SYDNEY. — Two stabbing attacks in Sydney which killed six people and injured shoppers and an Assyrian bishop during his service have shocked Australians and sparked calls for greater public security despite some of the world’s toughest gun laws.
The deadly attack at a busy shopping mall in Bondi Junction last Saturday has shone a spotlight on longstanding complaints from the country’s 155,000 security guards who say they are so poorly equipped, they are disincentivized to act.
“At least the cleaner’s got a broom, but a security guard won’t be carrying anything except a radio,” said Ben Reis, a casual security guard from Newcastle, in a phone interview.
“I’ve been in a shopping center and I’ve caught people stealing and I can’t do anything, I can just watch them walk,” he added.
The attacks have also lifted the lid on growing public unease about non-gun violence that drove the state government of New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, to double prison terms for public knife crimes months earlier.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has said it would be “irresponsible not to look at” toughening knife laws further, although he didn’t specify how. He said the state would review whether security guards could carry handcuffs, pepper spray or batons although he ruled out guns or tasers.
Roland Springis, a security guard who has worked in malls, has collected more than 3,000 signatures in three days for a Change.org petition calling for more protective equipment.
“We don’t have anything,” said Springis.
Queensland state Premier Steven Miles said the stabbing at the Bondi mall added weight to the argument to extend warrantless stop-and-searches by police, local media reported.
Queensland legislation known as Jack’s Law, passed last month, allows police to use hand-held metal detectors, known as wands, to search people in all safe night precincts, at public transport stations and on public transport without a warrant. The strategy is to detect weapons and combat knife crime.
“We’ve been actively considering whether to expand the public spaces that police can wand in to include shopping centers,” Miles said.
As part of the Bondi Junction mall reopening on Friday, all 37 Westfield shopping centers nationally will have an increased security presence, local media reported, citing the company.
