Former royal commissioner says federal inquiry must be held into Bondi shooting

A former NSW royal commissioner has urged the Albanese government to hold a royal commission into the Bondi terror attack, saying only an inquiry of that scope could address the many factors, including growing antisemitism, that led to the tragedy.

Despite arguments from the federal government that antisemitism would be addressed through a review into intelligence and policing services alongside new legislation, James Wood, who led the 1995 NSW royal commission into the state’s police service, said the Albanese government could easily act alongside a national commission.

Wood also rejected the notion that an inquiry would delay government action, as Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said Albanese had failed to grasp the enormity of the national problem.

“I don’t see any reason why a royal commission can’t work alongside specific inquiries by particular agencies,” Wood said. “The problem is not one which can simply be answered by new laws or new criminal offences, or indeed by extra resources. It goes beyond that.”

“One has to see where antisemitism had its origin in Australia. Is it homegrown? Is it imported from overseas? Where are the failings in educating people about the dangers of antisemitism? And why has it suddenly emerged just recently?”

Addressing a press conference in Canberra on Tuesday following the 10th meeting of the National Security Committee since the December 14 shooting, Albanese doubled down on earlier statements rejecting calls for a commission.

“There was no royal commission called by the Howard government after Port Arthur. There was no royal commission called by the Abbott government after the Lindt [Cafe] siege,” Albanese told journalists at Parliament House.

“There hasn’t been a royal commission held recently that has not had an extension of time. We know who the perpetrators are here … We know what the motivation is, that they are motivated by the evil ideology of ISIS and a perversion of Islam,” Albanese said.

Alongside hate speech reforms and changes to gun laws, the federal government has announced a review into federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies led by former intelligence chief Dennis Richardson, and offered the co-operation of both the government and federal agencies with the NSW commission.

“The Richardson review will enable action to take place. It will report, as I have said, before April. That review can feed into any royal commission that is established in NSW,” Albanese said.

Ley said Albanese’s reasons for resisting a commission “do not stand up”.

“Drawing comparisons with Port Arthur or the Lindt Cafe fundamentally misunderstands what has happened. This was not an isolated act of violence. It was the culmination of years of unchecked antisemitism and extremist warnings ignored on his watch,” Ley said.

“That failure of understanding explains the failure of leadership. The prime minister still does not grasp the scale, the cause or the national consequence of this attack.”

Despite his support for a federal commission, Wood said the NSW royal commission would be effective if additional commitments were offered from the Albanese government.

“If they refuse to do it point-blank, then a state one will be certainly better than nothing. But the state one should have an assurance from the federal government that relevant agencies, departments, immigration and so on, will co-operate,” Wood said.

Wood’s calls to the government were echoed in an open-letter signed by 139 former judges and senior barristers which said a federal commission must be established, describing its powers as “uniquely placed” within Australian inquiries to address antisemitism.

“Without a federal remit, any inquiry risks producing findings that are necessarily partial and that do not fully reflect the scale, complexity, or interconnected nature of the problem,” the letter read.

There have been 15 federal royal commissions held in the last 25 years, with an average duration of 652 days. The longest running was the review of institutional responses to child sexual abuse, which took almost five years – 1799 days – for its final report to be delivered.

Commissions that focused on social issues such as violence and neglect suffered by people with disability, or institutional responses to defence and veteran suicides were the next longest running, taking 1639 and 1159 days respectively.

While Wood agreed that commissions can take time, particularly in their setup, he said there was no reason governments and agencies could not respond before a commission’s work was completed.

“A royal commission for this area can actually release interim reports if it becomes apparent that there’s something which should be addressed, which hasn’t been addressed,” Wood said.

Jewish Labor MPs have been split in their responses to a possible commission. Former attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said after being involved in 10 commissions that it was “not what’s needed now”. However, backbencher Mike Freelander said earlier this week that a federal inquiry should be held.

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