outlined plans for a sweeping gun buyback scheme.
Albanese urged Australians to light candles at 6.47pm on Sunday, Dec 21 – “exactly one week since the attack unfolded”.
“This day is about standing with the Jewish community, wrapping our arms around them, and all Australians sharing their grief,” Albanese told reporters.
“It is a moment to pause, reflect, and affirm that hatred and violence will never define who we are as Australians.”
Australia was also planning a separate “national day of mourning” to be held at some point in the new year, Albanese said.
“This will allow families the time and space to lay their loved ones to rest and to support those still recovering.”
Albanese also announced a nationwide gun buyback scheme to “purchase surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms”.
He said it would be the largest gun buyback effort since 1996, when Australia cracked down on firearms in the wake of a shooting that killed 35 people at Port Arthur.
“Australia’s gun laws were substantially reformed after the Port Arthur tragedy,” Albanese said.
“The terrible events at Bondi show we need to get more guns off our streets.”
Sajid Akram and his son Naveed are accused of killing 15 people in an antisemitic attack at Bondi Beach on Sunday evening, Australia’s deadliest mass shooting since Port Arthur.
