Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the scene with police at Bondi. Photo: PMO.
Anthony Albanese’s response so far to the horrific attacks at Bondi Beach is displaying the solid leadership the country would expect in such a national tragedy.
What he does next, however, could well define his prime ministership.
A significant further toughening of Australia’s gun laws as well as his government’s approach to antisemitism are the only items needing to be discussed at the very top of his agenda.
Flowers, cards, flags at half mast, public expressions of grief from elected and appointed leaders around Australia are all important symbolic gestures, but they pale in comparison to the response that is needed by way of strong action.
John Howard’s tenure as PM is largely defined by two things – the disgrace of the children overboard affair and the courage to overhaul Australia’s gun laws.
Gun control was not easy for Mr Howard to implement following the 1996 massacre at Tasmania’s Port Arthur.
Much of his Coalition government’s own constituency was against such strong action to vastly limit gun ownership.
There was fierce anger over the measure, resistance from some states and outright opposition from much of the Coalition’s junior party the Nationals.
On a legislative and bureaucratic level, changing the nation’s gun laws proved to be somewhat of a nightmare.
But the outrage expressed by gun-lovers could not be outweighed by the grief and anger felt by the rest of the nation.
Most Australians were demanding that this nation not be allowed to follow the United States of America into a society where a mad man’s right to shoot is given a greater value than a child’s right to live.
Howard tapped into that sentiment and proved – as a very new Prime Minister – to be the right leader for that particular moment in the nation’s history.
And we still talk about it today.
The current Prime Minister is talking about it in the context of what he must now do in response to the murders on his watch.
The death toll is a little lower than that of Port Arthur, but the Bondi horror is the first mass shooting on Australian soil motivated by politics and terrorism.
“Quite clearly, the Howard government’s gun laws have made an enormous difference in Australia and a proud moment of reform, quite rightly, achieved across the parliament with bipartisan support,” Mr Albanese said on Monday (15 December).
“If we need to toughen these up, if there’s anything that we can do, I’m certainly up for it.
“And I hope to get National Cabinet on board for that this afternoon as well.”
The Prime Minister said he and his government were prepared to take “whatever action is necessary”, including limiting how many guns one person can own, reviewing entitlements to licences more regularly and bolstering checks.
It also means getting all states and territories “on the same page” with the Federal Government over registrations and jurisdictional responsibilities.
In its Monday afternoon meeting, National Cabinet agreed to implement gun laws reform as an immediate initiative.
Immediate must mean immediate.
And part of the review should look at how on earth a person known to Australia’s police and national security authorities as a possible terror threat can legally own six firearms.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to a mildly lesser extent Australian Opposition Leader Sussan Ley are blaming the Albanese Labor Government for creating the circumstances that allowed Sunday’s attack on the Jewish community to take place.
“Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia. You did nothing to curb the cancer cells that were growing inside your country,” Mr Netanyahu said.
“You took no action. You let the disease spread and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today.”
Ms Ley followed those comments with a few harsh words of her own.
“Many Australians this morning are feeling a growing sense of bewilderment,” she said on Monday.
“And yes, there is anger. There is palpable anger. Because antisemitism in Australia has been left to fester…
“We’ve seen a clear failure to keep Jewish Australians safe. We’ve seen a clear lack of leadership in keeping Jewish Australians safe.
“We have a government that sees antisemitism as a problem to be managed, not evil that needs to be eradicated.”
Whether people think those remarks are fair and warranted will fuel the ongoing debate.
But Ms Ley’s next line was spot on: “Everything must change from today in how governments respond.”
The Prime Minister is saying the right stuff, but he must now ensure that his review of gun laws and the bolstering of antisemitism laws are not left to drag out over the months ahead before any genuine change is enacted.
He can’t let the states, territories, or powerful lobby groups bog down real action in endless review.
This moment, right now, calls for decisive, swift action undeterred by red tape and unswayed by ideology, to achieve changes to make Australia safer.
John Howard was able to accomplish exactly that.
