WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that all visas for people from Pakistan will be cancelled, effective immediately.
OUR VERDICT
False. The claim is based on a video created with artificial intelligence.
AAP FACTCHECK - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has not announced the visas of all Pakistani nationals will be cancelled following the Bondi Beach terrorist attack, despite claims online.
The claim is based on a video generated with artificial intelligence (AI).
Sajid Akram, 50, and his 24-year-old son Naveed opened fire on a Jewish Hanukkah event at a beachside park, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, on December 14, 2025.
Authorities confirmed the father moved to Australia more than two decades ago, with many online posts initially claiming he had links to Pakistan.
While Australian authorities have not publicly confirmed his nationality, Indian police have said the 50-year-old was an Indian citizen, originally from the city of Hyderabad, according to Reuters.
Filipino broadcaster ABS-CBN has also published the passport details of the gunmen after it was reported they travelled to the southern island of Mindanao in November 2025.
Sajid Akram's passport lists his place of birth as Hyderabad, Telangana, while his son has an Australian passport which states he was born in Camperdown, Sydney.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has also confirmed Naveed Akram is an Australian-born citizen.
A clip shared on Facebook appears to show Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying the 24-year-old is a Pakistani national, before announcing a decision to cancel all visas for people from Pakistan following the shooting.
"The Pakistani-origin terrorist Naveed Akram has been arrested today's terror attack [sic]," the prime minister appears to say.
"Australia is suspending all visa services for Pakistani effective immediately [sic]."
Mr Albanese has not stated Naveed Akram is Pakistani or suspended visas for those from the country, as evidenced by transcripts of his recent interviews.
When asked on December 15 whether the gunmen were of Pakistani origin, the prime minister deferred to Mr Burke who said Naveed Akram was an Australian-born citizen but didn't detail his father's nationality.
The following day, when asked what country the 50-year-old emigrated from, the prime minister declined to comment and he has not spoken about the pair's nationality since.
A reverse image search reveals the video has been generated from a photo of Mr Albanese taken by The Age photographer Alex Ellinghausen in August 2022.
The position of the flags in the background match the video, while Mr Albanese's tie and hand gesture are identical to the first frame of the fake clip.
There are also inconsistencies between his lip movements and the audio, a telltale sign of AI.
The voiceover also does not resemble Mr Albanese's voice and is unnaturally fast.
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