Anthony Albanese announces Bondi royal commission in major reversal
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The news: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed a royal commission in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, with former High Court justice Virginia Bell to lead the inquiry.
The context: Labor had for weeks resisted calls to implement a royal commission, Australia’s highest form of inquiry, into the attack by arguing it would take too long to produce a result and platform hate speech.
But Albanese bowed to intense pressure on Thursday by announcing that Bell, who served on the High Court for over a decade, will lead a royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion.
Albanese said he had been swayed after listening to calls from the community for a royal in recent weeks.
“I've repeatedly said that our government's priority is to promote unity and social cohesion, and this is what Australia needs to heal, to learn, to come together,” he said.
“It's clear to me that a royal commission is essential to achieving this.”
Albanese said a NSW royal commission, which had been announced by the state government, would have been a “de facto Commonwealth royal commission” because federal agencies will cooperate with it.
“I've spoken with [NSW] Premier [Chris] Minns and I would expect that a single royal commission will be had. But Premier Minns will have more to say on the New South Wales position,” he said.
A previously existing inquiry into the nation’s intelligence agencies, to be led by former senior bureaucrat Dennis Richardson, will be folded into the royal commission.
Albanese said the royal commission would be tasked with four key areas: investigating the nature and prevalence of antisemitism and addressing its key drivers; making recommendations to authorities to tackle antisemitism; examining the circumstances around the Bondi attack; and making recommendations from the inquiry to strengthen social cohesion in Australia.
He said work would be done to ensure the royal commission does not prejudice legal proceedings currently underway. One of the alleged Bondi attackers survived the incident and has been charged with a suite of offences.
Bell is a highly-respected retired judge, spending eleven years in the High Court after replacing Michael Kirby in 2008. She was the fourth woman appointed to the court.
She was a prominent advocate for prison reform in her earlier years and, after retiring from the High Court, oversaw an inquiry into former prime minister Scott Morrison’s so-called “secret ministries” scandal.
But some members of the Jewish community raised concerns about Bell’s appointment, with the Nine newspapers citing her involvement in a ruling that found Tasmanian restrictions on protest were unconstitutional. That ruling was cited in the NSW Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a ban on pro-Palestine marches.
In a social media post, former treasurer Josh Frydenberg objected to Bell’s appointment but did not offer specific criticisms of her conduct or qualifications.
“It is unthinkable the prime minister would choose a Commissioner that did not have the total confidence of the Jewish community,” Frydenberg wrote.
Albanese had initially resisted calls for a royal commission by proposing changes to gun and hate speech laws, and commencing the Richardson review.
But the prime minister softened his language on a royal commission on Wednesday, saying the government was “continuing to examine everything else required”.
What they said: “We're taking new action against hate speech and hate preachers, we're delivering tougher gun laws,” Albanese told reporters.
“The royal commission is not instead of immediate [and] practical action, it is as well as that.”
The sources: Anthony Albanese press conference, Josh Frydenberg X post, The Sydney Morning Herald
