Australia poised to approve sweeping new gun laws, protest ban

Australia’s most populous state was set on Tuesday (December 23, 2025) to approve sweeping laws cracking down on guns and giving authorities the power to ban protests after the nation’s deadliest mass shooting in decades.

Also Read | Australia to introduce laws to crack down on hate speech after Bondi shooting

Father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram are accused of targeting a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach, killing 15 people in what authorities have said was an antisemitic terrorist attack.

Facing growing political pressure over the attack, State and federal governments have proposed radical changes to gun laws and a broad hate speech ban.

The government of New South Wales — where the shooting took place — has recalled its parliament to introduce what it called the “toughest firearm reforms in the country”.

The new rules will cap the number of guns an individual can own to four, or 10 for exempted individuals like farmers.

The legislation will also ban the display of “terrorist symbols”, including the flag of the Islamic State, which was found in a car linked to one of the alleged shooters.

And it will give authorities power to prohibit protests for up to three months following a terrorism incident.

The reforms are expected to pass the upper house of the New South Wales parliament on Tuesday evening or early Wednesday evening.

Premier Chris Minns said the laws “will be a clear message and clear progress to keep the people of New South Wales safe”.

“Whether that’s on gun regulation in New South Wales, or secondly, changes to protest, in order to lower the temperature in Sydney,” he told reporters.

A broad coalition of protest groups have vowed a constitutional legal challenge to the anti-protest laws.

Palestine Action Group Sydney, one of the groups involved in the challenge, accused the state of having “pushed through legislation without due process, attacking our fundamental right to protest”.

It also accused the state of making “unsubstantiated and plainly dishonest links between antisemitism and the Palestine solidarity movement”.

‘Meticulously planned’

Fresh details about the run-up to the Bondi killings have emerged in recent days.

Police documents released Monday said the two alleged gunmen had carried out “firearms training” in what was believed to be the New South Wales countryside.

Authorities alleged the pair “meticulously planned” the attack “for many months”.

The pair also recorded a video in October railing against “Zionists” while sitting in front of a flag of the Islamic State jihadist group and detailing their motivations for the attack, police allege.

And they made a nighttime reconnaissance trip to Bondi Beach just days before the killings, documents showed.

One of the alleged gunmen, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.

His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen, was moved from hospital to Long Bay jail in southeastern Sydney on Monday.

He was charged last week with 15 counts of murder, as well as committing a “terrorist act” and planting a bomb with intent to harm.

He has yet to enter a plea over the charges.