Sydney stabbings as it happened: Wakeley church attack declared terrorist event just days after Bondi Junction tragedy; PM, AFP call for calm

Meta says it is working with law enforcement to enact the Austrlians government notice to remove videos and photos depicting “gratuitous or offensive violence” from the terrorist attack at Christ The Good Shepherd Church at Wakeley on Monday night.

A spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, says the company “have taken steps to prevent possible copies of the incident being re-shared”.

“Our priority is to protect people using our services from seeing this horrific content even if bad actors are determined to call attention to it,” the spokesperson said.

The stabbing attack was livestreamed by the Christ The Good Shepherd Church on YouTube, as a part of its regular broadcasts of church services.

In some good news, the nine-month-old daughter of Ashlee Good has been released from the Intensive Care Unit.

Good, 38, was one of six victims of the Bondi Junction stabbing attacks. She died trying to save her daughter.

Nine News confirmed the baby is now in a stable condition at Sydney Children’s Hospital.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has again condemned terror attack on Monday night, and the subsequent unrest on the streets of Wakeley, saying Australia is a “peace-loving nation”.

“I want to see the community united not divided,” Albanese said.

“The police last night going about their work should always be respected.

“They responded professionally, and with a very quick response last night, and the fact that they were set upon in such a way is disappointing to say the least.”

Albanese also drew on the Bondi Junction stabbings in commenting on the need to “respect men and women in uniform who serve our community and put themselves at risk in order to protect [us]“.

“Police should not have been set upon in the way that they were. Police vehicles should not have been damaged. People need to allow our law enforcement authorities to do such an amazing job,” Albanese said.

“I mean, remember it’s only a few days ago, that we were all praising Police Inspector Amy Scott, who did such an extraordinarily brave thing in entering the Westfield at Bondi Junction there and taking out the perpetrator Joe Cauchi, before he could cause even more catastrophic damage to people.”

The government’s eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Facebook’s parent company Meta and X (formerly Twitter) have 24 hours to remove content showing Monday night’s church stabbing.

The government has issued notices to the social media giants to remove videos and photos depicting “gratuitous or offensive violence” from the terrorist attack at Christ The Good Shepherd Church at Wakeley on Monday night.

“We expect them to remove this expeditiously within the next 24 hours,” Inman Grant said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

“We know that every minute counts. The more this content is up there, the more it is reshared, the more velocity and virality continues. And we need to stem that.”

The commissioner said the companies might face fines if they did not comply, and that she had other social platforms in her sights.

The alleged stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel by a 16-year-old assailant was captured on livestream.

NSW Premier Chris Minns says he is open to strengthening the state’s knife laws after the series of stabbing incidents that have shocked Sydney.

Speaking on 2GB on Tuesday afternoon, Minns confirmed the teenage suspect in Monday night’s attack at a south-west Sydney church had been found with a knife when at school in 2020. The teenager had also been given a good-behaviour bond over a knife crime three months ago.

“We increased knife laws about six months ago, after the terrible death of Steven Tougher, the NSW paramedic, but I’m not prepared to rule anything out right now,” he said.

“Obviously, when people are being killed, and you’ve got a situation where a knife is being used, then it would be irresponsible not to look at it.”

The government sought to double the penalties for knife crimes after Tougher was stabbed to death in an ambulance in a McDonald’s car park in April last year.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has confirmed that the teenager arrested after the Wakeley stabbing had a finger cut off during the attack.

2GB’s Chris O’Keefe asked the premier if he could clarify “whether or not this teenager cut his own fingers off accidentally, or if it was done to him”.

Minns replied: “The information we have is that it happened in the commission of the crime, not to him.”

Minns also confirmed reports that the teen was found with a knife at school in 2020.

The premier said he couldn’t confirm what the stabber said as he approached Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, but confirmed that it was “religiously motivated language”, which contributed to the stabbing being deemed a terrorism incident.

Minns continued that the terrorism designation was “not a performative gesture”.

“We’re not trying to judge one crime over another with this particular designation. The reason it’s required is particular changes to the legislation to enhance police powers.”

Minns took the opportunity to heap praise on the four police officers who were injured during the heated stand-off outside the Christ The Good Shepherd Church on Monday evening.

“[They are] incredible, incredible police officers. Two of them told me that they’ll back on shift this afternoon,” Minns said.

“Offering that kind of dedication in the face of terrible violence was truly remarkable. No one should have to put up with that in their workplaces.”

Paramedics who were stuck inside Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley for 3½ hours on Monday night have described the ordeal as terrifying and extremely violent, as the NSW health minister condemned the rioters’ hostility towards frontline workers.

NSW Ambulance commissioner Dominic Morgan said six paramedics “had to retreat into the church” when the situation outside rapidly escalated.

“Six of our paramedics could not leave that church for fear of their own safety, from the community that they serve,” he said.

“This is outrageous.”

He said paramedics treated 30 patients at the church in Sydney’s south-west on Monday night, including Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, the teenage alleged assailant and about 20 people affected by capsicum spray deployed by the police.

Health Minister Ryan Park said the hostility witnessed by frontline paramedics was “particularly heinous and completely unacceptable”.

Park spent Tuesday morning meeting with staff at Liverpool Hospital emergency department, which was closed off to the public on Monday night as a precaution.

Premier Chris Minns has warned it will be a challenging few days for NSW and has appealed to the community for cohesion and calm after last night’s terror attack in Wakeley.

Minns attended a briefing at Fairfield Police Station on Tuesday afternoon with Police Minister Yasmin Catley, Police Commissioner Karen Webb, Attorney-General Michael Daley as well as local MPs Chris Bowen and David Saliba and Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone.

“I’m confident we can get through the next few days,” Minns said.

“It will be challenging, emotions are heightened, and I can understand anxiety in the community but there’s a lot of good will in our community as well.”

Minns said he had met with religious leaders over conference call in the hours after the Wakeley stabbing and throughout the day on Tuesday.

“The message was resolute and consistent from that group across all religions and that was a belief in our multicultural community, a plea for cohesion and calmness amongst that community and a resolute statement against violence of any kind under any circumstances,” Minns said.

“So if there’s any attempt at all at violence or attempts at violence or breaking the law it will be happening at the direct and unambiguous opposition to the united religious and civic leaders of NSW.”

Minns said it had been a difficult 24 hours in Fairfield. “We’re keen to hear representatives of the local community as well as NSW Police about how to keep the community safe, as well as foster community cohesion in Sydney.”