The alleged Bondi attack shooters did not receive training or come into contact with a broader terror cell while visiting the Philippines, according to current assessments by federal police, with initial investigations indicating the father and son acted alone.
The police assessment came as the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, continued to reject calls for a federal royal commission into the Bondi massacre and antisemitism in Australia despite growing demands from families of the shooting victims, Jewish community leaders and the Coalition opposition.
The Australian federal police commissioner, Krissy Barrett, said on Tuesday that alleged gunmen Sajid and Naveed Akram had spent nearly a month in the Philippines just weeks before carrying out the antisemitic shooting at a Bondi Hanukah event on 14 December, killing 15 victims.
Barrett said police would not yet provide all details of their assessment as investigations continued, but while she said the AFP alleged the terror attack was inspired by Islamic State, the AFP did not believe the gunmen were directed by any broader network.
The initial assessment from the Philippine national police was that the individuals rarely left their hotel, and there was no evidence to suggest they received training or underwent logistical preparation for their alleged attack, Barrett told a press conference on Tuesday.
However, she added: “I am not suggesting that they were there for tourism.”
CCTV footage capturing the pair’s stay in the Philippines has been provided to the AFP.
“What this points to, and I will again advise this is a point in time assessment, is that these individuals are alleged to have acted alone,” Barrett said.
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
“There is no evidence to suggest these alleged offenders were part of a broader terrorist cell, or were directed by others to carry out an attack.”
Sajid Akram was shot dead during the attack. His son, Naveed, has been charged with dozens of offences including 15 counts of murder.
Barrett said police had found that the Akrams departed Sydney for the Philippines on 1 November, visiting Davao City and returning to Australia on 29 November – just a fortnight before the 14 December attack. Investigators were still analysing evidence, she said.
Speaking alongside Barrett at the Canberra press conference, Albanese thanked the Philippines president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, for assisting in the investigation.
Albanese said the federal government and agencies would provide all assistance and information requested by the New South Wales government, in responding to the attack and for the state’s planned royal commission. However, Albanese maintained a federal royal commission was not needed, despite mounting pressure for such an inquiry, saying Dennis Richardson’s review of the national intelligence and policing systems was a better option.
“Our position is not out of convenience; it is out of conviction that this is the right direction to go in,” Albanese said. “The actual experts who are the current experts have all recommended this course of action.”
An open letter from families of 11 Bondi victims calling for a royal commission was rebuffed by the government on Monday, with the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, claiming such an inquiry would “provide a public platform for some of the worst statements and worst voices”. The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, on Tuesday claimed it was a “patronising” response from the government.
“It’s also been rejected by Jewish community leaders across Australia who understand the risk to a royal commission but nonetheless want to proceed with it because they think it’s important to get to the bottom of these issues,” Paterson told ABC radio.
Asked about the open letter, Albanese said he recognised “many of the calls for a royal commission come from a good place”, but stood by his decision. He again accused critics of seeking to politicise the terror shooting, noting that key dates in the timeline of the Akrams – including Sajid’s migration to Australia, the decision to grant him a gun licence, and an Asio investigation into Naveed – had occurred under Coalition federal governments.
“All of these issues we should not play politics with. What we should do is go to the heart of what occurred and importantly, how do we make sure that this never happens again?” he said.
