Shaken Sydneysiders are trying to return to a sense of normalcy following the deadly cafe siege that has left a shadow of fear hanging over the city.
The sombre mood comes as mounting anger grows over the national security system’s failure to flag gunman Man Haron Monis for surveillance, despite his long history of violence and mental instability.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has serious questions about why the “madman” wasn’t on any counter-terrorism watchlist.
“The system did not adequately deal with this individual,” he said.
“Two very decent people are dead, others are injured, others are traumatised because of a madman who was roaming our streets.”
NSW police have urged Sydneysiders to go about their business as usual.
“We see the fear in their eyes and we want to let them know that we are out there to know they are safe,” Assistant Commissioner Mick Fuller said on Wednesday.
Police have reopened the exclusion zone in Martin Place the day after a dramatic 16-hour siege reached its conclusion early on Tuesday morning. The stand-off resulted in the deaths of hostages Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson, as well as Monis.
Abbott intends to publish a report into the lead-up to Monday’s siege and how and where Monis got a gun.
The self-declared Muslim cleric was well known to ASIO and federal and NSW police for a string of alleged crimes and after he was convicted of sending of threats to the families of dead Australian soldiers.
As recently as Sunday he railed against Australian “terrorism” on his website, vowing to fight the “oppression and terrorism of USA and its allies including UK and Australia”.
“We want to know why he wasn’t being monitored given his history of violence, his history of mental instability and his history of infatuation with extremism,” Abbott said.
The prime minister’s comments come as senior officials from the Australian Federal Police and ASIO appear before a national security committee in Canberra probing the government’s proposed metadata retention laws.
A huge number of bouquets have been left near the scene of the Martin Place siege. AAP image
ASIO deputy director-general Kerri Hartland said terrorist attacks against Australia were “not hypothetical”.
“Australia is a terrorist target and recent events have once again demonstrated that Australia is not immune from acts of terror,” she said.
Meanwhile, former prime minister John Howard and his wife Janette joined the stream of Sydneysiders continuing to pay their respects to the dead hostages at a makeshift floral shrine in Martin Place.
Sydneysider Cat Delaney has been handing out tissues to mourners at the site for the past two days.
“When you get out into the middle and you’re there amongst that emotion, it’s overwhelming,” she said.
“When they get to me and I offer a tissue, it’s permission to vent.”
Local florist George Lackerdas sold out his entire stock within an hour of opening on Wednesday.
“Two days worth of flowers I’ve sold in an hour. It’s unbelievable,” he said.
“Yesterday I had queues of 30 people waiting non-stop until I sold out.”
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