Bondi federal royal commission is ‘essential’, human rights commissioner urges

Australia’s human rights commissioner has added her voice to calls for a Federal royal commission into the Bondi Beach shooting, to run alongside a snap review of security agencies.

Lorraine Finlay said it was critical to understand the deeper causes of the violent terror attack on a Chanukah celebration that left 15 people dead and dozens more wounded.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has resisted mounting calls for a royal commission, which include more than 130 senior legal figures and a raft of former national security leaders.

Instead, he has asked former Defence, DFAT and ASIO boss Dennis Richardson to examine what shortcomings there were among intelligence and security agencies, including in information sharing with State counterparts, and to report back by the end of April.

He’s also pledged Commonwealth cooperation with a NSW royal commission.

Ms Finlay, who was appointed by the Morrison Government in 2021, said there needed to be an inquiry that went beyond the Richardson review of the national security framework.

“The Bondi terrorist attack was driven by antisemitism. Confronting that directly must be a national priority,” she wrote in a post on LinkedIn.

“A Federal royal commission is essential to fully understand what has happened and ensure it never happens again.”

Former attorney-general Philip Ruddock, who oversaw Howard-era tightening of counter terror laws, said the government should be able to run both levels on investigation at once.

“Dennis Richardson’s a person I have an utmost respect for, and he will do a very creditable job, but I think a wider inquiry is very necessary to look at these issues,” he told Radio National on Thursday.

“You need to be able to walk and chew gum.

“It’s very unhelpful to be suggesting that, because you’re going to inquire into the way in which the security task has been undertaken, that you shouldn’t look at the wider circumstances.”

But Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the Richardson inquiry was just one of four processes underway in response to the Bondi attack.

She pointed to the NSW royal commission – which is yet to be formally started – the court processes and the response to anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal’s report which includes a year-long inquiry into what changes are needed in education, led by businessman David Gonski.

“The Prime Minister’s position around this, supported by all of us who have been working with him on it, is that we need urgent action now, urgent response now, and that’s what these four processes will do,” she said.