Albanese confirms ASIO probed Bondi shooter’s IS links

• Follow our live coverage of the Bondi shooting here.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed domestic spy agency ASIO took an interest six years ago in one of the shooters in Sunday’s Bondi massacre as law enforcement agencies face questions about whether they could have done more to prevent the most deadly terror attack on Australian soil.

Albanese and state and territory leaders also flagged on Monday evening that they would pursue major changes to strengthen national gun control laws and ensure regulations were consistent across the country after it was revealed one of the attackers legally owned six firearms.

Sydney father and son Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram have been identified as the two men who opened fire on participants at a Hanukkah ceremony at Bondi, killing at least 15 people.

Police confirmed that the father was shot dead on Sunday, while the son was in a critical but stable condition in hospital on Monday.

Albanese told reporters on Monday afternoon that “the son first came to attention in October 2019”.

“He was examined on the basis of being associated with others, and the assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence,” Albanese said.

He continued: “The assessment was made because of the son’s associations that he had at that time, and the investigation went for a period of six months.”

A law enforcement source told this masthead that Naveed Akram, 24, was flagged by authorities in 2019 because he was believed to be accessing extremist online material or socialising with others who had been radicalised.

Authorities examined Naveed Akram but did not deem his activities sufficient to earn a charge.

Sajid Akram, his father, showed none of the signs of radicalisation displayed by his son.

They are probing the possibility that the son may have played a role in helping to radicalise his father.

The ABC reported on Monday that ASIO took an interest in Naveed Akram because of his connections to Islamic State terrorist Isaac El Matari, who is serving seven years in jail for planning an IS insurgency as the self-declared Australian commander of the terrorist group.

Two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to this masthead that Naveed Akram had been connected to El Matari.

This masthead understands that authorities concluded at the time that Naveed Akram was only an acquaintance of El Matari, rather than a close associate. Neither did they find evidence that he was radicalised, explaining why he was not monitored in the years since.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said “the assessment of ASIO was with respect to his associations rather than, at that point, there being personal motivation from him”.

Burke also confirmed that Naveed Akram is an Australian-born citizen. Burke revealed Sajid Akram arrived in 1998 on a student visa, transferred to a partner visa in 2001 and after trips overseas had been on resident-return visas.

Albanese told the ABC’s 7.30 on Monday night that Naveed Akram was not on a watch list and authorities had found no evidence he was radicalised.

Asked whether Sajid Akram should have been allowed to own six firearms given his son was investigated for connections to radical figures, Albanese said: “The father was interviewed at the time as well [and had] shown no indication of any radicalisation.”

ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said late on Sunday night one of the attackers was known to his organisation before the shooting, “but not in an immediate threat perspective”.

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said on Monday that there was “little knowledge of either of these men by the authorities” before the attack.

Lanyon said Sajid Akram had been a licensed firearms holder for the past 10 years.

“He has six firearms licensed to him. We are satisfied that we have six firearms from the scene yesterday,” he said.

Albanese said his government was prepared to take whatever action was necessary to keep the community safe, including tougher gun laws.

In a statement after a meeting of national cabinet on Monday afternoon, the nation’s leaders said they would put limits on the number of firearms a person could own, review the length of gun licences and make Australian citizenship a condition of gun ownership.

“People’s circumstances change – people can be radicalised over a period of time,” Albanese said before the meeting. “Licences should not be in perpetuity.”

The statement also said work on the long-promised National Firearms Register would accelerate.

Albanese earlier said the Howard government’s widely praised gun reforms, introduced after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, had made an “enormous difference” in Australia, but it was time to see whether they needed to be strengthened.

“If we need to toughen these up, if there’s anything we can do, I’m certainly up for it,” he said.

Greg Barton, a counter-terrorism expert at Deakin University, said: “If [Naveed Akram] was of interest in 2019, people will be asking whether the authorities missed something ... People will be asking whether enough was done to monitor him. The authorities themselves will be asking that.”

However, he stressed that ASIO was monitoring a vast number of people at once.

“Just because you find someone with links and connections doesn’t mean you have the basis for charging or arresting them,” Barton said.

Barton said questions should be asked about whether more armed police should have been present at Bondi Beach given the nature of the Hanukkah event and the surge of antisemitism since the October 7 attacks and subsequent war in Gaza.

John Coyne, who worked in national security and counter-terrorism roles at the Australian Federal Police, said it was too early to say whether an intelligence failure had preceded Sunday’s attack.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing,” said Coyne, now director of the national security program at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

He noted that Burgess raised the terror threat level to probable last year and had repeatedly warned about the threat of growing radicalisation in Australia.

NSW Police’s designation of the shooting as a terror attack will enable ASIO to use special powers including control and detention orders, as well as working closer with state and federal police, he added.

Coyne called for a royal commission into the terror attack and the surge in antisemitism over the past two years, a call backed by the head of ASPI’s statecraft and intelligence policy centre, former national security official Chris Taylor.

Israeli media outlets, including The Jerusalem Post, reported that Israeli authorities were investigating whether state actors, chiefly Iran, were involved in the mass shooting attack.

Australian officials have not given any indication that they believe foreign state actors were involved in the attack.

More Bondi terror coverage

• Bondi shooter held gun licence: The prime minister will propose strengthening Australian gun laws
• The victims: 10-year-old Matilda is the youngest victim. What we know about the Bondi terror victims so far
• Watch: Alleged Bondi gunman tells bystanders to move away, while shooting at Hanukkah crowd

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