Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is resisting calls for a Royal Commission into the Bondi Shootings. Photo: PMO.
Anthony Albanese remains under fire over his government’s response to the Bondi mass shootings, but the Prime Minister is so far refusing to buckle under pressure to hold a Royal Commission into the tragedy.
Amid growing calls for a Commonwealth Royal Commission – from the Opposition, the Jewish community, former High Court chief justice Robert French, and from current and former Jewish MPs – the PM has instead launched a review into Australia’s law enforcement and national security agencies.
Highly regarded former ASIO boss Dennis Richardson, who was also the secretary of the Defence and foreign affairs departments, will lead the review, which will include ASIO itself.
He will report back to the Federal Government in April.
Mr Albanese said the “ISIS-inspired atrocity” at Bondi on 14 December reinforces the rapidly changing security environment in our nation, and the need for security agencies to be in the “best position to respond”.
When pressed further on Monday (22 November) for a Royal Commission, the Prime Minister said the review of police and national security agencies would be thorough and actionable.
“We have commenced the Dennis Richardson review… I don’t think anyone can argue there is anyone in this nation who is more qualified,” Mr Albanese said.
“The Richardson review will enable action to take place.”
Cabinet has now signed off on a range of new measures in the wake of the Bondi attack, including plans for a massive gun buy-back scheme as well as toughening hate laws and bolstering antisemitic measures.
NSW Premier Chris Minns is establishing a state-based Royal Commission into the incident and has also recalled the NSW Parliament to pass urgent gun laws and anti-protest legislation.
Mr Albanese said his government would cooperate fully with the NSW inquiry.
But it is not enough for many, including the Coalition, which is ramping up its criticism of federal Labor’s response to the Bondi attacks.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is demanding Federal Parliament be returned and a Royal Commission be launched immediately.
She released an extensive draft terms-of-reference the Coalition wants for a Royal Commission.
Ms Ley said she was willing to sit down with the Prime Minister to refine the terms in order for a Royal Commission to be established before Christmas.
“Bondi is what happens when hate is tolerated and warnings are ignored,” she said.
“This Commonwealth Royal Commission will shine light into every dark corner where antisemitism has been allowed to fester and grow.
“Nothing is off limits. No institution is beyond scrutiny. Antisemitism is not a state problem. It is a national failure.
“That is why this inquiry looks across every level of government and every part of civil society.”
But the Prime Minister said the Opposition’s terms-of-reference were so lengthy and far-reaching that it would bog down for years if established.
“We want urgency and unity, not division and delay,” Mr Albanese said.
“If anyone suggests that it is possible that that will report any time this term let alone years and years to come…
“Every Royal Commission has asked for an extension in time.”
Mr French, who served as Chief Justice of the High Court from 2008 to 2017, issued a statement recommending a joint Commonwealth-State Royal Commission.
“The attack on Jewish Australians at Bondi Beach was a moment of surreal evil,” he said.
“It has given rise to a moral imperative on the Australian nation as a whole. That is an imperative to consider the conditions which gave rise to the attack and the practical mechanisms which were or could have been available to Commonwealth and State agencies to prevent it.
“It requires consideration of the measures necessary to strengthen and add to those mechanisms including enhanced Commonwealth and State cooperation and cooperation with foreign governments and international agencies.
“Nor can we avoid a clear-eyed further public examination of the nature and sources of antisemitism and what can be done to combat it – not as just another species of racism or prejudice but as a societal evil with its own longstanding and bloody history.”
Federal Labor backbenchers Mike Freelander, who is Jewish, and Ed Husic, a Muslim, have both broken ranks to call on the government to launch a Royal Commission into Bondi.
Former Liberal MP and federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who is Jewish, described the review of national security agencies as a cop out, when a Royal Commission was what was needed.
Mr Frydenberg has placed blame for the Bondi attacks directly at the feet of the Prime Minister, but he has had to rebuff suggestions he is trying to launch a political comeback for himself.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry and NSW Board of Jewish Deputies have both called for a federal Royal Commission.
