Pressure mounts as Albo said to reconsider

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was said to be softening on his opposition to a Royal Commission into the Bondi Beach terror attack, sources said on Tuesday.

A day earlier, former Labor MPs and the Labor Israel Action Committee (LIAC) joined the growing chorus for a Commonwealth Royal Commission into antisemitism and the events that led to the attack.

Their statement came a day after 69 of Australia’s most well-known sportspeople also signed an open letter calling for a Royal Commission, adding their voices to those of top businesspeople, legal minds, religious and civil society leaders, former governor-general Peter Cosgrove, former AFP commissioner Mick Keelty, the Coalition, Teal independents, at least two Labor backbenchers, the LGBTQI+ community, Jewish communal leaders and the families of 11 of the 15 victims.

Later on Tuesday night, a group of esteemed security and defence personnel joined them, releasing a statement calling for a Royal Commission into antisemitism “and Islamist extremism”.

In the LIAC statement, its president, Mike Kelly, a former Labor government minister, said the health of democracy and national security was at stake.

“This was the worst terrorist attack in Australia’s history on our soil. Fifteen Australians are dead and multiple wounded, some still battling for their lives,” Kelly said.

“The Australian Jewish community has called on us to ‘shine a light against the darkness’. We can do no less.”

Signatories included LIAC secretary Byron Danby, former senators Michael Forshaw, Nova Peris and Mark Bishop, former MPs Peter Baldwin, Bernie Ripoll, Mary Easson, Kim Wilkie, Mike Symon and Michael Danby, former ACTU president Jennie George, former NSW treasurers Michael Costa and Eric Roozendaal, former Victorian MPs Evan Thornley, Tony Lupton, Danielle Green, former NSW deputy opposition leader Walt Secord and former Victorian Labor Party vice-president Henry Pinskier.

“Only a Commonwealth Royal Commission can unpack the dynamics of Jew hatred, including aspects such as the social media threat, how hate and incitement is weaponised in Australia and how we can come together across the nation to defeat it,” the statement read.

Responding on Tuesday to speculation Albanese may relent, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said “words are no longer enough”.

“The Prime Minister has spoken about unity in the wake of this tragic attack. After weeks of delay and added anguish for victims’ families, unity must now be demonstrated through action,” she said.

“The Coalition has released draft terms of reference and stands ready to work constructively with the government, victims’ families and all stakeholders. If the Prime Minister is serious, there is a clear starting point.”

Albanese did not categorically rule out a Royal Commission during a doorstop in Queensland on Tuesday.

Former Senator Bishop told The Nightly on Monday that Albanese’s refusal thus far to hold an inquiry was driven by politics and Western Sydney votes.

“It is inextricably linked to the future of particular Labor Party members and cabinet ministers in the federal government who have Islamic communities,” Bishop said.

He added that he believed Labor MPs were maintaining their silence out of fear of revenge from the Prime Minister.

“So if you openly have a different view publicly to the government and you express it, then your career is done. And people don’t go into politics to spend 10 years in nowhere land.”

Sportspeople calling for a Royal Commission included prominent Olympians, tennis legends, NRL superstars, AFL heavyweights, former Wallabies captains and a former Australian cricket captain.

Swimming legend Dawn Fraser told media at Bondi on Monday: “To you Anthony Albanese, Tony Burke, Penny Wong – come down off your high horse and stop trying to run for cover.

“If the Jewish community is calling for a Royal Commission, then do the right thing by this community that has suffered enough.

“In the 88 years of my life, living, loving and representing this truly great country, I have never seen so much hate and division, and this breaks my heart … this is an antisemitism problem, and it has been building and building.”

More than 130 business leaders – including former Reserve Bank governors Philip Lowe and Glenn Stevens, Tennis Australia chairman Jayne Hrdlicka and Woolworths Group chairman Scott Perkins – joined the calls for a Royal Commission last week.

“As business leaders and proud Australians committed to upholding our values of tolerance and mutual respect, we recognise the need for clear answers as to how the Bondi massacre could occur, and for practical solutions to restore social cohesion and protect the safety of all Australians,” they said in an open letter.

Australian Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay threw her weight behind calls for a federal Royal Commission last Wednesday night, arguing that a planned review into intelligence agencies was not sufficient.

“The Bondi terrorist attack was driven by antisemitism,” she said. “Confronting that directly must be a national priority. A federal Royal Commission is essential to fully understand what has happened and ensure it never happens again.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion told The AJN it had been “truly heartening to witness the depth and breadth of support we have received from across Australian society for our call for a Federal Royal Commission.”

“We still have hope in our hearts that the federal government will take heed, and that the tide of attacks on Australia’s democracy and way of life, manifested most clearly by the rise in antisemitism, can be turned back and defeated.”