Aussie Prime Minister Conflates Antisemitic Massacre With ‘Right-Wing Extremism’

In the wake of the horrific mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that left at least 15 people dead and scores wounded, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese drew criticism for conflating the antisemitic attack with “right-wing extremist groups.”

“We take [Australian Security Intelligence Organisation] ASIO’s advice very seriously; we work closely with them,” he stated. “We receive regular updates as well. The Director-General of ASIO has warned about a range of threats, be it antisemitism, the rise of right-wing extremist groups as well.”

BREAKING: Australian PM Albanese wants of far-right extremists, following the Islamist terrorist attack in Australia.

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ASIO is Australia’s domestic intelligence and security agency.

The two Bondi Beach killers, father and son Naveed and Sajid Akram, had ties to the Islamic State terrorist group. Naveed, 24, was previously investigated by ASIO six years ago for connections to a Sydney-based Islamic State cell.

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“The official said Naveed Akram was closely connected to Isaac El Matari, who was arrested that year and later jailed for planning an IS insurgency as the self-declared Australian commander of the terrorist group,” ABC News Australia reported. “NSW Police said that, as well as the firearms seized from the scene at Bondi Beach on Sunday, two improvised explosive devices were removed from a car on nearby Campbell Parade. Two IS flags were found in their car at Bondi Beach, according to senior officials.”

Naveed Akram is currently in the hospital; his father died in an exchange of gunfire during the massacre.

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess, who has served since 2019, has repeatedly emphasized that the agency focuses on violent intent rather than ideology or religion. In 2021, Burgess said that terms such as “Islamic extremism” were not fit to use, saying the labels could stigmatize Muslim communities.

“It’s violence that is relevant to our powers, but that’s not always clear when we use the term ‘Islamic extremism,’” he stated. “Understandably, some Muslim groups, and others, see this term as damaging and misrepresentative of Islam, and consider that it stigmatizes them by encouraging stereotyping and stoking division.”