“I’d be concerned that federal agencies might feel that they wouldn’t have the ability to participate fully in a state-based inquiry. Let’s remove the uncertainty and have a proper and thorough look at this.”
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley on Monday said her party had drafted terms for a federal royal commission into antisemitism and the Bondi attack, which would examine, among other things, “attitudes towards, or conduct relating to, the state of Israel”.
The opposition has written its own terms of reference for a royal commission into antisemitism and the Bondi terror attack.Credit: AAPIMAGE
“The purpose of this royal commission is to uncover how antisemitism was allowed to escalate, how
warnings were missed or ignored, and whether existing laws, institutions and funding arrangements
failed to protect Australians,” Ley said in Sydney.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong defended the government’s record on tackling rising antisemitism in Australia since the October 7 attacks in 2023 and insisted the security agency review would be independent despite being run out of the prime minister’s department.
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“That is not an internal review. It’s a review led by Dennis Richardson,” Wong told ABC Radio National. “I’ve worked with Dennis … I don’t think anybody would doubt Mr Richardson’s willingness to tell it as it is to whichever government is in power – that has been his career.”
Wong said Labor had cracked down on hate speech, criminalised doxxing, banned Nazi symbols and expelled the Iranian ambassador over the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ role in several antisemitic attacks, including the firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne.
“But I said last week that we needed to do more, and we are, which is why we have announced a stronger package of legislative reforms to crack down on those who spread hate, division and radicalisation,” she said.
Asked about the perception the government was avoiding a royal commission because of what it might uncover, Wong said: “That’s imputing intentions which are not there”.
Independent MP Allegra Spender, whose Wentworth electorate takes in Bondi, said the prime minister’s departmental review was “inadequate”.
“We have 15 Australians who have died. We owe it to them and to the Jewish community, who were targeted simply because of their religion, to leave no stone unturned,” she told ABC Radio National.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Bondi terror attack memorial on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
“We must look at the past honestly. If we look at the past honestly, then we have a chance of moving forward.
“Looking at the intelligence, it’s not good enough. We need a national royal commission that looks at all levels of government.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns on Monday refused to criticise Albanese’s response and said the state-based inquiry would include federal agencies.
“We need a comprehensive investigation, we need to understand the relationship between our agencies and the Commonwealth, what these individuals were doing overseas, what information was collected prior to these terrible crimes,” he told reporters in Sydney.
United Nations special rapporteur on human rights and counterterror Ben Saul said a broader review was needed not just to investigate the many factors behind the Bondi attack, but to ensure public confidence in the process.
He said a costly and lengthy royal commission was not necessarily the right path, and that an independent appointee – such as a former judge – could be given appropriate powers to examine the intersecting state and federal authorities, and issues of migration, gun control, and antisemitism.
“[A royal commission would cost] a lot of money, which you could spend on security for the Jewish community, other kinds of prevention, education activities,” the Challis chair of international law at the University of Sydney said.
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Minister for Energy Chris Bowen said the Richardson review was favourable because the Bondi terror attack required an “urgent response”.
“There is no way a royal commission would even be starting work in any meaningful way by April, so we need to get cracking,” he told reporters in Canberra.
“Dennis Richardson, who the prime minister has appointed, is one of our most respected, fiercely independent national security experts,” he said, adding the federal government would work cooperatively with the NSW inquiry.
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