Bondi Beach shooting LIVE updates: Heartbreak continues as the 14th victim is identified – as the chilling passport photos used by the alleged terrorists on a trip to the Philippines are revealed
A father-of-four has been confirmed as the 14th victim in the devastating Bondi Beach terrorist attack.
Adam Smyth, 50, was walking on the beach with his wife on Sunday evening when they found themselves in the middle of the shooting.
Other victims included British-born Chabad Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 41, Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, 39, French national Dan Elkayam, 27, Wellington Street synagogue assistant Reuven Morrison, Slovak citizen Marika Pogany, 82, retired NSW Police detective sergeant Peter Meagher, 61, Edith Brutman, Boris Gurman, 69, and his wife Sofia, 61, and Soviet immigrant Boris Tetleroyd.
It comes as the passport photos of alleged gunmen Naveed Akram, 24, and his 50-year-old father, Sajid, were shared online on Thursday.
The passports were used during their trip to the Philippines just weeks before the attack, sparking concerns they were meeting with Islamist extremists.
They include 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of wounding with intent to murder.
He did not appear or apply for bail during a brief bedside court hearing and the case was adjourned until April.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also announced reforms to crack down on hate speech following the incident, including targeting hate preachers.
He is yet to attend any funerals, including that of 10-year-old Matilda, Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman, 87, and Tibor Weitzen, 78, who will be farewelled later today.
Bondi resident identified as 14th victim
Beloved father-of-four Adam Smyth has been confirmed as one of the victims of the Bondi Beach massacre.
‘We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Adam Smyth, 50, father of four children and husband to Katrina,’ his family said in a statement via NSW Police.
‘Adam and Katrina were walking at Bondi Beach on Sunday evening when they found themselves in the middle of the horrific and devastating attack.
‘We are all trying to come to terms with the senseless shooting, of which Adam was a victim.
‘No words can describe the pain of our loss.’
The family wrote that Adam and Katrina were ‘living their best lives together’, with a shared love of family and friends, travel and sport – if not always the same team.
‘Adam’s loves in life were his English Premier League football team Liverpool, his AFL team the Sydney Swans, the NRL’s Manly Sea Eagles and his beloved pets,` they said.
‘We will forever cherish the time we have had with him. Adam was a generous and kind person who will be dearly missed and is forever irreplaceable.
‘You’ll never walk alone (YNWA).’
Passport photos of Sajid and Naveed Akram revealed
The passports used by the alleged Bondi Beach attackers for their mysterious trip to the Philippines have emerged online.
The images of Sajid Akram’s Indian passport and his 24-year-old son Naveed’s Australian passport were posted on X on Thursday morning.
‘Officials stated that the attackers used exact passports to travel Philippines and other countries,’ the user claimed.
It was revealed earlier this week the par had visited the country just weeks before the attack, sparking concerns they were meeting with Islamist extremists.
Australian authorities are probing Naveed and Sajid’s alleged links to Islamic extremism after explosives and homemade IS flags were found in a car registered to Naveed at the scene of the shooting.
A heartbroken woman has claimed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ‘blood on his hands’ outside a funeral for the youngest victim of the Bondi Beach shooting.
With an Australian flag draped over her shoulder, Chana Friedman said Albanese ‘must resign’ in an emotional interview outside the funeral of 10-year-old Matilda.
Asked whether there was a place for the Prime Minister at the ceremony, Ms Friedman sobbed: ‘No, because he has that girl’s blood on his hands.’
‘You’re all going to celebrate Christmas very soon, right? Jesus was a Jew. He would have looked like a rabbi that was killed last week,’ she told a reporter at the scene.
‘We have all failed her…she’s this ray of sunshine. Her friends describe her as the most friendly, most beautiful, happy child.’
When asked about his response to antisemitism earlier today, Albanese said the government could have ‘always done more’.
‘Of course more could have always been done. Governments aren’t perfect. I’m not perfect. We have engaged in a constructive way,’ he told reporters.
Victims’ funerals to be paid for by government
A joint federal and state funding package has been confirmed for those affected by the horrific shooting at Bondi Beach.
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey told The Sydney Morning Herald victims and families of those who were killed would receive $75,000.
The government will cover funeral and burial arrangements.
He said Jewish community organisations will receive $2 million to support victims’ families.
Six recovery officers will also work with families under a $3.6 million package.
Small businesses close to where the terror attack took place can also receive a maximum of $25,000 via grants.
Mookhey is providing about $1 million each to Legal Aid and Disaster Response Legal Services, Jewish organisations providing mental health support, and Waverley Council.
There will also be a $1.5 million boost will be provided for security at Jewish community locations.
Premier Chris Minns wears kippah out of respect at funeral for Tibor Weitzen
Mourners have gathered to honour grandfather Tibor Weitzen at the Chabad of Bondi synagogue.
Mr Weitzen, who was born in the Soviet Union, died trying to shield a friend from bullets during the Bondi Beach shooting.
The 78-year-old has been remembered as the ‘lolly man’ because he gave sweets to children to keep them quiet during events.
Among the crowds entering the memorial, NSW Premier Chris Minns could be seen being patted down by security while wearing a kippah as a mark of respect.
NSW Opposition leader Kelly Sloane was also in attendance.
There was a large security presence at the site, with some officers accompanied by police dogs.
Protester escorted out of Bondi Pavilion memorial
A Jewish man has been escorted from Bondi Beach by police after allegedly yelling ‘anti-Zionism is the problem’ at a memorial.
NSW mayors were placing wreaths at the pavilion when the man made the claim that people were ‘pretending Zionism is a problem’ while standing in the crowd.
He also said he was ‘frustrated at seeing council staff’ at the memorial.
‘These poor people are grieving and the councils come along having done nothing for two years,’ he said.
Bloodied and bandaged Bondi victim returns to the beach for the first time since the massacre
Arsen Ostrovsky, an international human rights lawyer, was out with his family alongside hundreds of other people when shots started ringing out at Bondi.
A photo of him bloodied and bandaged quickly went viral on social media.
Mr Ostrovsky visited the flower memorial at Bondi Beach for the first time on Thursday after he was hospitalised for his injuries.
He previously revealed that his survuval at Bondi came after he lived through the horrors of Hamas‘s massacre at the Nova music festival in Israel.
‘I lived through October 7th. Never imagined I’d see this horror in Australia,’ he said.
‘Bullet grazed my head. Doctors said it was a miracle I survived, but I will make a recovery.’
‘She’s waltzing with the angels’: Matilda remembered by loved ones, Minns
A rabbi has read a statement on behalf of Matilda’s school community as emotions ran high at he funeral on Thursday.
The 10-year-old was remembered as ‘genuinely the most caring, kind, compassionate young girl, who brightened everyone’s day’.
They recalled how Matilda was stunned to win a language award at school just days before the Bondi Beach massacre.
‘Her smile was shining brighter than ever,’ they said of the special moment.
NSW Premier Chris Minns read a poem, Ode to Matilda, at the service.
‘From darkness they struck to where candles glowed bright. A child of celebration was lost to terror’s night,’ she said.
‘Yet in the harshest sorrow, her memory will shine, a beacon of her love though her earthly light has gone.
‘She bore the name Matilda, to honour this great land, Australia’s heart and spirit, forever hand in hand.’
Matilda’s small white coffin was later seen being carried out of the funeral home as mourners watched in silence.
Anthony Albanese admits: ‘I’m not perfect’
Anthony Albanese has admitted his government could have done more to combat rising antisemitisim in the wake of the horror Bondi Beach massacre.
‘Look, of course more could have always been done,’ he told reporters.
‘Governments aren’t perfect. I’m not perfect.’
The Prime Minister has unveiled a series of major reforms to combat hate speech, division, and radicalisation following the attack on Sunday.
He announced the National Security Committee has approved five sweeping changes to address hate-driven violence in Australia.
The measures include a new aggravated hate speech offence targeting preachers and community leaders who incite violence, as well as tougher penalties for hate speech that actively encourages violent acts.
Hate will also become an aggravating factor in sentencing for online threats and harassment, ensuring offenders face stiffer consequences.
The PM is pictured speaking at an interfaith memeorial service on Wednesday.
Bondi starts to reopen after horror shooting
The crime scene at Bondi Beach has been lifted, which means the area is no longer closed to the public.
NSW Police had cordoned off Archer Park and the surrounding areas after the horrific shooting on Sunday.
The operation concluded about 11.15am today following an ‘extensive examination and analysis of the site’, police said.
Motorists can now return to collect their vehicles.
Queen Elizabeth Drive carpark and southbound lanes of Campbell Parade will remain closed until further notice.
‘Police would like to thank the community for their patience while the crime scene was in place,’ a statement said.
‘Police will remain in the Bondi area to support the community.’
A flower memorial is seen at Bondi Pavilion on Thursday
Matilda’s heartbroken parents arrive at her funeral dressed in head-to-toe black
Matilda’s parents have arrived among a sea of mourners to farewell their 10-year-old daughter, who died in the horror Bondi Beach massacre.
A young woman held a bunch of brightly-coloured balloons for Matilda, affectionately known as ‘Bee’ to her family and friends.
Opposition leader Sussan Ley and Liberal Member for Berowra Julian Leeser were also in attendance at the Chevra Kadisha funeral home in Woollahra.
Temperatures are expected to soar to the high 20s in Sydney on Thursday, but the mood appeared sombre despite the clear blue skies.
Matilda’s parents have been critical of Anthony Albanese, with her father Michael claiming the Prime Minister ‘failed Matilda’.
‘He has betrayed the Jewish people of Australia, and of the whole world,’ he said during a flower memorial at Bondi Beach on Wednesday.
‘Like what the hell is he thinking?’
Albanese was asked whether he was invited to Matilda’s funeral on Thursday.
‘I have reached out to families. I have made it clear,’ he told reporters.
‘I understand that people are grieving and I respect that. I respect that and I have had some difficult conversations but my job is not difficult here.
‘The difficulty is with the families who are grieving, of these victims.’
Matilda’s mother and father are pictured arriving to her funeral
The 10-year-old Matilda (right) is pictured with her younger sister Summer
A man is seen draping himself over Matilda’s casket
One young woman held a bunch of bright balloons for Matilda ‘Bee’
A woman arrives with a bouquet of flowers
A man holds a wreath with the words ‘Rest in peace little angel’
Sussan Ley and Member for Berowra Julian Leeser are pictured.
Albanese to crack down on ‘hate preachers’
Anthony Albanese has announced reforms to hate speech laws in the wake of the terror attack at Bondi Beach.
‘There is no place in Australia for antisemitism. It is an evil that tears at the fabric of our country,’ Anthony Albanese told reporters on Thursday.
‘It puts the peaceful, free and equal society that we cherish at risk.’
His cabinet will put together a package to tighten laws.
The changes, agreed on by the National Security Committee, will include:
Introducing aggravated hate speech offence laws for preachers and leaders promoting violence;
Putting forward higher penalties for hate speech promoting violence;
Making hate an aggravating factor when sentencing crimes of online threats and harassment;
Listing organisations whose leaders engage in hate speech, promote violence or racial hatred;
And developing a federal offence for serious vilification based on race and/or advocating racial supremacy.
It comes as AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett revealed officers are already investigating leaders promoting violence.
‘The AFP has ongoing investigations into people who have been described as hate preachers,’ she said.
‘These individuals who spew hatred and cause fear are on my radar, and I have had the counter-terrorism and special investigations command reviewing information and other material in relation to these individuals since I became the commissioner.’
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Bondi Beach shooting LIVE updates: Heartbreak continues as the 14th victim is identified – as the chilling passport photos used by the alleged terrorists on a trip to the Philippines are revealed
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