The list of people demanding Albo call a royal commission into Bondi attack gets longer and longer – with the head of a government body even speaking up for one. This is his response…
The prime minister has been inundated with calls from Jewish groups and families of those killed in the Bondi Beach massacre to hold a wide-ranging national inquiry.
Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay added her voice to critics of the Albanese government’s move to instead set up a review into intelligence and law enforcement, led by former ASIO boss Dennis Richardson.
Ms Finlay insisted understanding the ‘deeper causes of violence’ was critical.
‘The Bondi terrorist attack was driven by anti-Semitism. Confronting that directly must be a national priority,’ she wrote on social media.
‘A federal royal commission is essential to fully understand what has happened and ensure it never happens again.’
Ms Finlay is serving a five-year term as commissioner after she was appointed by the Morrison government in 2021.
She was one of three authors to pen a book that argued section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act was ‘too broad and too vague to be constitutional’.
Her intervention follows more than 135 former judges and senior barristers signing an open letter making the same call, although top silk Robert Richter has spoken out against the idea.
Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay (pictured) has backed calls for a royal commission into the terror attack at Bondi Beach
More than 135 former judges and senior barristers have also signed an open letter calling for a federal royal commission, rather than the ‘review’ currently underway
Albanese (pictured) ensured Australians the head of the Bondi review was ‘the most qualified person you could possibly have to look at intelligence issues’
Albanese said there would be no repercussions for Ms Finlay wading into the debate despite being a government-appointed official.
‘People are entitled to their opinion,’ he told reporters on Thursday at The Entrance, north of Sydney.
‘Dennis Richardson … (is) the most qualified person you could possibly have to look at intelligence issues, to look at security issues on a national basis, to get to the heart of the matter.
‘He has already started work – he has a team up and running who will examine all of these issues.’
Albanese was pressed for names after declaring he had been advised by ‘actual experts’ to hold a departmental review.
He cited Mr Richardson as one of the experts, along with the heads of ‘all the authorities’.
The review will be completed by the end of April, with the prime minister arguing a royal commission would take years to deliver findings.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has simultaneously committed to a state royal commission into the attack and won’t lobby the prime minister to change his mind.
