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Australia announces new gun purchase scheme after Bondi terror attack

2025-12-19 08:38:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Australian government has announced a new national firearms buyback scheme following the Bondi Beach terror attack that killed 15 people and injured dozens more, the deadliest attack in Australia in decades.

The new scheme is the biggest since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, which led to some of the world's strictest gun control laws. Authorities said the main aim is to reduce the number of guns in circulation and prevent similar attacks in the future.

Police say Sunday's attack was carried out by a father and son motivated by Islamic State ideology. Naveed Akram, 24, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and committing a terrorist act, while his father, Sajid, was killed in the attack.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there were more than 4 million firearms in Australia – more than at the time of the Port Arthur massacre. He noted that one of the perpetrators had a gun permit and owned six firearms, despite living in a dense urban area.

The new scheme will be jointly funded by the federal government and states, on a 50-50 basis, and is expected to lead to the collection and destruction of hundreds of thousands of illegal, newly banned or unnecessary firearms.

Other measures include placing limits on the number of weapons an individual can possess, restricting indefinite-term licenses, tightening criteria for the types of weapons allowed, and making Australian citizenship a condition for obtaining a firearms license.

Authorities will also accelerate the creation of a national firearms registry and give regulators greater access to criminal intelligence.

Meanwhile, police in New South Wales have announced that they are monitoring several people with extremist ideologies, stressing that authorities will not tolerate any risk to public safety./ CNA