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00:00This program contains anti-Semitic material and graphic images from the Bondi terrorism attack.
00:23From a quiet teenager
00:27to mass murderer,
00:29Naveed Akram and his father Sajid are responsible for the deadliest terrorist attack on Australian soil.
00:37An act of evil anti-Semitism, terrorism, that has struck the heart of our nation.
00:43Australia is in shock at the killing of 15 people
00:47on behalf of the Islamic State terrorist group, or ISIS.
00:52These individuals are alleged to have acted alone.
00:55Immediately, questions were asked about intelligence failures.
01:00One of these individuals was known to us, but not in an immediate threat perspective, so obviously we need to
01:06look into what happened here.
01:09We tracked down an insider who gathered intelligence for Australia's spy agency ASIO, and he told us astonishing information about
01:19the Bondi attackers.
01:22Have Australians been told the real story about what happened?
01:27It doesn't match what I knew about the situation.
01:31Was this an intelligence failure?
01:33It has the hallmarks of it.
01:35As the nation seeks truth and healing, this former spy wants to share what he knows with the Royal Commission.
01:44People were killed, and public need to understand and to see what led to this horrible terror attack.
01:57On Four Corners, we retrace the gunman's path to radicalisation.
02:02We examine what authorities knew and when, and we ask whether the Bondi massacre could have been prevented.
02:31Along the streets of Cabramatta in Sydney's southwest, Naveed Akram would walk home from school.
02:43Hi.
02:43Jordan?
02:44Yeah.
02:44Thanks for having us today.
02:45No worries.
02:46Good to meet you.
02:46You too.
02:47Can I come in?
02:48Yeah, sure.
02:49His mate at Cabramatta High, Jordan Barron, joined him most afternoons.
02:54There's a video of me and him in class, you know, giggling, laughing, not taking anything too serious, you know.
03:02How does this compare to the Naveed you saw in the Bondi attack?
03:06It just doesn't make any sense at all.
03:10It's like two different people, totally.
03:12We're continuing with this coverage of this horrific event at Bondi.
03:17We've got video of it here.
03:19Jordan was at home on the Sunday evening of December 14 when news of the attack broke.
03:25I hear my mum yelling out to me, Jordan, Jordan, there's been a shooting in Bondi.
03:29I went into the lounge room and, yeah, there was a guy standing on the bridge.
03:35And the person on the screen turned to the camera and I saw someone I recognized.
03:43Around five minutes later, I get a bunch of notifications in one of my Snapchat groups.
03:48And all I see is my friends just typing his name, Naveed, Naveed, Naveed.
03:53And that's when I realized, oh, I know this person.
03:56This is Naveed Akram.
03:57I just couldn't imagine someone I knew or had memories of commit something so heinous.
04:07The only word I can really give him would be quiet.
04:13Jordan says Naveed developed strong beliefs as a teenager.
04:18One thing that everyone at school or everyone in his grade would realize is
04:23you don't really make any sexual or raunchy jokes around him.
04:26No, anything, like, no, nothing to do with anything gay.
04:30He was very against that.
04:31The only times I remember him getting angry or, you know, aggressive would be
04:37when anyone mentions anything that would test his faith.
04:45Salaamu Alaikum, brothers.
04:46We're here at Bankston Station, spreading dawah, doing the work of the prophets,
04:50continuing the work of the prophets.
04:52Guys, spread dawah wherever you can.
04:54Spread the message, whether it be raining, hailing or clear sky.
04:58By the age of 17, Naveed Akram had dropped out of school
05:02and joined a crew of street preachers.
05:05Inshallah, this will save you on the day of judgement.
05:07The group, called Street Dawah, roamed Bankstown to convert teenagers.
05:13Street Dawah in itself is quite common in many places around the world.
05:17And it's just a way that people might introduce someone to their religion of Islam.
05:22But in Australia, we know that Street Dawahs have been involved for a number of decades now
05:26in the recruitment of radical and violent extremists.
05:30Peter Lowe has spent more than a decade trying to de-radicalise young terrorists.
05:37Naveed was attending Street Dawah where we know he was directly engaged with individuals
05:44who have gone on to be convicted of terrorism offences.
05:47Live in Bankstown Street, Dawah movement, Australia.
05:50There was a spy inside the group.
05:52He was undercover, monitoring terrorists for Australia's intelligence agency, ASIO.
06:08He's agreed to talk to us.
06:16We're withholding our destination for his safety.
06:21It's not the first time we've had to meet like this.
06:26Thank you for meeting with us again.
06:28You're welcome.
06:29This man is a former human source for ASIO, known as an agent.
06:34His ASIO code name was Marcus.
06:37He was never an official employee, but the agency funded his life
06:42while he infiltrated Sydney's Islamic State terrorist network for six years.
06:48First time I met Naveed, he used to come to join our Street Dawah in Bankstown.
06:56I didn't see any concern about him.
06:59He was very normal, and he was very young at that time, with not much knowledge about Islam.
07:12He was learning from people around him.
07:19Did you think he was capable of becoming a killer?
07:23No, not at all.
07:25No.
07:28ASIO had recruited Marcus from the Middle East to pose as a radical imam in Sydney.
07:33I was pretending I am an extremist.
07:38I was pretending I was a supporter of ISIL, ISIS.
07:47Eight months before the Bondi attack, he warned Four Corners Australia was dangerously exposed to Islamic State terrorism.
07:56If you attack Allah, if you attack our Prophet, our religion and our fellow brothers and sisters,
08:03and if you attack our land, then you are going to be met with men who love death more than
08:08you love life.
08:10One of his main targets was this notorious preacher, Wissam Haddad, also known as Abu Usaid,
08:17a spiritual leader for Australia's Islamic State network.
08:21Marcus spent years inside his inner circle.
08:25How important was Abu Usaid to you and to ASIO as a target?
08:31They look at him as he's the most important jihadist extremist preacher in Sydney.
08:43Wissam Haddad has been on ASIO's radar for most of his adult life.
08:47We've mapped his close ties to a web of recruiters, ISIS cells, radical prayer groups and terrorist leaders abroad.
08:57As-salamu alaykum. Another day of Dawah.
09:01Don't forget to like and subscribe. As-salamu alaykum.
09:03Marcus witnessed how Haddad's preachers recruited young people on the streets
09:08and then indoctrinated them at his radical prayer hall Al-Medina Dawah Centre.
09:14Marcus said it was like an ISIS training camp.
09:18I told ASIO, you think you are in an ISIL camp in Syria or in Iraq.
09:24The materials of ISIL, videos, the songs of ISIL, they are aware about all this information.
09:34In May 2019, Bankstown Street Dawah introduced Naveed Akram on social media as their new brother.
09:41Usually we have a little chat, so we'll keep coming inshallah.
09:45Yeah, I'll put it like you.
09:46Would you go today for something?
09:48Yeah, I'll put it like you.
09:49Wissam Haddad's preachers were part of the group.
09:52Most of those attendees of this street Dawah are peaceful, nice, kind people.
10:03But unfortunately, some were extremists.
10:09And repeat after.
10:11I've been in this.
10:11I've been in this.
10:12I've been in this.
10:12But there's no God.
10:13There is no God.
10:14God.
10:15Allah.
10:15Allah.
10:16And that's it with you.
10:17Naveed Akram was brought into the group by this preacher called Yehya.
10:26He's Wissam Haddad's right-hand man.
10:28This is usually what happens.
10:30We stop to get coffee.
10:317-11.
10:32Just before we get to the city, inshallah.
10:35Yehya spent the past decade in street Dawah groups, which were monitored by ASIO.
10:40The groups were recruiting young Australians to terrorism.
10:45Yehya was with the crew filming this video of Naveed in 2019.
10:50Are you in contact with him?
10:52Yeah.
10:52You keep in contact with him?
10:54Yeah.
10:55He's very good.
10:56Yeah, yeah.
10:58I'll see you later.
10:59I'll see you later.
11:00You're on YouTube.
11:01You're on Facebook.
11:02No plan.
11:02Days after this video was posted online, Yehya drew Naveed in deeper.
11:09He invited him to spend 10 nights at Sydney's Othman bin Afan mosque on a religious retreat
11:15for Ramadan called Itikaf, with members of a terror cell Marcus had infiltrated.
11:22Four Corners has confirmed Marcus was part of their group at the mosque.
11:26First time I raised a concern about Naveed was during Ramadan 2019, as he was associated with ISIS supporters.
11:37He claims the group brainwashed Naveed with ISIS videos.
11:41There were a group of ISIS supporters, and Naveed was one of those people who did this religious retreat.
11:57During those 10 nights, Naveed was exposed to material of ISIS, including clips, videos, magazines from the Philippines, from Afghanistan,
12:17from some parts in Syria and Iraq.
12:21I was eyewitness because I was in this religious retreat.
12:31We've been unable to independently verify what happened within the group.
12:36Marcus says they showed Naveed one video on repeat.
12:40An old message from an Australian fighter in Syria, where Islamic State was collapsing.
12:46As for those of you who can't make it to this battle, in particular to the Muwahideen in Australia,
12:52and if you are unable to make hijrah, then inflict terror upon the kuffar and punish them for their crimes
12:57against the Muslims.
12:59Make the lands of the Crusaders your battlefield.
13:01He's calling for attacks in Australia?
13:04Yes.
13:04And Naveed watched this?
13:06Yes.
13:06During the Arctic Cove.
13:08Those nights in late May and early June 2019 were pivotal for Naveed.
13:14He came into contact with the terrorist who would land him on ASIO's radar, Isaac El Matari,
13:20the self-declared Australian commander of ISIS.
13:24El Matari was trying to recruit for attacks at that time.
13:29The El Matari cell.
13:32This cell had really quite diverse and significant engagement with the international Islamic State universe or ecosystem.
13:39They had connections into Lebanon, into Syria, into Kenya.
13:43They were connected to people in the United States.
13:45They were connected to people in Afghanistan.
13:46All part of a broad Islamic State ecosystem.
13:51Isaac El Matari was plotting to import firearms for an insurgency involving attacks in Sydney.
13:59A plan Marcus claims was shared with Naveed.
14:03Naveed was an eyewitness to Isaac.
14:07His plan of bringing weapons from Lebanon.
14:16Isaac had contact with ISIS extremist group in Lebanon.
14:25And those people in this group promised him we can smuggle weapons into Australian borders.
14:41For what?
14:42For a terror attack.
14:43For a terror attack.
14:45For a terror attack targeting some embassies such as the USA, the Israeli, the Pakistani and the Saudi embassies.
14:57Church, public buildings and police stations.
15:02How did your ASIO officers respond when you reported this about Naveed?
15:06They became very interested because it's a very serious matter and they asked me to put an eye on him.
15:21There's no way we can know what was said between Marcus and his handlers.
15:26But the mosque has confirmed Naveed Akram and Isaac El Matari were with a group who were thrown out from
15:33Itikaf.
15:33In a statement, the mosque said the group's behaviour was hostile and confrontational.
15:40Uthman bin Affan mosque stands firmly against extremism and hate.
15:44We don't tolerate it.
15:48Within weeks of the mosque retreat, the street dawa group posted video online of Naveed converting other teenagers.
15:56We will pray for you brother. We pray to obey Allah. And the first step is Salat.
16:04The faculty of Islam, the glory of Allah is that we obey him and whatever he says we do.
16:10You guys are in school, yeah?
16:12We just ask the teacher, can I borrow this room? We just go pray for five minutes and go back
16:15out.
16:17Authorities had been monitoring El Matari and were becoming increasingly alarmed, as revealed later in court.
16:24They secretly recorded him before the mosque retreat as he plotted to spend half a decade building a network of
16:31fighters in the bush in the city.
16:33With brothers as sleepers and attacks on places of political significance that were open to the public with no security
16:43protecting them.
16:45He wanted to emulate an ISIS uprising like the boys in Marawi in the southern Philippines in 2017.
16:53It's reasonable to suspect that Naveed would have been exposed to those same sorts of thinking
16:58and that those were possibilities for him to take that violent extremist ideology onto in the future.
17:03These were relationships that he had and would have been very influential on his thinking at the time.
17:09In July 2019, police arrested members of the terror cell, including Isaac El Matari.
17:16He was later jailed for seven years for planning terrorist attacks and trying to join ISIS abroad.
17:25In October that year, ASIO launched an investigation into Naveed Akram because of his associations with El Matari.
17:34The agency was assessing whether Naveed was a terrorism threat.
17:39We can presume that there are a number of people, not to say voluminous number, but several people spoken to
17:48who had knowledge of the person of interest to try to ascertain if a single report about a commitment to
18:00violent ideology was accurate.
18:03Possibly exaggerated, possibly exaggerated, possibly in some cases wrong, without questioning the integrity of the person.
18:13Neil Fergus has been a respected advisor to Western intelligence agencies and currently has a complaint against ASIO over a
18:20separate matter.
18:21He has close knowledge of how investigators would assess a report like Marcus's.
18:28They would be weighing up that information.
18:31An analyst with genuine credentials in counter-terrorism and the study of jihadist ideologies would make a recommendation.
18:47ASIO officers interviewed Naveed Akram and his father, Sajid.
18:52A security official told Four Corners Sajid promised that Naveed, then 18, would cut ties with extremists.
19:01This was the first time Sajid Akram entered the picture.
19:08Sajid Akram was a mysterious figure, even to some who knew him.
19:13He'd migrated from India in 1998, got married and drifted between jobs in fruit shops.
19:20A senior counter-terrorism official told us investigators now believe he may have already been radicalised when he met with
19:28ASIO about his son, but convinced them he wasn't.
19:32Marcus has his own story about Sajid Akram, which Four Corners has been unable to independently verify.
19:53He says Sajid revealed he was also an extremist.
19:58He showed his support of ISIS. He expressed his support of Isaac and his plans.
20:07He justified his plans as it's required from us as Muslims to support the Islamic State, to fight on behalf
20:22of them.
20:24And if we couldn't do that, we have to do hijra, immigrant, to join them.
20:33How common is it to hear someone say such things in Sydney's extremist community?
20:39It's unusual. Someone speaks openly and freely like this, showing supporting of terror attacks. It's unusual.
20:55So that's why I raised concern about him and I reported that to ASIO.
21:03At that point, who was more radical, Sajid or Naveed Akram?
21:09After this conversation, I thought Sajid was more extremist than his son.
21:19If it was reported, as is asserted by Marcus, then it should have been referred to the joint counter-terrorism
21:32team in Sydney, which is a three agency collective, which is designed to ensure that we have appropriate transfer of
21:41intelligence between state police, federal police and ASIO.
21:44And that means identifying people who pose potentially a risk to public safety.
21:53In a statement, ASIO said it was constrained in its ability to respond to questions about the Akrams because of
22:00an ongoing investigation, court case and royal commission.
22:03Sajid Akram's path to radicalisation is critical to those inquiries.
22:10Sometimes being able to identify radicalisation is quite different depending on age.
22:19Sometimes, you know, as is the case with older people, they're able to think a lot clearer and manage risks
22:25a lot better.
22:26And so they sometimes do fly under the radar.
22:30It feels like we're all one for once, as a normal man.
22:33During ASIO's investigation into Naveed Akram, they discovered he was a follower of the radical cleric Wissam Haddad.
22:40The teenager attended Haddad's prayer centre, which drew a small following at that time.
22:47Naveed was joining them during their activities in Al-Madina Da'wah centre, like dinners, speaking to youth, encouraging them
23:00to go to Al-Madina Da'wah centre and to attend classes and lessons there.
23:08He was connecting with Haddad's youth leaders, including 22-year-old Yusuf Uwainat, an Islamic State recruiter.
23:18While ASIO was investigating Naveed, police arrested Uwainat and discovered his secret chats with other teenagers.
23:26He was indoctrinating them into ISIS and urging them to carry out suicide attacks.
23:34The cell that Naveed was associating with really its primary target for recruitment and indoctrination were children.
23:42The purpose of an organisation like Al-Madina is to recruit a whole range of people in,
23:48but also to filter through that cohort and identify people who will be willing to or able to engage in
23:53violence.
23:55In 2020, ASIO concluded its six-month investigation into Naveed Akram.
24:02In a statement, the organisation said it investigated the 18-year-old using its most sensitive capabilities
24:10and found he did not intend to engage in violent extremism.
24:15Marcus and ASIO agree on that finding.
24:18By your assessment, did Naveed Akram or Sajid Akram pose a threat at that time, 2020?
24:26At that time, I didn't see any real violence threat or any potential attacks plans. No.
24:45ASIO told Four Corners it assessed Naveed Akram did not support Islamic State at that time.
24:52The Prime Minister has said ASIO found there was no clear evidence Naveed or Sajid Akram were radicalised.
25:00Marcus disputes those assessments.
25:02There must have been strong, conflicting intelligence to yours for ASIO to decide at that time
25:11that neither Naveed or Sajid Akram were radicalised.
25:15I'm not sure what was behind this decision, but I'm sure that they showed real signs of their radicalisation
25:28and of their supporting of ISIS.
25:34So have Australians been told the real story about what happened?
25:40What they said doesn't match what I knew about the situation.
25:47ASIO declined an interview, but in its statement to Four Corners about claims the Akrams embraced violent extremism in 2019,
25:57it said the claims were found to be unsubstantiated.
26:01The ABC source claimed Naveed Akram said and did things that were actually said and done by an entirely different
26:08person.
26:09Four Corners source misidentified Naveed Akram and therefore the associated claims are untrue.
26:16ASIO said having reviewed all available intelligence, it stands by its assessment at that point in time.
26:25Marcus provided a response saying he strongly denies ASIO's allegation that he ever misidentified Naveed Akram,
26:33someone he met on a regular face-to-face basis over many years.
26:38This regrettable allegation is false and unsubstantiated.
26:43It's very significant that an undercover operative task by ASIO has come forward to give us information.
26:54And I'm sure that ASIO will go back and look at intelligence provided to make sure that their assessment was
27:02the right one and what lessons could be learned.
27:04But I should emphasise that threat changes and morphs and moves all the time.
27:11So the fact that an assessment was made against Naveed Akram a few years ago,
27:16and he was assessed as not a current imminent threat, does not mean that he couldn't have become one later.
27:22So that's why it's vitally important not a one-off investigation into a radicalised individual.
27:31Despite concluding that Naveed Akram did not adhere to or intend to engage in violent extremism,
27:38ASIO recognised he could still go on to become a terrorist.
27:42Through the joint counter-terrorism team, the 18-year-old was added to a NSW police intelligence database called the
27:50Known Entity Management System,
27:52tracking potential extremists.
27:55He was no longer on the list by the time of the attack.
28:00We're also told that NSW police did an interview.
28:05It is a little difficult to see how people could subsequently say that they didn't pose a risk and they
28:14were taken off the radar.
28:19Not impossible, but unusual.
28:22They're just questions, given the gravity of this massacre, need to be asked by an independent person.
28:30New South Wales police declined to respond to our questions due to ongoing investigations and inquiries.
28:40In June 2020, two months after ASIO concluded its investigation into Naveed Akram,
28:47his father applied to NSW police for a firearms licence.
28:52Around the same time, Naveed reportedly trained with a local hunting club.
28:58He also worked as a bricklayer.
29:00NSW police were banning associates of the El Matari cell from obtaining guns,
29:06while Marcus monitored the network.
29:08There were several attempts to smuggle weapons from overseas.
29:18Another one buying weapons in Australia.
29:24The first option they discussed is if they can get weapons legally.
29:32In case they couldn't find this,
29:35they will go underground to find a weapon illegally.
29:41New South Wales police told a tribunal
29:44they suspected the terror cell was looking for a clean skin,
29:47a person with no criminal record,
29:50who could legally acquire firearms without alerting law enforcement.
29:55Sajid Akram was allowed to continue to apply for his gun licence,
29:59even though he lived in the same house as Naveed,
30:03who'd associated with members of the cell.
30:06We know from court documentation
30:08that concerns had been raised about the cell
30:11and their efforts to try and find somebody
30:13who might be able to obtain a firearms licence.
30:16One of the things that will likely come to light
30:19through the Richardson Review or through the Royal Commission
30:21is exactly how it is that that didn't, you know,
30:24sort of lift the concerns that were associated with the Akrams.
30:26So here we tell the brothers that we...
30:28Marcus claims the Akrams attended Wissam Haddad's Al-Medina Dawah Centre
30:33over several years,
30:35despite their earlier promise to disengage.
30:38ASIO didn't say whether it received such intelligence.
30:43Haddad has said no evidence has been produced
30:46showing any personal, organisational or instructional link
30:50with Naveed Akram.
30:53While Marcus was gathering intelligence,
30:56ASIO was in the midst of a major shift.
30:59In 2022, ASIO chief Mike Burgess announced
31:03terrorism was no longer the highest priority
31:07and he was moving resources to other threats.
31:11Espionage and foreign interference threats
31:14are outpacing terrorism threats
31:16and therefore demand more attention and more resources.
31:19ASIO lowered Australia's terrorism threat level.
31:23The number of cases that we are investigating has moderated.
31:27Terrorism remains a priority for my organisation
31:29and it will get the full resources it needs.
31:32ISIS was diminished but reviving,
31:35according to the Home Affairs boss,
31:37who oversaw ASIO at the time.
31:42I think it was fair to say that by 2022,
31:45we were alert to them.
31:48There was certainly no complacency at all
31:50because we could see what they were trying to do.
31:53They'd lost their physical base,
31:55so they were trying to inspire,
31:57pushing out messages,
31:59trying to get people to ideate
32:01and turn, for instance,
32:04hatred of Jews or hatred of the West
32:06or hatred of the promiscuity, say, in the West
32:10and turn that into violence.
32:13ASIO shifted their priorities and concerns.
32:17They became less interested in focusing on jihadism
32:23and Islamist extremists
32:26and they became less interested in our work and information.
32:32From 2022, my previous officers were moved
32:37to work on other aspects
32:39and they were replaced by new officers,
32:49unqualified, new graduates.
32:56Some of them, they didn't know the most important names
33:00of ISIS leaders,
33:03like Abu Muhammad al-Adnani,
33:06so that, yes, 100% that affected our work
33:11on stopping terrorism
33:15and possible terror attack.
33:21Senior ASIO officers with recent experience
33:24have told Four Corners of years of cuts
33:27to spending on counter-terrorism.
33:29They speak of a dramatic loss of expertise
33:32in Islamist terrorism,
33:34human intelligence capabilities
33:36and people power.
33:38ASIO said this was false
33:40and the claim any resourcing decision
33:43increased the likelihood of the Bondi attack
33:45is irresponsible and demonstrates profound ignorance.
33:51How difficult a metric is that for Mike Burgess
33:54when he's looking at how to prioritise,
33:58resource his officers' attention?
34:00I won't speak for Mr Burgess,
34:02he can speak for himself,
34:03but as someone who at least up until September 23
34:06was privy to his thinking,
34:07it's a devilish problem
34:08because in security,
34:11you always know that something will go wrong.
34:14You're always just struggling with these trade-offs.
34:16They're very hard trade-offs
34:17and these are some of the hardest jobs in government
34:20for that reason.
34:22The relationship between ASIO and Marcus
34:25ultimately fell apart.
34:27As we reported last year,
34:29he was charged with assault and stalking in 2022.
34:32His cover was also blown
34:34and he took out a restraining order
34:36saying an extremist was threatening to harm him.
34:39His charges were later withdrawn and dismissed
34:43but ASIO pulled its support for his permanent residency
34:46and he left the country in 2023.
34:51In its statement to Four Corners,
34:54ASIO described Marcus as unreliable and disgruntled,
34:58claims he denies.
35:00Marcus accused ASIO of trying to denigrate him,
35:04saying his whistleblowing is in the public interest
35:06and the allegation he's unreliable
35:09does not withstand scrutiny.
35:12He said otherwise,
35:13ASIO would not have tasked him
35:15with infiltrating dangerous terrorist networks,
35:18resulting in successful prosecutions of terrorists
35:21and prevention of a number of terrorist attacks.
35:25Have you made anything up?
35:28If I have made anything up,
35:30they are welcome to go and sue me.
35:34In July 2023,
35:36the New South Wales Police Firearms Registry
35:39issued Sajid Akram with a gun licence
35:41after a three-year wait.
35:44He applied to buy firearms.
35:49It looks like, on this occasion,
35:51intelligence has fallen between the cracks
35:53because he shouldn't really have been given
35:55that firearms licence.
35:56So they will be looking very carefully
35:58at why that didn't happen,
36:00and why Sajid Akram,
36:02why he was issued a firearms licence
36:04when the family, if you like,
36:06or his son, Naveed,
36:07was investigating thoroughly
36:09for Islamic extremism.
36:11He should not have acquired
36:12that firearms licence.
36:17On October 7, 2023,
36:20the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel
36:23lit a fuse inside Australia's extremist scene.
36:31One group celebrated the deaths
36:33of nearly 1,200 people.
36:36I'm smiling and I'm happy!
36:39I'm united!
36:41It's a day of courage!
36:44It's a day of happiness!
36:47It's a day of pride!
36:49It's a day of victory!
36:52This is the night!
36:54What have you been waiting for?
36:56What have you been waiting for?
36:58Israel's war in Gaza sparked mass protests,
37:01and while the vast majority were peaceful,
37:04some at the Sydney Opera House
37:05chanted anti-Semitic slogans.
37:08Where's the Jews?
37:09Where's the Jews?
37:10Where's the Jews?
37:11Where's the Jews?
37:13Everyone agrees that at a minimum,
37:15there were people calling for
37:16where are the Jews or where are the Jews?
37:18There's no doubt.
37:19In my mind,
37:21this was a new level
37:22of anti-Jewish hatred
37:25that was surfacing to full public view.
37:31At Al-Medina Dawah Centre,
37:33Wissam Haddad's preachers stoked anti-Semitism...
37:38..invoking a holy war.
37:40Muslims, they're starving for jihad.
37:46Their hearts are aching for jihad.
37:49They can't wait
37:51to be amongst the Mujahideen.
37:54Towards the end of times
37:55when the Muslims will be fighting the Jews,
37:59the trees will speak,
38:00the stone will speak,
38:02and they will say,
38:03O Muslim, O believer,
38:04there is a Yahudi behind me.
38:06Come and kill him.
38:10When we became aware of these sermons,
38:13we publicly and privately
38:15asked the government and the police
38:16to take specific action
38:18against Wissam Haddad.
38:19We recognised in him
38:21something extremely menacing and threatening
38:22far beyond the feelings of the community.
38:24It required police action,
38:26criminal action.
38:27That wasn't forthcoming.
38:29The peak Jewish body
38:31took Haddad to the federal court,
38:33which later found
38:34he and his prayer centre
38:35breached racial vilification laws.
38:38In an affidavit,
38:39Haddad brazenly disclosed
38:41he'd received so-called religious training
38:44from a cleric
38:45who's a known leader in Islamic State.
38:48ISIS are unequivocally
38:50regarded as terrorist organisations,
38:53and yet an Australian
38:54can consort with these people,
38:57be trained by them,
38:59and be free to walk the streets
39:00in this country,
39:01and to preach
39:02and to advocate.
39:04I mean, that's just absurd.
39:06It's an absurdity.
39:12In 2024,
39:14a teenager in Haddad's network
39:16carried out a brutal attack,
39:20stabbing a bishop
39:21who'd insulted the Prophet Muhammad.
39:25Police raided followers of Haddad,
39:28allegedly planning terrorism
39:30against Jews.
39:32As extremist violence escalated,
39:35ASIO increased
39:36the terrorism threat level.
39:38Gaza is not the cause of this rising,
39:41but actually I acknowledge,
39:42yes, it's a significant driver.
39:44It's driven more emotion
39:47and heat into society.
39:48We are reviewing our caseload
39:50of assessed violent extremists.
39:52Many of those we've assessed
39:54do have awful ideologies,
39:55but are unlikely to go to violence.
39:57In this environment,
39:59it's important that we retest
40:00those assessments we've made
40:01to make sure we're paying attention
40:03to the people we know about.
40:05ASIO didn't answer questions
40:07about whether Naveed Akram
40:09or his father
40:10were on that list.
40:13Anti-Semitic violence
40:15erupted in Sydney and Melbourne,
40:17putting intense demands on ASIO.
40:20Mike Pizzullo called
40:22for a national task force
40:24to stop anti-Semitic terrorism
40:26after being sacked
40:27from his government role.
40:29Anti-Jewish hatred
40:30was reaching a crescendo.
40:33We'd seen fire bombings,
40:34attacks on synagogues,
40:36horrendous graffiti,
40:37death threats
40:38and all the rest of it.
40:44Ten months before the Bondi attack,
40:46ASIO warned
40:47the killing of Jews
40:48was now the greatest risk
40:50to public safety.
40:51In terms of threats to life,
40:53it's my agency's number one priority
40:55because of the weight of incidents
40:57we're seeing
40:57play out in this country.
41:00When more than 100,000 people
41:02marched against civilian deaths
41:04in Israel's war in Gaza,
41:06Wissam Haddad exploited the moment,
41:09posting this photo of a man
41:11on the Sydney Harbour Bridge,
41:13waving the flag
41:14made infamous by jihadists.
41:17It was the ISIS recruiter
41:19Yusuf Uwainat,
41:20released from jail
41:21after meeting Naveed Akram
41:23years earlier.
41:25The message that that was sending
41:27was to their own followers
41:28that they are going to be able
41:30to get away with this again.
41:31To say and do things
41:32that push the boundaries
41:33of what is legally allowed
41:36is a call to arms to others.
41:38You will also be able
41:39to engage in this.
41:40Look, it's permissible
41:41because it's not being stopped.
41:44In September 2025,
41:47Islamic State issued
41:48a proclamation.
41:50That statement
41:51from the spokesperson
41:53for Islamic State
41:55called for attacks
41:56against Jewish Jews
41:57and against Christians.
41:59When these statements
41:59get issued,
42:00there's usually an immediate
42:01response around the world.
42:05Naveed Akram was training.
42:08Sajid Akram bought
42:09his sixth and final firearm.
42:13Police allege
42:15that in October 2025,
42:17father and son
42:18began the final stages
42:20of planning for the massacre.
42:22They travelled to a property
42:24where they filmed themselves
42:26training with guns.
42:29The Akrams filmed
42:30a second video
42:31of themselves
42:32sitting in front
42:33of an ISIS flag
42:34and four firearms.
42:36Counter-terrorism sources
42:37have told Four Corners
42:39the pair singled out
42:41Zionists in their message
42:42and urged viewers
42:44to travel to the Philippines
42:45and undertake training.
42:48On the 1st of November,
42:50they flew to the Philippines
42:52en route to a former
42:53Islamic State hotspot,
42:55Mindanao.
42:56It didn't trigger an alert.
43:00And why was Naveed Akram
43:03not put on
43:03a flight watch list?
43:05The fact that he
43:06had been investigated
43:08should have meant
43:09that when he was travelling
43:09out or returning
43:11from a clearly
43:13vulnerable area
43:14in South Philippines,
43:15he should have been stopped.
43:17The Akrams
43:19spent four weeks
43:20booked into a budget hotel
43:22in the city of Davao.
43:24Police are still
43:25trying to determine
43:26what they were doing there.
43:30In Bondi,
43:32planning was underway
43:33for the annual
43:34Hanukkah by the Sea Festival.
43:36Sources have told us
43:37the Jewish Community
43:38Security Group
43:39asked NSW police
43:41for a static police presence
43:43at the event,
43:44but they declined.
43:45We asked the Premier
43:46if this was the wrong decision.
43:49Yeah, I mean,
43:50in hindsight, yes,
43:52because we had
43:54the worst terrorist event.
43:56in Australia's history
43:57and it happened
43:58in Bondi on that night.
44:00So, any answer
44:01other than that,
44:03you know,
44:03is ridiculous.
44:08Police allege
44:09that after returning
44:10to Australia,
44:11the Akrams
44:12were filmed on CCTV,
44:14scoping Bondi,
44:15and later smuggling
44:17a bundle of firearms
44:19to their car.
44:22Just after 6.40pm
44:24on December 14,
44:26Naveed and Sajid Akram
44:28opened fire
44:29on the crowd
44:30in Archer Park,
44:31killing 15 people
44:33and injuring 40.
44:36by then,
44:37Naveed Akram
44:38was no longer
44:39on the NSW
44:40police watch list.
44:44Obviously,
44:45something went badly wrong.
44:47The reason we know that
44:48is that this man
44:50is responsible
44:52for a horrifying crime
44:53and it went bad,
44:56it went incredibly bad
44:57and we need
44:59to iron up to that.
45:02Police shot dead
45:04Sajid Akram
45:05and charged
45:05his wounded son
45:07with terrorism
45:08and murder.
45:12After years of demands
45:14for action
45:14from the Jewish community,
45:16Wissam Haddad's
45:17Al-Medina Dawah Centre
45:19was ordered to close
45:20following the attack.
45:23Wissam Haddad
45:24created the forum,
45:25the venue,
45:26that so-called
45:27study centre,
45:28that prayer group
45:29that attracted
45:30these individuals
45:31that might take up
45:32that battle cry.
45:33The fact that he's
45:34a free man today
45:35I think should shock
45:36all Australians.
45:37There was clearly
45:38intelligence
45:38about him going back
45:39many years
45:40and what did we think
45:42was going to happen
45:42with that?
45:43When you have young men
45:45hanging on his every word
45:46with access to weapons,
45:47what is going to happen?
45:49We've seen what's happened.
45:51Haddad vehemently denies
45:53any knowledge of
45:54or involvement
45:55in the attack
45:56and the ABC
45:57doesn't suggest otherwise.
45:59He said
46:00there was no evidence
46:01to support the allegation
46:03he's a spiritual leader
46:04of ISIS.
46:07Yehya told us
46:08he had nothing
46:09to do with the attack,
46:10no recent contact
46:11with the Akrams
46:12and that he opposed
46:13the killing
46:14of innocent people.
46:17ASIO told
46:18Four Corners
46:19tragically
46:20it did not know
46:21what the perpetrators
46:23of the Bondi attack
46:24were planning.
46:25This is a matter
46:26of grave regret.
46:27It weighs on us heavily.
46:29But that does not mean
46:31there was intelligence
46:32that was not acted on
46:33or that our officers
46:34made mistakes.
46:38As a human,
46:42Muslim,
46:44Palestinian refugee,
46:46I certainly believe
46:47this terror attack
46:50is against
46:51the true teaching
46:53of Islam.
46:55And anyone,
46:56any group
46:57tries to justify
46:59this terror attack
47:01because of
47:02the human tragedy
47:04in Gaza
47:06is complicit
47:09in this
47:10vile
47:11anti-Semitic
47:14terror attack.
47:18A royal commission
47:20with extensive powers
47:22will now examine
47:23any intelligence failures
47:24in the lead-up
47:25to the attack.
47:26since first warning
47:28Australians,
47:29Marcus has received
47:31death threats
47:31from ISIS sympathisers.
47:34While he's safe
47:36right now
47:36in hiding
47:37overseas,
47:38he's seeking
47:39Australia's help
47:40with protection
47:41and resettlement.
47:43He says he's ready
47:44to give evidence.
47:46It must be so upsetting
47:48to have known
47:50these men,
47:50to have watched
47:51these men
47:51and then to see
47:52what they carried out.
47:53Yes, it is.
47:56What happened
47:57on Bondi Beach
47:59was a result
48:01of a set
48:03of errors
48:04and a disregard
48:07for information
48:09how someone
48:11like this
48:12fled out
48:14of ASIO
48:15and Australian
48:17authorities'
48:18radar.
48:20I believe
48:22this is
48:23enough
48:25to stop
48:27hiding
48:29behind
48:29security
48:30policy.
48:33People
48:34were killed
48:35broadly,
48:36were murdered
48:37and
48:38public need
48:40to understand
48:41and to see
48:43what led
48:44to this
48:45horrible
48:46terror attack.
48:53They
49:01were killed
49:18and
49:19they
49:20were killed
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