Bondi royal commission: Albanese defends time taken to call inquiry into terror attack and anti-Semitism

Anthony Albanese has refused to concede he made mistakes in the weeks it took him to call a royal commission into anti-Semitism and the Bondi Beach massacre, as the Opposition said he had to be “dragged kicking and screaming” to do the right thing.

The Prime Minister bowed to pressure late on Thursday to announce former High Court judge Virginia Bell would lead the Royal Commission into Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion, to report by the first anniversary of the attack on December 14.

A planned NSW inquiry was dropped as Premier Chris Minns pledged to cooperate fully with the Commonwealth one, while a review of intelligence and security agencies will be rolled into the Bell commission.

Other States have now been asked to also cooperate with the royal commission.

The decision came after more than a fortnight of mounting pressure from Jewish leaders, the Opposition and prominent community members.

Across a string of television appearances on Friday morning, Mr Albanese was asked if he regretted not calling a royal commission earlier, if his political instincts had failed him, and whether he’d folded under pressure.

But the Prime Minister wouldn’t admit to making a mistake, instead insisting he had called a royal commission in “record time”.

“We needed to get the right commissioner, the right terms of reference, in the right time frame, because we can’t afford to not get this right,” he told Sunrise.

“It’s essential for bringing the nation together in national unity and building social cohesion while we tackle the evil scourge that is anti-Semitism.

“What we did do was to act immediately on the things that were required, that were the immediate priorities. The immediate priority was, are there any national security issues arising from this?”

However, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles acknowledged the Government had “moved cautiously” despite the Jewish community being unequivocal and consistent in its belief one was needed.

“But we’ve done so because, you know, the only point of doing a royal commission is if it is going to make a difference,” he told 3AW radio.

“We have, over the last few days, come to a position where we believe we can do the royal commission, do it in a way which meets the needs of the Jewish community, but also does not get in the way or run against what we’re trying to do in terms of moving quickly and not creating a platform for division.”

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said Mr Albanese had been “dragged kicking and screaming to something that the community of Australia just refused to accept could not and would not happen” to call the inquiry.

“If Anthony Albanese had shown the determination to eradicate anti-Semitism over the last three years as he has shown to avoid this Commonwealth royal commission over the last three weeks, the country might not be in such a tough place right now,” she said on Friday, when asked if she would now put politics to one side after the Prime Minister had changed his mind.

“It’s vital that the royal commission gets this right, that it takes the action that it needs to across the areas that it must.”

She said what the government had eventually come up with wasn’t the Coalition’s preferred model.

However, anti-Semitism special envoy Jillian Segal called on the Jewish community to accept the decision about both commissioner and structure.

“We now need to move forward very strongly supporting the commission, supporting the work of the commissioner, and doing our very best to ensure that she has appropriate material put before her to understand the complexities of anti-Semitism, how it’s affected the Jewish community, where it resides, and what would be the best way to combat it,” she told Sky News.

“I’m hoping that the community gets completely behind this, because it will be necessary.”

The Opposition was still working through the terms of reference, which are shorter but less prescriptive than a proposal Ms Ley put forward in the days before Christmas.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the government had “turned our minds … to what those terms of reference would be” a couple of weeks ago in order to help NSW.

Mr Albanese has also said work had been going on for weeks — despite the Prime Minister saying repeatedly up until Tuesday that a Commonwealth-level royal commission wasn’t needed.

Asked whether history was being rewritten to suggest there had been secret plans afoot the whole time, Mr Marles said, “I’m not saying that.”

Academic Scott Prasser, who has written several books on royal commissions, said the terms of reference were sensible but the structure of a Commonwealth inquiry with States agreeing to cooperate was clumsy and risked Ms Bell not being able to examine everything she needed.

Former Home Affairs boss Mike Pezzullo also raised concerns about whether the Commonwealth royal commission would have adequate powers to examine NSW Police and other State agencies.

As well, it wasn’t entirely clear how Dennis Richardson’s administrative review would be incorporated into what was a legal inquiry.

Although Mr Minns dropped his plans for a NSW royal commission shortly after the announcement on Thursday, he is now considering whether he needs a separate investigation focusing on the police response to the December 14 massacre.

He insisted that didn’t mean he had any concerns about the Bell royal commission, but said there were “certain issues that are particular to New South Wales, particularly in relation to police activity on the day, the number of police, ongoing security for the Jewish community” that might need a quicker examination.

WA Premier Roger Cook received the letter from Mr Albanese requesting cooperation from other States, and a Government spokesman confirmed WA would do so.

“All questions need to be answered as to why the tragedy at Bondi occurred and how to prevent events like this occurring in the future,” he said.

Governor-General Sam Mostyn signed the letters patent setting out the royal commission’s terms of reference during an executive council meeting with Attorney-General Michelle Rowland and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.