Tag Archives: oceania

‘Significant resources’ as police search for gunman near Perth

A significant police search is under way for a suspected gunman in Pinjarra, about 80 kilometres south of Perth.

Mandurah District Acting Superintendent Darren Hart said the search was sparked after police received multiple calls this morning about a man seen with a longarm in the Pinjarra area.

The man was seen acting suspiciously at a home on Pollard Street about 9.30am.

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Mandurah District Acting Superintendent Darren Hart said police have deployed every resource available to finding the suspected gunman.

About 40 minutes later, a man was seen CCTV in a yard holding what appeared to be a firearm.

"Police are investigating a report that a projectile may have been discharged at that residence," Hart said.

There was no one home at the time and no injuries have been reported, he said.

At a press conference this afternoon, police said they would release an image of 18-year-old Zackariah Ugle, who they believe can assist them with their investigation.

Significant resources had been deployed to the area and a search was ongoing.

"We've got all the resources available to us; tactical response group, helicopter and a significant number of local officers on the ground searching addresses and looking for the person we believe is responsible," Hart said.

Several homes in Pinjarra and Mandurah have been searched and multiple people are assisting police with their investigations.

Members of the public are urged to be aware of their surroundings and report any relevant information to police.

"If the man is sighted, members of the public should remain inside, hidden from sight and immediately contact triple zero," Hart said.

Police believe this morning's incidents were not targeted. Hart said the threat to the public was "minimal".

Last week police launched a search for 58-year-old Kenneth John Giles after a woman was shot at a rural property near Mullewa, about 400 kilometres north-west of Perth.

Police said today's incident and the search for Giles did not appear to be linked.

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Man caught up in Bondi bomb scare apologises

The Victorian man at the centre of yesterday's Bondi bomb scare has apologised for what he says was a misunderstanding.

Charges against the 34-year-old could be dropped following a major police response that was sparked after he asked for directions to the iconic beach while sporting a weighted military-style vest wrapped in duct tape.

Cleophas Machaya issued an apology to the Bondi community before travelling back to Melbourne.

READ MORE: Man arrested in Bondi vest scare told to leave state

Cleo Machaya had some parting words for the people of Bondi.

"I'm completely sorry for anyone that thought that I was some kind of threat to them," he said.

"I literally just walked around with a weight vest to get some training in."

Machaya said he did not know the vest was going to raise suspicion and that it was wrapped in tape because "the weights were falling out".

His destination on his run was the scene of a vigil to mark the end of a mourning period for victims of the Bondi terror attack.

He spent the night behind bars, pleading in court after what he described as an honest mistake.

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A man will face court today charged after allegedly carrying a vest covered in duct tape in Bondi overnight.

The 34-year-old told 9News that he now understands why he was stopped and that the community was tense, however, he believes authorities overreacted.

"A bomb threat is a bomb threat," he said.

"I don't think they needed to keep me in jail for about 14 hours for a weight vest that they could have just looked at right then and there.

"I was brought up in this country and I am full for Australian values."

A magistrate is set to decide whether Machaya's acts were malicious or misguided.

His lawyer claims charges relating to the bomb scare could be dropped when the case returns to court next month.

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Man charged over NSW police chase after carer found dead

A man has been charged in NSW after he allegedly led police on a high-speed chase following the death of his support worker hundreds of kilometres away in Logan

Craig Silvey

Wa'el Alfar, 36, allegedly led police on a pursuit across multiple suburbs on the NSW Mid North Coast yesterday afternoon.

Officers first tried to intercept his car in Coffs Harbour, where he allegedly failed to stop.

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Alfar was not home when police made the grisly discovery, sparking a search for him.

The chase only came to an end when Alfar's car crashed near Kempsey, five hours south of his home in Buccan over the Queensland border.

Alfar was charged with multiple offences by NSW Police, including dangerous driving.

None of the charges relate to the death of his support worker, who was found dead on the back deck of his Buccan property around 3am yesterday.

The 46-year-old woman was declared missing from Ashgrove in Brisbane's north-west two hours earlier, after her family failed to hear from her.

Police found her body, with visible injuries, after conducting a welfare search at Alfar's house on Waterford Tamborine Road in Buccan.

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The support worker's body was found on the back deck of a home in Buccan about 3am yesterday.

Alfar was not home at the time police made the discovery, sparking a police manhunt.

He is expected to face court in NSW today.

Police from Queensland, including homicide detectives, are expected to travel to NSW today to speak with Alfar.

Detectives are waiting on the results of a post-mortem before moving forward with their investigation.

Anyone with information is being urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

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Neo-Nazi group to be ‘fully disbanded’ before hate speech laws

High-profile neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell says his white nationalist organisation and other linked groups will disband before the government brings in tough new hate speech laws.

The draft Combating Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism bill will be debated when parliament is recalled early next week, as the Albanese government responds to the deadly antisemitic terror attack at Bondi Beach.

It includes measures targeting "prohibited hate groups" and "hate preachers".

READ MORE: Day of mourning date for Bondi terror attack revealed

Thomas Sewell has been denied bail over an alleged attack on an Indigenous site in Melbourne.

Sewell said the National Socialist Network (NSN) would be "fully disbanded before 11.59pm Sunday the 18th of January 2026".

"The disbandment includes not only the National Socialist Network, but its co-projects White Australia, the European Australian Movement and the White Australia Party," he said, in a message co-signed by other group leaders such as Jacob Hersant on the White Australia Telegram channel today.

"If the laws pass, there will [be] no way to avoid the organisation being banned."

Sewell claimed the laws were "some of the most draconian laws the West has ever seen".

Promoting the laws yesterday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke named the NSN and radical Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, in reference to an ASIO warning about groups who keep "themselves just below the legal threshold".

"While they have created a pathway for others to engage in violence, have been careful to not explicitly call for it themselves. They've kept themselves just below that threshold," he said. 

"This bill will lower that threshold, and lower that threshold to the extent that we can within the Constitution. 

"We have had enough of organisations that hate Australia, playing games with Australian law."

READ MORE: Quoting religious texts could be exempted from new hate speech laws 

Photo of Neo Nazi  Jacob Hersant   leaving the Melbourne county court on Tuesday 26June 2023. Photo THE AGE/ LUIS ENRIQUE ASCUI

Roughly 60 black-clad neo-Nazis from the NSN provoked outrage when they protested outside NSW Parliament House in November with a large sign reading "abolish the Jewish lobby".

The government released the draft bill to the public today, after yesterday announcing the early recall of parliament to debate it

It includes a package of reforms that target both hate speech and firearms through the establishment of a gun buyback scheme, stricter gun import rules, harsher penalties for hate speech and stricter migration rules.

A new offence would be established for a person or group who publicly promotes or incites racial hatred, with a penalty of five years' imprisonment.

Albanese today defended a narrow exception that would ensure the rules did not apply to actions that consist "only of directly quoting from, or otherwise referencing, a religious text for the purpose of religious teaching or discussion".

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"I encourage you to read the Old Testament and see what's there and see if you outlaw that, what would occur," he told reporters this morning.

"So we need to be careful. We consulted with faith groups, not just with the Jewish community.

"We want to make sure there's the broadest possible support for this legislation, but we also want to make sure that there isn't unintended consequences of the legislation as well."

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim claimed the defence is a "relic of outdated thinking" and was effectively unnecessary.

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