Westfield Bondi Junction attack: Security guard Muhammad Taha will be offered permanent residency

The hero Westfield Bondi Junction security guard, who had to endure a visa battle to stay in Australia, says he is ‘honoured’ after being offered permanent residency.

Muhammad Taha was stabbed in the stomach on Saturday as he tried to protect his friend during Joel Cauchi’s fatal knife attack.

While recovering in hospital, Mr Taha confirmed that the government would give him the chance to stay in the country he calls home.

“Yes, (the government) has contacted me, so maybe they will start the process hopefully soon,” he told The Australian on Thursday.

‘I am very honored. It is a great gesture from the government.

‘I have been in Australia for about a year and a half. It’s my home. I love being here. I am very grateful for this.’

In an interview with SBS reporter Janice Peterson on Thursday evening, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Immigration Minister Andrew Giles had spoken to the Pakistani immigrant and expressed confidence that Mr Taha’s visa problems would be “resolved”.

“We know that Mr. Taha put his own safety at risk to protect the people who were shopping there,” Albanese said.

Mr Albanese also told A Current Affair he was “very confident” the matter would be resolved on Friday.

“The minister has spoken to the gentlemen who are still in hospital, Muhammad, and we wish him a speedy recovery,” Mr Albanese said.

“We’re just going through our processes, but we see no reason why this shouldn’t be approved, and I’m confident it will be approved tomorrow.”

The Prime Minister said people like Taha are welcome in Australia.

“This is another person who just arrived, was working here and risked his life to protect Australians he didn’t know,” he said.

“Amid all this carnage and grief there are stories of courage… he is certainly the kind of character we would like to see continue to contribute here in Australia.”

The call for Taha to be granted a permanent visa followed the Prime Minister’s announcement that ‘Bollard Man’ legend and French national Damien Guerot was welcome to stay in Australia ‘as long as he wants’.

Mr Taha had asked why he had not heard from the Prime Minister with an offer of permanent residence.

“As a direct victim of the incident, I believe I deserve recognition and attention for my citizenship,” Taha told The Australian.

“Moreover, the guards who worked next to them came running to the point of the incident and risked their lives… (they) should also be given citizenship.”

Mr Taha heroically confronted Cauchi – along with colleague and Ahmadi refugee Faraz Tahir – when the 40-year-old Queenslander began randomly stabbing female shoppers.

Mr Tahir was killed in the attack.

Mr Taha has a graduate visa that expires in a few weeks.

In the interview, the Prime Minister praised Australia’s multicultural nature and said looking after each other “is what we do”.

It comes after Mr Albanian offered citizenship to Frenchman Damien Guerot, who went viral after footage of him looking at Cauchi at the top of an escalator while holding a bollard went viral.

He was soon nicknamed ‘Bollard Man’ and because of his bravery, Mr Albanese said he was ‘welcome to stay as long’ as he wants.

Guerot’s father told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday that his 31-year-old son was so full of adrenaline that he went jogging for two hours after confronting the killer.

Loic Guerot said from his home in France: ‘I’ve had a lot of trouble sleeping, it’s unbelievable. I can’t find the words, I’m very proud.’

The family comes from Saint-Jean-sur-Mayenne, in the Loire Valley, about 200 miles southwest of Paris.

Mr Guerot left the city six years ago and is now happily settled in Australia working as a carpenter.

Guerot admitted he could have lost his son in the stabbing, adding: “He feels very, very good now. Then he went jogging for two hours.

‘We talked for two hours and then he went to sleep. And then to work the next morning!’

‘He always has the same values ​​and always thinks about others.

‘He has always been a go-getter, that’s how he is. He always thinks of others and not of himself!’ Mr Guerot added.

A childhood friend in Saint-Jean-sur-Mayenne, who asked not to be named, said: “Damien is an incredible guy, and extremely understated at that.

‘He knows he’s famous all over the world now, but he doesn’t want to brag. He’s just going about his normal life, like he always does.”

President Emmanuel Macron himself has also praised Mr Guerot and his compatriot Silas Despreaux for helping to stop the knifeman.

“Two of our compatriots behaved like real heroes,” Macron wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

‘Very great pride and recognition.’