Calls intensify for federal royal commission into Bondi massacre
Opposition leader Sussan Ley said millions of Australians, particularly those of Jewish faith, wanted, needed and deserved a Commonwealth Royal Commission
Calls for a federal royal commission into the Bondi Beach terror attack are intensifying, with opposition leader Sussan Ley publicly inviting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to sit down with her and Jewish community leaders to draft bipartisan terms of reference.
NSW premier Chris Minns committed to a state-based royal commission on Saturday, which Albanese indicated he supported, but the prime minister stopped short of committing to a federal inquiry.
Speaking on Saturday, Albanese said he had discussed the matter with Minns.
“I had a discussion with Chris Minns this morning that they are considering calling a Royal Commission. I will support whatever actions the New South Wales government take. We are working in lockstep,” Albanese said.
Ley said millions of Australians, particularly those of Jewish faith, wanted, needed and deserved a Commonwealth royal commission.
“I thank Premier Minns for publicly supporting a Royal Commission this morning,” Ley said.
“Moments ago, the Prime Minister was unclear, whether deliberately or otherwise, on what his position was in relation to a Commonwealth Royal Commission. The Coalition provides him with an opportunity to clarify this now.
“At a minimum, it must investigate the rise of antisemitism, government inaction that allowed hideous antisemitism to fester in the days, weeks, months and years since seven October 2023 across Australia, as well as the effectiveness and powers of Australia’s counter-terrorism system,” Ley said.
Shadow home affairs minister Jonathon Duniam said there were a range of issues that needed to be examined.
“There are a range of issues that need to be examined, including the rise of antisemitism in this country, the role and work of agencies that were contributing to the intelligence and security efforts to prevent such activity from occurring, and indeed, the role of government since that point in time,” Duniam said.
“There are a range of things that need to be sorted out, inquired into, and recommendations made in relation to and that can only be done through a Commonwealth Royal Commission.”
Former Liberal MP Dave Sharma said Australians deserved a royal commission after the most deadly terrorist attack on Australian soil in the nation’s history.
“Anything less is short-changing our country,” Sharma said on social media.
“Only a Royal Commission can meticulously identify failings, highlight shortcomings, and ensure every measure is identified to prevent such a tragedy striking our nation again.”
Minns said on ABC Radio on Saturday that NSW needed to do everything possible to get to the bottom of what happened.
“We need to do everything we possibly can to get to the bottom of what happened and to take action to ensure the state lives up to its number one obligation, and that is to protect its citizens. And the sad reality for me, and I take responsibility for this, is that last Sunday that didn’t happen,” Minns said.
“This is a mammoth task ahead of us. It won’t be solved in a few weeks or a few months. This is one of the biggest challenges the state’s ever faced, and it’s going to take all of us to do it.”
Minns said he needed to draw the terms of reference with victims, affected communities and law enforcement.
“The reason for that is not to apportion responsibility. I’ll take responsibility for it. I was the premier when this happened. It’s to ensure that we get a full picture of what exactly happened, so that we can take steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
“At the moment, I’ve got, I think the public does as well, bits and pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, but we don’t know exactly what happened, and until we know the full picture, or as much as we’re going to discover, we can’t go back to the people of New South Wales and claim that we’re going to take the kind of action that will prevent it from happening again.”
Minns said antisemitism began with slogans and escalated.
“I believe that anti semitism begins with slogans, and then it graduates online, and then it’s a Twitter post, and then it’s antisemitism in the street, and then it’s graffiti on the side of a synagogue, then we saw a synagogue burned to the ground in arson, and then it manifests itself in violent acts in our community,” he said.
Ley called on Albanese to recall parliament on Monday to legislate immediate responses and support a Commonwealth royal commission.
“Prime Minister, the time for words is finished. The time for action is now,” Ley said.
The Bondi Beach terror attack on Sunday killed 15 people during a Chanukah celebration, including Rabbi Eli Schlanger and 10-year-old Matilda.
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