SYDNEY: The number of firearms in Australia reached an all-time high of more than 4 million in 2025, the center-left government reported on Sunday, a day after saying it would introduce a gun reform bill in parliament in response to the Bondi massacre.
There were a record 4,113,735 guns in Australia last year, with 1,158,654 of those in the most populous state of New South Wales where the Bondi attack took place, the government said, citing Department of Home Affairs data.
The Labor government on Saturday said parliament, recalled from its summer break, would debate bills this week to authorize a gun buyback and lower the bar for hate speech prosecutions — measures drafted in the wake of the December 14 shooting that killed 15 at a Hanukkah celebration.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said there were now more guns in Australia than at the time of a 1996 shooting that killed 35 and prompted a gun buyback scheme by the conservative government of former Prime Minister John Howard.
“The deadly antisemitic terrorist attack at Bondi Beach is a national tragedy which can never be allowed to happen again,” Burke said, adding that the government was committed to “getting dangerous guns off our streets.”
New South Wales, responding to the Bondi massacre, passed state laws in December banning private individuals from owning more than four firearms, with exemptions for farmers, who can have up to 10.
The shooting in Bondi has also sparked calls for efforts to tackle antisemitism in Australia. Police say the alleged gunmen were inspired by Daesh.
Australian government says firearms hit a record high in 2025
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Australian government says firearms hit a record high in 2025
- There were a record 4,113,735 guns in Australia last year, with 1,158,654 of those in the most populous state of New South Wales where the Bondi attack took place
India, Arab League target $500bn in trade by 2030
- It was the first such gathering of India–Arab FMs since the forum’s inauguration in 2016
- India and Arab states agree to link their startup ecosystems, cooperate in the space sector
NEW DELHI: India and the Arab League have committed to doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, as their top diplomats met in New Delhi for the India–Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
The foreign ministers’ forum is the highest mechanism guiding India’s partnership with the Arab world. It was established in March 2002, with an agreement to institutionalize dialogue between India and the League of Arab States, a regional bloc of 22 Arab countries from the Middle East and North Africa.
The New Delhi meeting on Saturday was the first gathering in a decade, following the inaugural forum in Bahrain in 2016.
India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said in his opening remarks that the forum was taking place amid a transformation in the global order.
“Nowhere is this more apparent than in West Asia or the Middle East, where the landscape itself has undergone a dramatic change in the last year,” he said. “This obviously impacts all of us, and India as a proximate region. To a considerable degree, its implications are relevant for India’s relationship with Arab nations as well.”
Jaishankar and his UAE counterpart co-chaired the talks, which aimed at producing a cooperation agenda for 2026-28.
“It currently covers energy, environment, agriculture, tourism, human resource development, culture and education, amongst others,” Jaishankar said.
“India looks forward to more contemporary dimensions of cooperation being included, such as digital, space, start-ups, innovation, etc.”
According to the “executive program” released by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the roadmap agreed by India and the League outlined their planned collaboration, which included the target “to double trade between India and LAS to US$500 billion by 2030, from the current trade of US$240 billion.”
Under the roadmap, they also agreed to link their startup ecosystems by facilitating market access, joint projects, and investment opportunities — especially health tech, fintech, agritech, and green technologies — and strengthen cooperation in space with the establishment of an India–Arab Space Cooperation Working Group, of which the first meeting is scheduled for next year.
Over the past few years, there has been a growing momentum in Indo-Arab relations focused on economic, business, trade and investment ties between the regions that have some of the world’s youngest demographics, resulting in a “commonality of circumstances, visions and goals,” according to Muddassir Quamar, associate professor at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
“The focus of the summit meeting was on capitalizing on the economic opportunities … including in the field of energy security, sustainability, renewables, food and water security, environmental security, trade, investments, entrepreneurship, start-ups, technological innovations, educational cooperation, cultural cooperation, youth engagement, etc.,” Quamar told Arab News.
“A number of critical decisions have been taken for furthering future cooperation in this regard. In terms of opportunities, there is immense potential.”
