PM praises Khawaja as a ‘great Australian’ but rejects suggestion he is ignoring Islamophobia

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said any attack on people ‘on the basis of their faith or who they are is reprehensible’. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

The prime minister has condemned a suspected Islamophobic attack on two women at a suburban shopping centre, almost a week after the assaults.

An unidentified woman allegedly assaulted a 30-year-old woman inside the shopping complex before she pushed a 26-year-old woman to the floor in a separate incident about 10 minutes later, Victoria police said.