Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he will not interfere with who the royal commission wants to call. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Anthony Albanese could be called to give evidence to the royal commission he has called into antisemitism and the Bondi shootings.
The Prime Minister insists that will be the call of the Commissioner he has appointed, former High Court Justice Virginia Bell, but the potential for he and some of his ministers to appear before the inquiry is real.
The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has a reporting deadline of 14 December 2026, 12 months after the ISIS-inspired terror attack during celebrations on the first night of Hanukkah in which 15 people died.
Over a number of interviews since announcing on Thursday (8 January) the establishment of the royal commission, Mr Albanese has been repeatedly asked if he would be prepared to appear before it.
“That’s all a matter of the royal commissioner,” he said during his first press conference on the issue.
“The royal commissioner will determine what happens and of course everyone will comply. That’s the nature of a royal commission.”
Asked again in subsequent interviews, the PM said he would not interfere with the wishes of the commissioner.
His government will cooperate fully with the decisions made independently by the inquiry.
“I’ll allow the royal commissioner to do her job. It won’t be with the advice of the government,” Mr Albanese said.
“We’ve established the terms of reference. They will go to the Governor-General, Her Excellency Sam Mostyn, tomorrow [Friday].
“And the work is already under way from the Attorney General’s Department to establish the structure, if you like, that will be needed for the royal commission to proceed.”
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says calling federal ministers before the inquiry should be a requirement of the royal commission.
“We must have this inquiry via a Commonwealth royal commission to make sure that we do eradicate antisemitism, that we tackle radical extremist ideology and that we do it in a way that puts everyone on notice for the future,” Ms Ley said.
“But also, and this is critical, and it was one of the tests that I set for the royal commission that we proposed, that ministers be called to account.
“The executive of government needs to answer, effectively in the dock, what warnings were given, what warnings were ignored, what action was taken or maybe not taken, because all of that has consequences.”
The Coalition called immediately for a commonwealth royal commission following the Bondi attack, but the government did not rush to that conclusion.
This was despite Labor’s NSW Premier Chris Minns establishing a state royal commission straight away.
The NSW inquiry has now been spiked to allow the state to join in one overall national royal commission.
The Prime Minister had initially refused to call a Commonwealth royal commission, instead launching the Dennis Richardson review into Australia’s security agencies.
Following consultation with the Jewish community leaders, as well as victims and survivors of the attack, the commonwealth royal commission was called, with the Richardson Review to now form part of that inquiry.
There was an extreme amount of high-level, high-profile pressure on the PM to call a royal commission, with the decision to do so being roundly applauded by community and business groups.
Ms Ley said the Prime Minister had to be dragged to the position he finally took.
“We welcome this on behalf of all fair-minded Australians and their advocacy, because it was powerful advocacy,” she said on Friday (9 January).
“It came from millions of ordinary Australians and so many eminent Australians. But they went through heartbreak in the last three weeks to get to the announcement yesterday.
“And I want to acknowledge them. I want to thank them for that, because it was Australians who pushed this Prime Minister and this government to a position that they should have taken much earlier.”
The Greens have welcomed the establishment of a federal royal commission and have vowed to cooperate fully with it.
Acting Greens leader Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said a “balanced, careful and powerful royal commission” is a chance to learn hard lessons while minimising divisive politics in crafting a national response to the antisemitic Bondi mass shooting.
“The strongest national response will be based on bringing together multicultural Australia to reinforce our values of tolerance, democracy and respect,” Senator Hanson-Young said.
“This inquiry must clearly distinguish between the strengths and pillars of our diverse multicultural society and the narrow destructive forces of extremism …
“There are deep concerns about the coordination and response of national security and intelligence agencies and we welcome this public examination of them including current oversight arrangements.”
