Opening remarks - Meeting of National Cabinet

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: I think we all regret the circumstances of this meeting of the National Cabinet. The antisemitic terrorism incident in Bondi, I think, has shaken the whole nation, not just people in Sydney and New South Wales, in particular, members of the Jewish community have been devastated by what is an unprecedented scale of attack on the Australian way of life. I thank the police and emergency services, the people, particularly in New South Wales, but our national security agencies, including the AFP as well, for the work that has been conducted over the last 20 hours or so. Today, I met with the Premier of New South Wales, and we made a declaration after being briefed by the New South Wales Police Commissioner who has joined us here today. And we also had a visit down to Bondi. There is quite horrific scenes there, and people are really hurting. What they're looking for is confidence going forward. And today's meeting is about making sure that we have states and territories aligned here, making sure we send a message as well to Jewish Australians that we stand together against antisemitism, giving a message to all Australians that we stand against terrorism and that we will do whatever it is that we can, if laws need to be adjusted, to make changes. One of the suggestions that will be on the agenda today is to have an examination of our gun laws to make sure that if there is any tightening or changes which are required, that we put in place mechanisms. Through this National Cabinet we, of course, have established the National Firearms Register. That is a significant step forward, and I know that work is progressing on that, but we need to, I think, accelerate the work in that area. But I thank all of you for joining us, and we will have, no doubt, a constructive discussion. And I thank as well the AFP Commissioner, the New South Wales Police Commissioner, and other authorities who've joined us, in particular at this difficult time.