PM gives ‘Bollard Man’ nod for visa
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hinted that a brave Frenchman who faced off with a rampaging knifeman, who stabbed six people to death in Bondi Junction, on Saturday may jump the queue to become an Australian citizen.
Mr Albanese took the opportunity in a press conference on Tuesday to comment on the visa conditions of Damien Guerot, who has been dubbed “Bollard Man” by thousands of grateful people on social media after he grabbed a metal post inside the shopping centre and confronted killer Joel Cauchi, 40, as he made his way up an escalator.
His friend Silas Despreaux, a French tradie from Randwick, was alongside him.
When they realised Cauchi was on a killing spree they sprang into action.
Vision captured during the terrifying mass murder shows a brave but determined Mr Guerot hold out the bollard in front of him and stop Cauchi from getting to an area where dozens of children were playing on the first day of school holidays.
The PM “welcomed” Mr Guerot to become an Australian citizen while also making mention to his current visa issues.
“I say this to Damien Guerot, who is dealing with his visa applications, that you are welcome here. You are welcome to stay for as long as you like,” Mr Albanese said. “This is someone who we would welcome becoming an Australian citizen, although that would of course be a loss for France.
“We thank him for his extraordinary bravery.”
Mr Albanese said we saw “the best of human character” during the devastating tragedy.
“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,” he said.