Press conference - Canberra

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: I am joined this morning by the AFP Commissioner and Minister Tony Burke. And firstly, I did want to make some comments about natural disasters that are occurring in two places around Australia. Firstly, Tropical Cyclone Hayley has intensified to Category 4, and is located around about 150kms northwest of Broome, with sustained winds of some 165 kilometres per hour. It is expected to potentially reach land this evening. We are hoping that it starts to weaken before making landfall, however, it's still expected to be a Category 3 strength. An evacuation centre has been set up at the Broome Recreation and Aquatic Centre. And Australians' thoughts are with that local community at a difficult time. In Far North Queensland, Kristy McBain will soon be a part of a meeting with the Queensland Government. We've declared the following five LGAs - Cloncurry, Carpentaria, Flinders, McKinlay and Richmond, currently suffering. And there is a major flood watch on the Flinders River. So, they are areas in which Australians will be thinking of them as we approach the New Year.

I've just come from another meeting of the National Security Committee, the 12th since the antisemitic terrorist atrocity at Bondi Beach on December 14. At that meeting we received an update including discussions between what the Commonwealth can do to provide further support for New South Wales in terms of personnel but also assisting with some specialist support that the Commonwealth has access to, and we'll continue to discuss with New South Wales the way in which we can provide every support. We also received an update on the visit to the Philippines of the Akrams. And today we want to make sure in the update that we'll provide for you through the AFP Commissioner that Australians are updated on the work that has been undertaken. This is a full court press of the ASIS, ASIO, the Australian Federal Police, along with our international partners, and the Commissioner will make some comments and then we're happy to take questions.

KRISSY BARRETT, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE COMMISSIONER: Good morning. It has been just over two weeks since two offenders allegedly launched a terrorist attack against Jewish Australians at Bondi Beach. And over the past two weeks the New South Wales Joint Counterterrorism Team has worked methodically to not only charge a person for the alleged terror attack, but more broadly, the AFP and our partners have worked tirelessly to identify and target others who may try to leverage from this heinous hate-filled crime. One man, who we allege was inspired by ISIS, is before the courts which limits what information I can provide or what I can say. However, the Jewish community and the broader Australian public deserves reassurance and answers about how this happened. Given impending court processes and other security matters, I can't provide all the details that we have, but I want to provide some information that goes to broader questions and concerns. I want to underscore that the update I give today is our initial assessment. It's a point in time. The AFP and our partners still have significant investigative work to undertake, and it is possible that new information or evidence may be forthcoming as part of that. There has been much speculation about the two alleged offenders and their travel to the Philippines. I can confirm the two individuals who we allege are responsible for the terror attack at Bondi Beach on 14 December this year spent almost a month in the Philippines. Travel records show they left Sydney for Manila on the 1st of November 2025 and on the same day travelled to Davao City. They arrived back in Sydney from the Philippines on 29 November 2025. The initial assessment from the Philippine National Police is that the individuals rarely left their hotel and there is no evidence to suggest they received training or underwent logistical preparation for their alleged attack. CCTV footage capturing their stay in the Philippines has been provided to the AFP and we are currently reviewing that material. What this points to, and I will again advise this is a point in time assessment, is that these individuals are alleged to have acted alone. There is no evidence to suggest these alleged offenders were part of a broader terrorist cell or were directed by others to carry out an attack. However, I want to be clear, I am not suggesting that they were there for tourism. An AFP analyst is deployed to the Philippines after the attack to support our members who are based in Manila and work very closely with the Philippine National Police. I want to thank the Philippine National Police for their cooperation in assisting with our investigation. Without their swift response, much of the CCTV footage that is now under review by our investigators would not have been available. We have been working with the Philippine National Police to counter terrorism in our region for decades and their assistance during the past fortnight has been absolutely crucial. Countering extremism and radicalisation is critical to helping keep Australia and our region safe. Since I became Commissioner, most of my public comments have centred on how the AFP is targeting radicalisation and extremism. I established our flying squad of hate disruptors who focus on high harm, high impact, politically-motivated violence, communal violence and hate crimes that do not meet the threshold for terrorism investigations but drive fear and division. And again, I take the opportunity to reiterate that the AFP has had ongoing investigations for some time into those who corrupt Islam in their radical recruitment drive for hatred and fear. We have gone through the sermons line by line, sought out experts and legal advice on charging those who we believe are inciting hatred towards the Jewish community. The AFP welcomes the Federal Government's plans to strengthen hate speech laws. I remain concerned about vulnerable adults and youth who are susceptible or open to manipulation by religious and other extremists who encourage violence or desensitise violence. Radicalisation and extremism can provide a pipeline of recruits to terror groups who are willing to use violence to advance their cause. The AFP will be visible and vocal on those we charge and importantly, the work of the National Security Investigations teams to disrupt early and to deter and prevent violence. We won't put a time limit on our vigilance. We will be here every day to help keep Australians safe. Thank you.

JOURNALIST: Yesterday, a couple of the reasons you and Mr. Burke gave for not holding a Royal Commission was to platform to antisemitic views and was not the best format for national security issues. Victims and Jewish leaders are saying they want these views put out there, they want a light shone on this and national security experts are dismissing that it wouldn't have been appropriate for national security. So, what's your explanation to continuing to refuse to go down this track? And are you gaslighting victims?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I recognise that many of the calls for a Royal Commission come from a good place. This atrocity is something which, understandably, people want answers on how it occurred. I want answers too, and I want justice done. That's why these two perpetrators, one of them is dead, the other has been charged and will go through the justice system. And we need to make sure that the younger of the Akrams is held to account. On top of that, we will have a New South Wales Royal Commission that will look at the actions clearly of New South Wales authorities, including the police response, gun licencing issues that are the prerogative of the New South Wales Government. But also, we've said very clearly that the Commonwealth Government will cooperate with those processes and will provide whatever information is requested and is necessary during those processes. Of course, there are lessons to be learned and we, of course, will fully support New South Wales in that process. But in the meantime as well, we want to make sure that there are no gaps in the federal system. So, our position is not out of convenience, it is out of conviction that this is the right direction to go in. And the actual experts, who are the current experts, have all recommended this course of action. And we are following the advice that we receive from authorities who are in 2025 dealing with this atrocity. Now we, in the meantime, we want to make sure as well that we do deal with this. That is what the Richardson Review will do. It will look at a comprehensive examination of what occurred, if there are any gaps, if there are any gaps between the Commonwealth and New South Wales as well, what response is required thoroughly, practically and efficiently reporting in months, not years ahead, acting with unity and urgency, not division and delay. And that is the process that we are undertaking. On the broader challenge of antisemitism, the government has acted. We appointed the first ever Special Envoy to combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal. We're implementing her recommendations. They cover law enforcement, education, universities, social media, the media, migration and citizenship, foreign affairs and civil society. Now, those recommendations build on the measures that we've already put in place. We put in place Operation Avalite, that brings together AFP and ASIO, that's working with state and territory governments. We introduced Australia's first ever hate speech laws. We've enacted a landmark ban on the Nazi salute and hate symbols. We criminalised doxing, something that was opposed by the Coalition in the Senate, the malicious release of personal information which was used to target particularly artists in the Jewish community. We appointed Australia's first ever National Student Ombudsman. We created and have launched a National Hate Crimes and Incidents Database. We've imposed counterterrorism financing sanctions on the white supremacist terrorist network Terrorgram. And importantly, we uncovered through the extraordinary work of the AFP and the agencies and I want to pay tribute to them for the work that they do each and every day, we uncovered the involvement of the IRGC, the Iranians, over some of the antisemitic incidents that had occurred. And we expelled the Iranian Ambassador. That is the first time that an ambassador has been expelled from Australia since the Second World War. Now, we know that there is more to do as well. We're going to legislate a crackdown on preachers and leaders who promote violence. We're going to introduce new powers to cancel or reject visas for those who spread hate and division in this country. And importantly as well, we're going to make sure that extremists can't buy high powered weapons over the counter. How is it that this guy in Bonnyrigg had six high powered weapons? And that is an issue as well. Now, we'll continue to do what is necessary. We'll continue to act with strength. We'll continue to engage with the Jewish community in particular, but the broader community as well. I had a meeting, as you're aware, with the Leader of the Opposition yesterday. We want to work on providing solutions here, which is what we are determined to do, to do the right thing, not necessarily the easy thing.

JOURNALIST: Can I just get clarity on - you said that the current national security experts were not in favour of Royal Commission. Does that mean the heads of the national security agencies and law enforcement agencies have advised you against holding the Royal Commission?

PRIME MINISTER: We have a National Security Committee and we receive advice from all of those bodies as part of that process. We'll go here and then we'll go over there.

JOURNALIST: During ongoing conversations with Premier Minns about what support the Commonwealth can provide in terms of security for the Jewish community, can you run through some of the options? The army has been spoken about. Could the AFP potentially be deployed?

PRIME MINISTER: The AFP are being deployed. We're looking at further consideration of that. And there is, particularly, some particular logistical skills that the Commonwealth has, some of which we'll go into, some of which we won't, with regard to surveillance, that, some of which we've made available, more of which upon request, we will as well. Yeah, I'll go here and then we'll go over there.

JOURNALIST: Just one for the Commissioner, if that's all right.

PRIME MINISTER: Sure.

JOURNALIST: If your initial investigation suggests the Akrams weren't trained in the Philippines, have you got any lines of investigation or evidence that they were being supported here in Australia? And are you willing to testify before a New South Wales Royal Commission in person?

COMMISSIONER BARRETT: I'll answer the first part of your question first in relation to the Akrams, that is part of our ongoing investigation, so I won't talk too much about that. As I said in my statement, we do have a matter before court and my number one priority is protecting that prosecution as well as protecting the Jewish community. We need to be able to let the investigators do the work that they need to do. In relation to your second question, we will cooperate in any inquiry that we are asked to.

JOURNALIST: I've also got a question for the Commissioner and perhaps Minister Burke, if I may. Given the history of the Philippines being a harbour for potential terrorist cells, does there need to be any further looking into people who are travelling to the Philippines from Australia? Is that part of your considerations in terms of those investigations? And you also mentioned that you were going through some of the sermons and some of these concerning preachers line by line. Have you found anything concerning so far?

COMMISSIONER BARRETT: Again, I'll answer the first part of that question first. As I said in my statement, we have worked with the Philippine National Police for many, many years, specifically on counterterrorism and our joint efforts there. And of course, there is a lot of information sharing between relevant agencies, both in the Philippines and Australia that has been occurring for decades. So, that I think the importance of that and the relationships we've built have really come to the fore and we see how effective and how important the cooperation with the Philippine National Police has been over the last couple of weeks. And my apologies, can you please ask the second question?

JOURNALIST: The second - you said that you were going through sermons line by line of some of these concerning preachers. Have you found it to be concerned?

COMMISSIONER BARRETT: So, firstly, can I say we've been focused on these hate preachers and their sermons for a long time, over the last few years. This is not something that has started in the last few weeks. It is something that has been a very high priority of mine and very high priority of our Operation Avalite and now our National Security Investigations teams. We have, as I said, gone through line by line. We have sought legal advice and expert advice. At this point in time, we don't have any active prosecutions underway. That's not to say that we don't have ongoing investigations. And of course, with the new legislation that we will have available to us, that will be very helpful in terms of putting matters before the Court.

JOURNALIST: And if I might have got that to Minister Burke, specifically, does there need to be more monitoring of people who are travelling to the Philippines?

TONY BURKE, MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS: Yes, I'll deal with both if I may. First of all, in terms of, there are alerts for different people that are provided by lists that are maintained by the Department of Home Affairs where alerts are made to other agencies. As you'd expect, one of the things that the Richardson Inquiry will go into is to make sure that that is fit for purpose. Obviously, there are some countries where there is almost no valid tourism industry there at all. And it raises a very high level of alarm. There are other countries where there is a mixture of people going there for legitimate reasons and people going travelling for nefarious reasons. And then there are other countries where an alert might come up, but it wouldn't necessarily raise the ire that then has to get measured against the risk profile that's been done of individuals. That work is complex. It is best done by the experts and that's why to review that sort of work, you don't get anyone better than Dennis Richardson. You don't get anyone better than a national security expert who has lived his life making these sorts of assessments, rather than somebody who is learning it in the course of an inquiry. Respect to what you've also said with hate preachers, let me say this because it has gone to issues around visa cancellation and around issues of criminality when it was raised. And I, I know nothing was meant by the framing of the question, but let me say, have we found issues of concern? There are automatically issues of concern in what has been being said by some of these individuals. You have a significant number of individuals who, if they had been on visas, they would no longer be in Australia. The simplest example of that I would give is someone who was not a hate preacher, but who made a speech at an event where he described October 7th as a day of celebration. Within days, he was no longer in Australia. So, there are actions when people are on visas that we take, and we take very quickly. The challenge that we have with respect to hate preachers is the connection has legally been, are they specifically calling for violence? The reality is it is already unacceptable to Australians. It is already at a point that someone is making clear through antisemitic rants that they hate modern Australia. And when people are in that situation, not only is it something which should already hit a criminal threshold, it also provides and assists in the motivation that the violent person is looking for. So, up until now, the law of Australia has kept these two issues quite separate in the criminal world. What we are doing now, and I'm meeting daily with the Department of Home Affairs on this and pressure testing as legislation is being developed by the Department of the Attorney General with the agencies ASIO and the Australian Federal Police, to make sure that we can simply say what hate preachers have been saying is not simply unacceptable. We want it to be illegal. We want it to be criminal. And that's the legislation we're drafting.

JOURNALIST: In announcing the terms of reference yesterday for the Dennis Richardson Review, you said in your words that there had been extensive consultation. Can you talk us through what that involved and who it involved and what the engagement was with the victim's family?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have engaged with Mr. Richardson and with members of the community. I have gone through a range of meetings that I have had, including in recent days. We want to make sure, when we come to the references, that Mr. Richardson will consider what the agencies knew about the alleged offenders before the attack, the information sharing between the Commonwealth and State agencies, what judgements were made and actions taken by agencies, whether there were any additional measures that Commonwealth agencies could have taken, whether Commonwealth agencies were prevented from taking prohibitive actions by the current legislative framework. And that's important to feed into, if there are any further legislative changes which are needed, and then what additional measures should be taken by relevant Commonwealth agencies to prevent similar attacks occurring in the future. Including the -

JOURNALIST: No mention of antisemitism, is that a mistake?

PRIME MINISTER: The whole framework is about that. The whole framework - I note the front page of The Aus today, but the whole framework of this review is about that, by Dennis Richardson. And what we need to do at this time is to look at ways in which we can have our common humanity and our common interest. This is an atrocity that was opposed by overwhelmingly, all but a minuscule element in our society and what we need to do, and my job as the leader, as the Prime Minister, is to bring the country together, not to seek to divide, not to seek differentiation, but to seek common interest. And that is what I continue to do. That is what I will continue to do as well, because that is the responsibility that I have. Easy options of looking into the past - if you look at the dates in which occurrences have occurred -1998, a visa granted, 2000, 2001, those visas adjusted, 2013, the first granting of a gun licence, 2019, an investigation by ASIO into the younger Akram. All of these issues we should not play politics with. What we should do is go to the heart of what occurred and importantly, how do we make sure that this never happens again? And how do we make sure that the Jewish community feels safe? Because they have every right in this country to practice their faith openly and to, in the case of the Chanukah event, as Rabbi Ulman has said, one of the things that they've done every year is invite other people, Jewish and non-Jewish, to that event to celebrate Chanukah, which is the victory of light over dark. Now I am absolutely determined, as is my government, as is, I believe, overwhelmingly the people in Australian society determined to see a victory of light over dark, to not look for the darkness and celebrate that, to crush the darkness, to push it into oblivion and to celebrate light and going forward. Now, the Australian covenant, which has been the basis of particularly our post war period, is that when people enter into Australia and go through the customs hall, they leave any prejudices and any hatreds in that hall and they celebrate Australia, who we are, modern Australia and respect each other and respect our common humanity. That's what I want to see and everything that my government will do is determined to do that.

JOURNALIST: Commissioner, do you think that launching a Federal Royal Commission into antisemitism would damage national unity and security? And secondly, can you share any details about what was in the guns video manifesto?

COMMISSIONER BARRETT: So, the first question is not a question for me to answer in relation to a Federal Royal Commission, it's a matter for government. Secondly, in your question around the video, I won't be going into any further detail other than what I've already provided today. As I've said, we've got a prosecution before the court and I really want to be clear that this is one of, if not the most important investigation that the AFP and our partners will ever, ever do. We have got a grieving community, and we have got a community that is looking for answers and that is my focus and therefore I won't do anything or say anything that would potentially jeopardise investigation and our prosecution.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the Australian Defence Association has criticised any for potential moves to deploy army personnel in Bondi, saying they don't necessarily have patrolling skills and policing skills. Is this a step too far and can you provide any more detail on what kind of support that defence would provide?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course we have a range of security personnel. The AFP have a job to do. New South Wales Police have a job to do. Security agencies, defence historically have not been put on the streets of for domestic security purposes. They don't go through - they perform a very different role. What we are doing with New South Wales constructively is, I'll discuss further with Premier Minns what is the best way in which the Commonwealth can supplement the work that New South Wales is doing. New South Wales - I note Premier Minns calling upon people to celebrate New Year's Eve and I certainly hope that happens. You know, it is a great thing that Australians are able to enjoy each other's company, whether people they know or in many places, of course, people they don't know, by definition of gathering in public places. Security arrangements from New South Wales have clearly stepped up in that and that's a good thing. But we'll continue to work arm in arm with New South Wales, will continue to work as well with the, our agencies. And I do want to thank Commissioner Barrett for having us here, AFP having another briefing, another chance for us to as well thank the people who are working around the clock. They've continued to do it. They serve us well as a nation and I thank them for it. I also want to take the opportunity to thank, given the Commissioner's report, President Marcos, my friend, the President of the Philippines as well. Through him, the agencies in the Philippines have done everything they can to provide information in a timely way, and that's a good thing. Thanks very much.