While we are yet to discover what the Bondi Beach gunmen did in the Philippines, their sojourn is a reminder of how the threat of extremism can survive underground in our region despite massive endeavours by governments to eradicate it.

Father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram spent most of November on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao at Davao City, and our South-East Asia correspondent Zach Hope reports their phones may have been detected in a distant rural region with a history of violent Islamic extremism and a reputation for sheltering and training international terrorists.

Thousands gathered on Sunday at Bondi Beach for the National Day of Reflection for victims and survivors.Credit: AP

Philippine police confirmed the Akrams used a mobile phone “twice” outside........

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