Ex-Labor minister slams omission of word ‘antisemitism’ from Bondi review

A former Labor minister has damned the Albanese government’s review into security agencies and law enforcement following the Bondi terror attack for failing to name antisemitism and violent extremism in its terms of reference, despite claims from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that antisemitism will naturally be addressed in the review.

Criticism of the federal government’s cornerstone investigation into the December 14 Bondi terror attack comes as Opposition Leader Sussan Ley demanded to know if national security agencies had advised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese not to hold a royal commission into antisemitism.

Former Labor defence materiel minister Mike Kelly, who served in the Rudd and Gillard governments, told this masthead the terms of reference demonstrate “a complete lack of recognition of where this all starts. This doesn’t start from buying a weapon. It doesn’t start from planning an attack. It starts from the mindset that creates the motivation to do these things.”

Kelly said the review must examine the motivations for the attack as well as the security shortfalls.

“It’s not a natural thing to think that a 10-year-old little girl should be killed. Where does that motivation come from? This is the issue. This is the main issue right now.”

Kelly repeated his calls for a Commonwealth royal commission, saying it was the most appropriate avenue of investigation for the attacks and would be an “important step forward” for the country.

The government remains staunchly opposed to a federal royal commission, arguing it would be too slow and would showcase hate speech, while the Richardson review would be faster and the former security chief was the best person to come up with the answers because of the depth of his expertise.

On Monday Albanese outlined the terms of reference of the law enforcement and intelligence agency review led by former diplomat and departmental secretary Dennis Richardson were released. Albanese cited “actual experts” as being in favour of the review over a federal royal commission, a line the opposition has attacked, demanding expert advice to be published.

“He claimed that unnamed ‘actual experts’ had advised him against holding a commonwealth royal commission. Today he refuses to say who those experts actually are,” Ley told journalists on Wednesday.

“Is the prime minister hiding behind a smoke screen? Is he using national security as a political shield? Australians deserve straight answers. Does this advice exist? What is the prime minister hiding,” Ley said.

The Richardson review sits alongside other federal measures announced in response to the Bondi attack including a pledge to strengthen hate speech legislation, tougher gun import laws and a national buyback scheme. Albanese also pledged to adopt many – but not all – of the recommendations Australia’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, submitted to the government six months ago.

The review is charged with analysing the effectiveness, powers and processes of security and law enforcement agencies, as well as the information known about the attackers before December 14. However, the terms of reference do not address antisemitism or violent extremism.

Peter Wertheim, co-head of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said the review’s terms of reference were “too narrowly focused” on intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and omitted the “wider context in which those agencies operate”.

“To get to the heart of the matter there needs to be an honest examination of government policies and the conduct and policies of key institutions and figures in major sectors of our society. Their contribution to the unprecedented levels of antisemitism in this country over the last two years must be addressed,” he said, arguing that the proposed royal commission was the only way to tackle the issues.

“What might emerge could indeed be divisive and ugly but the divisiveness and ugliness is already there. Confronting these demons will be cathartic. It’s our only hope of establishing a new national consensus and setting clear standards.”

Jeremy Leibler, the president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, said the terms of reference not mentioning antisemitism or Jewish Australians was “indefensible”.

“The problem with the federal government establishing only the Richardson review and not a royal commission is that Richardson is directed only to look at the security agencies response, and not at all on any of the underlying root causes of the problems of antisemitism,” he said.

Under questioning on Monday about the omission of the word “antisemitism” from the review’s terms of reference, Albanese said: “the whole framework is about that”.

“It will look at a comprehensive examination of what occurred, if there are any gaps, if there are any gaps between the Commonwealth and New South Wales as well, what response is required thoroughly, practically and efficiently reporting in months, not years ahead, acting with unity and urgency, not division and delay,” Albanese said.

Industry Minister Tim Ayres on Wednesday said the review would be “more far-reaching” than a royal commission, which he said would “be a symbolic approach about division and delay, rather than an approach that is about getting practical responses right now”.

“The Richardson report will report in a few months, not in a few years. It will deliver a broad and effective and pragmatic assessment of what is required from Australia’s security agencies to strengthen our overall response and harden Australia’s capability to deal with these kinds of terrorist attacks,” Ayres told Sky News.

On Wednesday 16 December, Jewish organisations including the Australian Union of Jewish Students and the Rabbinical Council of Australia penned an open letter demanding a federal royal commission. It comes after similar letters were published from 17 victim’s families and 210 senior members of the Australian bar.

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