Albanese faces backlash over royal commission refusal

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is facing mounting pressure to establish a Commonwealth royal commission into the Bondi Beach terror attack, with opposition leader Sussan Ley accusing him of lacking the leadership required for the gravity of the moment.

Speaking on Monday, Albanese stopped short of offering an unqualified apology for the government’s failures to combat antisemitism and rejected calls for a federal royal commission, instead announcing a departmental review led by Dennis Richardson into intelligence agencies.

“We want urgency and unity, not division and delay,” Albanese said, defending his decision not to establish a royal commission.

“What we need to do is to work immediately. That is what the Richardson Review will do. And in addition to that, it will feed into the inquiry, which has been announced in New South Wales.”

Albanese said the opposition’s proposed terms of reference for a royal commission were too broad, covering education, the arts, culture, migration, employment, universities and home affairs.

“It is a referendum into the entire way of, not a referendum, a review or a Royal Commission into the whole functioning of Australia,” he said.

Ley said Albanese’s explanation for opposing a Commonwealth royal commission spoke volumes.

“He says he cannot support it because it would involve a full examination of the relationship between Commonwealth and state agencies and the parts of our society where antisemitism has been allowed to fester. That is not an argument against a Commonwealth Royal Commission, it is the case for one,” Ley said.

“A Commonwealth Royal Commission into the ‘whole functioning of Australia’ is exactly what many Australians, particularly those in the Jewish community, are calling for.”

Ley publicly invited Albanese to sit down with her and Jewish community leaders to draft bipartisan terms of reference.

“Australians are entitled to ask a direct question. Is the Prime Minister unwilling to do the work, or is he afraid of what a full and independent inquiry would uncover?” she said.

“The Prime Minister’s refusal to call a Commonwealth Royal Commission and to offer an unqualified apology, as Premier Chris Minns has done, is adding insult to the injury that the Jewish community is feeling and our nation is feeling.”

Shadow education minister Julian Leeser launched a scathing attack on Albanese, saying the Jewish community could not survive on “the crumbs of this government”.

“The Jewish community of this country cannot survive on the crumbs of this government and this appalling Prime Minister who is always late to the party and who wants the Jewish community of this country to live in his half measures,” Leeser said.

“For two years we’ve been fighting his half measures. He’s dragged his feet. The community is sick and tired of it. This departmental review is just another attempt at deflecting and minimising the Jew hate that has been allowed to go on in this country.”

Shadow infrastructure minister Bridget McKenzie said Albanese had failed Jewish Australians and the whole country.

“The Prime Minister has failed Jewish Australians. He’s failed our whole country at the basic task of keeping his citizens safe,” McKenzie said.

“He ignored calls when Jews were being spat on in our streets, when Jewish academics’ offices were being urinated on, when Jewish students were being attacked, when Jewish businesses were being boycotted, when Jewish places of worship were being bombed.”

Two Labor MPs broke ranks with Albanese, publicly calling for a Commonwealth royal commission.

Western Sydney MP Ed Husic told The Australian Financial Review: “We need a federal Royal Commission. In the aftermath of the horrific events of Bondi we all need to know not just how this happened – but what we can do to root out extremism, whatever form it comes in.”

Macarthur MP Mike Freelander also called for a royal commission, saying: “It seems to me that there are national issues, so the national government needs to be the one dealing with it.”

Former Labor senator Nova Peris said she “100 per cent” believed Albanese should launch a royal commission.

“Australia cannot afford another inquiry that hides behind process or vague language,” Peris told Sky News. “The Terms of Reference must be explicit and focused on religious extremism, including Islamist extremism and terrorism.”

Independent Wentworth MP Allegra Spender called for a Commonwealth royal commission alongside four other key actions including strengthening hate speech laws and appointing a minister for social cohesion.

“We must examine both the state and federal governments’ roles in the lead-up and response to Sunday night. This must be in consultation with the Jewish community and the victims’ families, and outline clear responsibility for delivery and reporting. Accountability is critical,” Spender said.

Independent MP Nicolette Boele also backed calls for a royal commission, saying she was “responding to these calls with my support for a Royal Commission into the Bondi Beach terror attack”.

Over 100 prominent legal figures including former Federal Court chief justice James Allsop, former solicitor-general David Bennett and NSW lieutenant-governor signed an open letter calling for a federal royal commission.

“We write as former judges and senior barristers with different religious and political beliefs, united by our commitment to Australian democratic values, the rule of law and deep concern about the state of anti-Semitism in Australia,” the letter read.

“Anti-Semitism in Australia is inherently a national issue. While the Bondi Beach tragedy occurred in Sydney, it resulted from a problem that requires a response from the commonwealth government.”

At a vigil for Bondi victims on Sunday night, both NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip and Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion called for a royal commission. A mourner at the funeral service for victim Dan Elkayam on Monday morning also called for a royal commission.

At Monday’s press conference, Albanese said he felt the weight of responsibility for the atrocity.

“As Prime Minister, I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that happened whilst I’m Prime Minister. And I’m sorry for what the Jewish community and our nation as a whole has experienced,” he said.

However, when asked if he was sorry for the mistakes his government had made in handling the antisemitism crisis, Albanese said: “We take responsibility for everything that occurs on our watch. We have taken a range of actions. We are taking further actions.”

Albanese announced Cabinet had approved a legislative package including an aggravated hate speech offence for preachers and leaders who promote violence, increased penalties for hate speech offences, making hate an aggravating factor in sentencing, and a new vilification offence.

Attorney-general Michelle Rowland announced a new aggravated offence targeting adults who seek to radicalise children.

“Since 2001, 120 people have been convicted of terrorism offences and 10 were children. However, today, 17 of the 33 people before our courts are minors. This unprecedented radicalisation of our youth must stop,” Rowland said.

The Bondi Beach terror attack on December 14 killed 15 people during a Chanukah celebration.