Australia's most populous state is set to pass tougher gun laws, ban the display of terrorist symbols and curb protests after the state parliament's lower house cleared a bill late on Monday (December 22) in an emergency sitting following the Bondi mass shooting.

Council of the City of Sydney

Authorities in New South Wales, Australia, are preparing to enact stricter gun control and hate speech laws in response to a mass shooting at a Hanukkah event in Bondi Beach that resulted in 15 deaths and dozens of injuries. The new legislation will also prohibit the public display of terrorist symbols and introduce measures to limit protests, aiming to improve public safety and reduce tensions.

The bill is expected to pass the state's Upper House, with Premier Chris Mintz emphasizing its importance for community safety. Activist groups have announced plans to challenge the anti-protest measures in court, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government is proposing further limits on gun ownership, with exceptions for farmers.

Australia's NSW to tighten gun, hate speech laws after Bondi attack

Australia's New South Wales is about to pass stricter gun laws as authorities stepped up their response to the anti-Semitic attack. The new law will also ban showing terrorist symbols in public and curb protests. This comes after a mass shooting at a Bondi Beach Hanukkah event that killed 15 and injured dozens. The bill is suspected to pass the New South Wales Parliament's Upper House on Tuesday. Chris Mintz is Australia's New South Wales Premier. We've got one step to go but it 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 on protests in order, changes to protests in order to lower the temperature in Sydney and a bit of acknowledgement that in some cases words lead to actions. Activist groups said they plan to launch a constitutional challenge to the law. We're all gathered here today as a broad coalition to unite to announce that today we are launching a constitutional challenge to Chris Mintz's latest range of undemocratic anti-protest laws which unfortunately we expect to pass the Parliament today. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government would address hate speech and gun control. The centre-left Labor government wants to limit most people to four firearms per licence. Farmers can own as many as 10. Australia made gun laws much tougher after a 1996 shooting that killed 35 people but gun ownership has grown since then. A police firearms registry showed more than 70 people in New South Wales each own over 100 guns.

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Australia will launch a national gun buyback program in the aftermath of a deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

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