The Albanese government is staring down calls for a royal commission into anti-Semitism after the prime minister faced a hostile reception at a vigil for victims of the Bondi massacre.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Anthony Albanese was booed multiple times as he attended the memorial event on Sunday evening, which commemorated the 15 victims of the shooting targeting Jews celebrating the first night of Hanukkah a week earlier.
The same crowd applauded David Ossip, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, when he called for a royal commission into the terrorist attack.
The government has instead backed a NSW-led inquiry and launched a more limited review of its own, led by former intelligence chief Dennis Richardson, into federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
Asked why the worst terrorist attack in Australia's history did not warrant a wider royal commission, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the most important thing was to ensure national security arrangements were fit for purpose.
"Our focus is: what do we have to do to keep Australians safe?" she told ABC radio on Monday.
"And a review that reports by April gives government and the country the assurance that we are doing that."
Federal Labor has been under fire from parts of the Jewish community for its perceived failure to address a rise in anti-Semitism following the Hamas October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel.
The prime minister's approval rating has plunged since the attack, although Opposition Leader Sussan Ley's standing has also fallen after her pointed criticism of the government, according to a Resolve survey published on Monday.
Asked about her decision not to visit the scene of the Hamas attacks, Senator Wong said she regretted the "way in which people have experienced that" but added she visited hostage families and Israel's Holocaust memorial instead.
Independent MP Allegra Spender, whose electorate of Wentworth takes in Bondi Beach, said the Jewish community had been frustrated for years that its warnings about the threat of anti-Semitism hadn't been taken seriously enough.
The intelligence review, led by the prime minister's department, essentially amounted to the government investigating itself, she said.
"We need a federal and state collective royal commission or that sort of inquiry to get to the heart of what happened last week and what we can learn from it," Ms Spender told ABC radio.
In a move to ramp up pressure on the government, the coalition on Monday released its own terms of reference for a royal commission into anti-Semitism and the Bondi assault.
The opposition's inquiry would look at the roles of Commonwealth and state governments and agencies, as well as civil institutions such as the media, education and cultural sectors, in relation to anti-Semitism and their potential contributions to the terrorist attack.
Its proposed terms of reference include "the nature, prevalence and drivers of anti-Semitism in Australia leading up to the Bondi Beach attack ... including anti-Semitism based on race, religion and attitudes towards, or conduct relating to, the state of Israel".
Pro-Palestinian activists have frequently sought to separate their criticism of Israel for its offensive in Gaza following the Hamas attacks on Israel, from any anti-Semitic activity targeting Jews.
Ms Ley said the prime minister's response to the horrors of Bondi were "too little, too late" and would take too long.
Australian Associated Press
