'You are welcome here': PM offers citizenship to French bollard hero in Bondi attack
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told a French national he is "welcome" to stay in Australia after he fought off the Bondi Westfield attacker with a bollard.
Video emerged of construction workers Damien Guerot and Silas Despreaux stopping Joel Cauchi on a stationary escalator in an attempt to end his murderous rampage on Saturday afternoon.
Guerot was standing at the top of the escalator with the bollard and later wielded a metal cafe chair as he and other bystanders sprinted after Inspector Amy Scott towards Cauchi, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
READ MORE: What we know about the victims of the Bondi Junction shopping centre stabbing spree
Damien Guerot help to stop Joel Cauchi's murderous rampage by defending him with a bollard at Bondi's Westfield. Nine
Guerot has been thanked by the prime minister for his efforts. LinkedIn
Guerot is dealing with an Australian visa application but Albanese told reporters this morning that he was welcome here.
"You are welcome to stay for as long as you like," Albanese said.
"This is someone who we would welcome becoming an Australian citizen, although that would of course be a loss for France.
READ MORE: Bondi Junction killer had 'long history' of mental health issues, interest in weapons
Bondi Junction Westfield stabbing victims from left to right Ashlee Good, Jade Young, Dawn Singleton, Faraz Tahir, Pikria Darchia and Yixuan Cheng. Nine
"We thank him for his extraordinary bravery.
"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 thanked Guerot for his "extraordinary efforts".
Five women and one man were killed in the attack, which also left a dozen injured.
Those victims have been identified as Yixuan Cheng, Pikria Darchia, Faraz Tahir, Ashlee Good, Dawn Singleton and Jade Young.
Cauchi was shot dead by NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott.
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