Complaints surge over ACC taxi service, Westfield malls look at boosting security and Donald Trump’s criminal trial gets underway in the latest NZ Herald headlines.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Frenchman who took on the knife-wielding attacker in Bondi can stay in the country “as long as he likes”.
Video emerged on Saturday of Damien Guerot holding the base of the black bollard in his left hand and the top in his right at the top of an escalator, preventing the offender Joel Cauchi from going to the next level of the shopping centre.
While this was happening, shoppers could be seen retreating further into the surrounding stores.
Guerot and friend Silas Despreaux witnessed some of Cauchi’s rampage.
Albanese spoke about the French national’s bravery.
“This is someone who we would welcome becoming an Australian citizen, although that would of course be a loss for France,“ he said.
“It says a lot about the nature of humanity at a time when we are facing difficult issues that someone who is not a citizen of this country stood bravely at the top of those escalators and stopped this perpetrator from getting onto another floor and potentially inflicting further carnage on citizens.”
“We thank him for his extraordinary bravery.”
Despreaux is a permanent resident but Guerot’s visa expires in July and the public is calling for him to be made a citizen.
Guerot disagreed, saying Scott was “the real hero”.
Victims of the Bondi stabbing tragedy. Photo / NZ Herald
“She did the job. We just did what we did.”
The six victims of the Bondi stabbing have been identified as Dawn Singleton, 25, Jade Young, 47, Pikria Darchia, 55, Yixuan Cheng, 27, and 30-year-old Faraz Tahir who died at the scene, while Ashlee Good, 38, later died in hospital.
Seven people, including a 9-month-old child, remained in hospital on Monday night.
