Program: Video shows Bondi gunmen 'training'

Samantha Donovan: Good evening and welcome to PM, I'm Samantha Donovan, coming to you from the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation in Melbourne. Tonight a court releases New South Wales police video, allegedly showing the Bondi gunmen training with firearms and scoping out the scene of the attack. Also, after months of consultation, the federal government announces the introduction of a gas reservation scheme to bring down prices. And is English cricket's much hyped baseball approach now dead and buried?

Bharat Sundaresan: We were all promised this movie, this action thriller with run chases and audacious batting. But once you tuned in, it was just the same old movie, an English team which simply weren't good enough to challenge Australia.

Samantha Donovan: First this evening, newly released court documents have revealed more about the planning of the Bondi terror attack a week ago and what motivated the gunmen. The new information came as the surviving alleged killer, Naveed Akram, was moved from hospital to jail. Our reporter David Sparkes has been following the developments. David, what does this new court document tell us about the gunmen?

David Sparkes: Well Sam, today we've seen new details from the police that really paint a picture of what they believe happened in the lead up to the Bondi terrorist attack. And there is a fair bit of information in that document. So it includes in particular still images of the 24-year-old Naveed Akram and his father, Sajid Akram, from a video that allegedly shows them conducting firearms training somewhere, the police suspect, in regional New South Wales. Now the images show each man standing in a grassy field aiming long-arm rifles and the police say, and this is a quote from their document, the accused and his father are seen throughout the video firing shotguns and moving in a tactical manner. Now this document that this is coming from is called a police statement of facts. It was handed into the court last week, but the court did place an interim suppression order on it. That order has been lifted today and a redacted version has been released. It's still redacted because the identities of victims are still being protected. Sam, another new piece of information that we've got from this document also reveals that on the evening of December the 12th, that's two days before the attack, CCTV footage shows, according to the police, two males believed to be the accused man and his father travelling to this part of Bondi Beach, Archer Park, where that Jewish event was being held. They say that the two men got out of the vehicle and walked along the footbridge, which later became their position during the shooting. So they're effectively alleging that they believe the two men went two days before the attack to scope out the site, Sam.

Samantha Donovan: And David, the police statement of facts also claims that the two men recorded a video justifying the attack beforehand. What's been revealed about that?

David Sparkes: Yes. Now this video, according to the police, mentions that the two men recited political and religious views in a video and that they, and this is a quote from the police document, appear to summarise their justification for the Bondi terrorist attack. The police say that this pair adhered to a religiously motivated violent extremism ideology. Now they also say another video shows the men sitting in front of an image of an Islamic state flag holding long arm rifles. And in that footage, Naveed Akram is, according to the police, recorded appearing to recite in Arabic a passage from the Quran and condemning the acts of Zionists.

Samantha Donovan: And the father, Sajid Akram, was killed by police during the attack, but his son, Naveed Akram, survived and has been charged many, many counts, including 15 of murder. We've heard he's been taken out of hospital today. What's the latest on his situation?

David Sparkes: Yeah, that's right, Sam. We've been told he's now been moved to a correctional facility. Now, Naveed Akram is facing 59 charges, including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist attack, which of course is that horrible incident at Bondi. And Sam, there are just a few other points out of this police statement of facts that have come up about the attack itself. The police are saying that, from what they can tell, the father and son parked their vehicle on Campbell Parade in Bondi at about 6.50 p.m., so 10 to 7, before placing Islamic state flags on the car's front and rear windscreens. And then, according to police, getting three firearms out of the car, along with some pipe bombs and a tennis ball bomb, and then moving towards that footbridge. And it's alleged that the men threw four improvised explosive devices towards the crowd, Sam. Now, this case will next be mentioned in court in February, when the suppression orders will be reviewed again.

Samantha Donovan: David Sparkes reporting for us there. After being booed by the crowd at last night's vigil at Bondi, the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has today apologised for the experience of Jewish Australians and said he feels the weight of his responsibility for an atrocity that happened while he leads the country. Mr Albanese continues to resist the call of many Jewish leaders and the opposition for a Royal Commission into anti-Semitism and the events that led to the Bondi attack. He maintains the review he has commissioned will be quicker. Alison Xiao filed this report.

Alison Xiao: Bunch by bunch, the floral tributes at Bondi Pavilion are carefully placed in the bin. Though the makeshift memorial is now gone, the scars of this attack run deep. Opposition frontbencher Julian Leeser says Jewish Australians are in pain.

Julian Leeser: The Jewish community of this country cannot survive on the crumbs of this government and this appalling Prime Minister who is always late to the party and who wants the Jewish community of this country to live in his half measures.

Alison Xiao: The political fury of the past week has only escalated. The Coalition today reiterating its calls for the Prime Minister to apologise and for the Federal Government to call a Royal Commission into anti-Semitism and the Bondi terror attack. Opposition leader Sussan Ley stepping up her fierce criticism of the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

Sussan Ley: We have not seen him take responsibility. We have not seen him apologise. I didn't see Penny Wong attend a single funeral. I haven't seen Penny Wong shed a single tear.

Mark Kenny: The Coalition has acted with a great deal of political prejudice here. I think the remarks about Penny Wong are new low in Australian politics. It feels to me like we're back into Lindy Chamberlain territory where the accusation is that the woman doesn't show enough emotion.

Alison Xiao: Professor Mark Kenny is the Director of the Australian Studies Institute at the ANU and a former journalist. He's critical of what he calls the hyper-politicisation of this devastating attack.

Mark Kenny: Well, when we think about past tragedies that have confronted Australia, whether it be the Bali bombings, the Port Arthur shooting, there has always been a very strong emphasis on bipartisanship. On this case, I think it was quite shocking that within 12 to 24 hours of this appalling event, there were very, very sharp divisions. There was a lot of culture of blame and of, I think, advantage-taking, and for Australians that's been, I think, quite confronting.

Alison Xiao: Professor Mark Kenny says it would have made sense for the Prime Minister to opt for the highest level of inquiry possible.

Mark Kenny: I think it's a mistake not to go for a Federal Royal Commission. The Prime Minister's instincts here, I think, have led him to a position which is perhaps procedurally OK, but in terms of appearance, it feels like it's a day late and a dollar short.

Alison Xiao: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended his decision not to hold the Royal Commission, saying it would take too long.

Anthony Albanese: We want urgency and unity, not division and delay. If you have a look at the terms of reference released by the Federal Opposition today, if anyone suggests that it is possible that that will report any time this term, let alone years and years to come, what we want to do is if there are any holes, any findings, any actions that are required, we want that to occur.

Alison Xiao: And he offered this apology.

Anthony Albanese: As Prime Minister, I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that happened whilst I'm Prime Minister, and I'm sorry for what the Jewish community and our nation as a whole has experienced.

Alison Xiao: Also today, the Federal Government announced more detail on a raft of proposed legislative measures, including tougher penalties for adults radicalising children and creating an aggravated offence for hate preaching. It also wants more power to crack down on what it considers hate organisations and more power for the Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to deny or cancel a person's visa. Kos Samaras is a director at the polling group Redbridge and a former Labor Party strategist.

Kos Samaras: I think the Federal Government has a long way to go before they make Australians feel a little bit more relaxed about the overall response. Flip side, obviously, with the coalition, it's treating this crisis like a football game. And that's exactly what Australians are absolutely not wanting to see.

Samantha Donovan: That's polster Kos Samaras from the Redbridge group. Alison Xiao reporting. After being recalled in the wake of the Bondi tragedy, the New South Wales Parliament looks set to pass some of the strongest gun laws in the nation. While gun control advocates have praised the State Government's quick response, other interest groups say they're alarmed that sweeping changes are being rushed in. Alexandra Humphries has more.

Alexandra Humphries: As the nation grieves the victims of the Bondi terrorist attack, New South Wales Parliament has swung into action. MPs today began an emergency session to consider new laws, strengthening gun laws and restricting protests. Here's Premier Chris Minns.

Chris Minns: Today we're introducing new laws, tough new laws to protect the community, to crack down on hate and strengthen public safety.

Alexandra Humphries: He claims the reforms will create the toughest firearms laws in the country. Under the planned changes, gun owners would be restricted to a maximum of four firearms and primary producers and sports shooters restricted to ten. Magazine capacity for Class A and B weapons will be reduced and vetting for gun licences will be strengthened.

Chris Minns: On many of the measures that we're proposing, I've heard members of the public say that we've gone too far, but I strongly believe that these changes to law and legislation in New South Wales are fundamentally important to keep the people of this state safe.

Alexandra Humphries: Police would also be given more powers, including to ban all protests or public assemblies for up to three months after a declared terrorism incident.

Chris Minns: Things need to change in New South Wales and as a result we are making and taking extraordinary measures in relation to public assemblies during a terrorism event.

Alexandra Humphries: The State's Opposition Liberal Party has flagged its support for the new laws, giving the bill a pathway through both houses of parliament, despite concerns from both the National Party and the Greens. Sarah Davis is the Chief Executive of the Alanna and Madeleine Foundation, established in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre.

Sarah Davis: Under the National Firearms Agreement, we are very aware that firearms ownership in Australia is a privilege, but it is a privilege that is utterly conditional upon public safety and here in Sydney we lost our public safety.

Alexandra Humphries: The advocacy group New South Wales Farmers has criticised plans to tighten gun laws. Its President is Xavier Martin.

Xavier Martin: Just a complete mad dog's breakfast of rules that aren't going to work in the face of failure to even enforce the existing rules. If the existing rules had worked, we wouldn't be here today.

Alexandra Humphries: The proposed protest restrictions have drawn the ire of pro-Palestinian, civil liberties groups and at least one Jewish group who've labelled them anti-democratic. Josh Lees is from the Palestine Action Group.

Josh Lees: Chris Minns knows very well that there is absolutely nothing linking these ISIS gunmen to the Palestine protest movement.

Alexandra Humphries: Dr Nama Blatman is an Executive Member of the Jewish Council of Australia, a small group of Jewish lawyers, academics and other professionals, which is at odds with other Jewish groups in its criticism of Israel's military operations in Gaza.

Naama Blatman: Criticism of Israel, as harsh as it may be, is not equivalent to antisemitism. We reject outright these claims and we reject the notion that our community will be safer through passing draconian laws.

Alexandra Humphries: The Minns government is also looking into banning the controversial chant, Globalise the Intifada, as part of further reforms surrounding hate speech. That proposal is also controversial. Some view the phrase as encouraging violence against Israelis, while others say it simply describes legitimate Palestinian resistance. Meanwhile, Victoria has also announced plans to introduce stronger police powers, gun laws and hate speech laws.

Samantha Donovan: Alexandra Humphries. This is PM, I'm Samantha Donovan. You can hear all our programs live or later on the ABC Listen app. As Australia's gas supplies dwindle, the Federal Government has today announced a reservation scheme will start in 2027. It will require producers to reserve at least 15 per cent of the gas they extract for domestic use. By bolstering local supply, it's intended that the price of the fuel will come down. Elizabeth Cramsie reports.

Elizabeth Cramsie: For anyone paying energy bills, the price of gas plays a crucial role. And Energy Minister Chris Bowen says he's got a plan to improve the numbers.

Chris Bowen: Most Australians think that Australians should have first rights to the gas that's under Australian soil, Australian waters, and that gas should be available to Australians at reasonable prices. And Australians are right about that.

Elizabeth Cramsie: In 2006, Western Australia implemented a gas reserve scheme, and in the 19 years since, calls have been echoing for a reserve to be imposed nationally.

Chris Bowen: And we believe that that can be achieved by a national reservation of 15 to 25 per cent.

Elizabeth Cramsie: Where the Government lands within that range will be discussed in consultation with industry, which starts today. The plan gets the tick of approval from the industry group Manufacturing Australia. Its chief executive officer is Ben Eade.

Ben Eade: Five previous Federal Governments rejected gas reservation, and that's been to the detriment of manufacturing jobs and investment.

Elizabeth Cramsie: He says manufacturers are in support of the reserve, but interim measures might be needed too.

Ben Eade: Price is really the thing that matters, and right now, Australia's gas prices are quite wildly uncompetitive by global standards. So we would expect gas reservation of 25 per cent, which is the top of the range that's been proposed, should be the centrepiece of reforms developed next year.

Elizabeth Cramsie: The requirement will apply to any new contracts from today, with the official commencement in 2027.

Ben Eade: So that will include certainly new gas production, but also existing fields as contracts roll off, as they're expanded, as they're amended. That's what we would expect to see. And so over time, you can see a situation where the pool of gas that is captured by a reservation policy grows.

Elizabeth Cramsie: Ben Eade wants to see interim measures that would quickly reserve uncontracted gas, meaning gas that isn't currently committed to export or other contracts, to take pressure off at-risk manufacturers. But what does it mean for households? Tony Wood is a senior fellow of the Energy Program with independent research group the Grattan Institute.

Tony Wood: In Victoria, where I live, a typical household, 80 per cent of homes have gas for heating. That would consume, and I'll give you a couple of numbers here, 80 gigajoules a year, say, 60 to 80 gigajoules a year for their home. If the price of gas was to come down as a result of this by, say, $2 a gigajoule, that would mean a saving of about $150, $160 a year. Now, that's not to be sneezed at. On the other hand, if you live in Brisbane and you're using gas for cooking, you might be using 2 gigajoules or 10 gigajoules a year. You're going to save $10 to $20. That's not going to make much difference. So, this is a big deal for a small number of very important companies in this country.

Elizabeth Cramsie: Samantha McCullock is the Chief Executive of Australian Energy Producers, which represents companies involved in gas exploration and production.

Samantha McCullock: A domestic gas reservation can be part of the solution, but alone it can't fix the pressures that we see in the East Coast gas market. We need to ensure continued investment in new supply and address the regulatory barriers and delays that are contributing to the higher costs and projected shortfalls.

Samantha Donovan: Samantha McCullock is the Chief Executive of the peak body Australian Energy Producers. Elizabeth Cramsie with that report. The number of serious knee injuries in women's sport is on the rise, and to work out why, researchers are using the type of technology used to make animated movies. Bindi Bryce filed this report.

Bindi Bryce: Like many female athletes, Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea has ruptured her ACL. A lot of things came to mind, but I knew that I had a great support system with me. A devastating injury that usually takes 9-12 months of rehabilitation.

Bindi Bryce: Lefau-Fakaosilea has a highlights reel of scoring powerful tries playing rugby sevens for Australia, and she didn't expect her knee to give out in a practice session.

Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea: I think it was more of the hard step, and I felt like I was prepared going into training, so I don't know, I think it was just something that just happened then and there.

Bindi Bryce: She's one of the first female athletes to be tested at the Blacktown Exercise, Sport and Technology Hub in Western Sydney, which opened in 2023. The lab is used by researchers from the Australian Catholic University, like Dr Jonathon Weakley, to gather information that could change the players' careers.

Jonathon Weakley: So three-dimensional motion capture systems, which helps us understand where the athlete is in space. We've got the force plates, which helps us understand every foot strides and the forces that they're producing as they're running.

Bindi Bryce: 3D motion detection cameras capture their movements in a futuristic orange tunnel. Animated movie productions and video game studios use similar technology.

Bindi Bryce: Dr Weakley says the modelling shows which muscles are activated when the rugby players are jumping, sprinting and changing direction.

Jonathon Weakley: What we can see is their actual movement strategies. So for example, if their centre of mass is moving too far outside their base of support, and we can also see whether there's slight deficiencies or really strengths that they have, and we can kind of tailor each person's training around that.

Kaitlin Shave: It's really important for women and women's sport to get as much testing as we can get done and just prevent long-term injuries.

Bindi Bryce: 24-year-old Kaitlin Shave injured her ACL in her first match playing for Australia at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She wants to use the results to work on her weak areas and reduce the risk of another rupture.

Kaitlin Shave: Injuries are more prone to us just because of being a female athlete and phases that we go through during our cycles. I know that has a big impact.

Bindi Bryce: Dr Weakley says the testing showed players still had muscle weaknesses around the knees that persisted for months following surgery and even post-full training clearance.

Jonathon Weakley: In short, we need to be able to support our women with the same opportunities that we give our men by giving females access across the entire athletic pathway, so that when they go on to the professional level, they're not being thrown in without adequate training and adequate support.

Samantha Donovan: That's Dr Jonathon Weakley from the Australian Catholic University. That report from Bindi Bryce. The Australian men's cricket team is continuing to celebrate its retention of the Ashes. I suspect there are a few sore heads today. The Aussies have an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the series. Cricket pundits say it's a humiliating defeat for the English, who had appeared confident in the lead-up to the first test. And much of the experts' criticism has fallen on the team's style of play, dubbed baseball. Luke Radford filed this report.

Luke Radford: Yet another slips catch by Marnus Labuschagne saw the final English wicket fall and Australia hold on to the Ashes for another two years.

Cricket Commentator: The game is over. Australia have won by 82 runs to retain the Ashes. Wow.

Luke Radford: But while Australia celebrates, for England, the post-mortem is only beginning. For this English team, this wasn't supposed to be just another tour. As cricket writer Bharat Sundaresan explains, it was the culmination of nearly four years of planning, and hopes were high.

Bharat Sundaresan: Initially, it was just a case of them coming here, having built the series up as being one that could define their legacies, whether it was Brendon McCullum, the coach, or Ben Stokes, the captain, or this English team, and saying that this was their best chance in decades to not just beat Australia, but almost teach them a lesson and say, look, this is where Test Cricket's heading and we are pioneering this new approach to Test Cricket.

Luke Radford: That play style is colloquially known as baseball, named after English coach and former New Zealand cricketer Brendan McCullum. It's a somewhat loose cricketing philosophy, but the general concept is to play fearlessly, to play more big shots, take more risks, and aim to win at every opportunity. It was also built up as the ultimate challenge for Australia. Prior to the Ashes, English pundits spoke with great confidence about their chances, but then it all came crashing down. Bharat Sundaresan again.

Bharat Sundaresan: It was more a case of baseball never really showing up. I mean, it felt like we were all planning to, or we were all promised this movie, this action thriller with run chases and audacious batting. But once you tuned in, it was just the same old movie, an English team, which simply weren't good enough to challenge Australia.

Luke Radford: So where did it all go wrong? Much has been said about the baseball tactics and the selection choices, but veteran sports broadcaster Warwick Hadfield believes it's down to individual players' decision making.

Warwick Hadfield: Rarely did any of Ben Stokes' team, except for Stokes and occasionally Root and Jofra, show any understanding of Test Cricket's unique demands. Even yesterday when England had worked its way back into the game, Jamie Smith threw away his wicket. No match awareness.

Luke Radford: Australian cricket writer Malcolm Conn is even less forgiving. He believes baseball itself is a mirage, a strategy designed to cover up the fact the English players just weren't good enough.

Malcolm Conn: It's so folded when it's counted. And sometimes I felt that England were playing this sort of carefree baseball type of cricket to basically sort of cover up or deflect from the fact that these guys couldn't bat properly under pressure.

Luke Radford: So is there anything that can be done to salvage baseball? For English fans, it starts with winning at least one of the two remaining games. Chris Millard is head of England's fanatical travelling supporters group, the Barmy Army.

Chris Millard: Let's be honest, we've not won a Test match here for, what is it, 16, 17 games now. It's not for one to try in, but we seem to always come out on the wrong side of results. So just to get a win at Melbourne or in Sydney would be massive for the players, for the set-up, for the ECB, but also for the fan base. We've brought thousands and thousands and thousands of fans over here, spent a lot of money, spent a lot of time coming over here. And to see a win would be very special.

Samantha Donovan: Chris Millard is the Managing Director of the Barmy Army, as he says, on now to the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. That report from Luke Radford and Kimberley Price. Thanks for joining me for PM. I'm Samantha Donovan. The podcast of the full program is on the ABC Listen app. And that's where you'll find ABC News Daily with Sam Hawley each weekday morning too. PM will be back at the same time tomorrow. Goodnight.