LATIKA M BOURKE: Josh Frydenberg says skilful leaders needed, doesn’t rule out return to politics after Bondi

Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg has not ruled out a return to federal politics, saying Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s weak leadership on anti-Semitism had been the difference between “life and death” and that “skilful” leaders were needed during times of crisis.

In his first extended interview since delivering a blistering speech at Bondi in which he directly blamed Mr Albanese for the massacre of 15 people in Sunday’s terrorist attack, Mr Frydenberg, one of the country’s leading Jewish figures, said he doubted the Prime Minister had what it took to lead the country out of the crisis.

Mr Frydenberg’s emotional intervention sparked speculation he is pondering a return to federal politics in 2028, having lost his inner-city Melbourne seat of Kooyong in the teal wave of 2022.

He said he had planned to say a few words to mourn the dead, but in the end, “let rip.” He said he wondered what was going to come out of his mouth next and if he would finish before breaking down.

Mr Frydenberg, who has personal security, said he had still not told his children about the attack, because he did not want them to be “fearful living in Australia as proud Jews”.

Earlier this week, he told the ABC’s Sarah Ferguson that he was “deeply offended” by suggestions that his speech was politically motivated.

But during a 40-minute interview with the Latika Takes podcast in Melbourne, the Goldman Sachs Chairman did not rule it out.

“Well, I see no rush to make those decisions. What the events of October 7th and its aftermath here in Australia have underlined to me, and I hope have underlined to every Australian, is that leadership or the lack of leadership really matters,” he said.

“It can be the difference between life and death, and so politics is more than a job. It’s the most important thing for the country, in times of crisis at least, to have the right people steering the ship.

“And you want the best people steering the ship the whole time. But in times of crisis, you need pretty skilful people steering the ship.

“That’s why I think, I’m so disappointed and I’m so concerned about where the country is heading because over the last two and a half years, the warning signs were ignored and the consequences are there for all to see.”

Mr Frydenberg said Mr Albanese needed to find a new gear but doubted the prime minister was up to the job.

“We’ve got a prime minister who, unfortunately, hasn’t grown in the job but has shrunk in the job when it comes to this issue. If the Prime Minister cannot lead in a crisis, how can the Prime Minister lead the country out of the crisis? This is a key question,” he said.

“I don’t know if he’s got it in him. I hope he does. For my sake, for your sake, for our country’s sake. I hope he’s got it in him.

“He’s been recklessly indifferent to the rise of anti-Semitism.”

Mr Frydenberg was speaking shortly before Mr Albanese finally acknowledged the growing criticism of his response to Sunday’s attack, saying that he was not perfect.

The Prime Minister proposed a series of measures, including new hate speech offences targeting radical preachers and leaders and tougher penalties for existing offences.

New powers will be granted to enable the deportation of people who spread hate and block them from ever entering the country. Universities that do not tackle anti-Semitism will be penalised.

Mr Frydenberg said while he did not believe the Prime Minister himself was anti-Semitic, the Federal Government had an obligation to prove that its positions on the issue had not been due to its need to shore up Muslim votes in Western Sydney seats, such as those belonging to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, Jason Clare and Ed Husic.

“I want to be convinced otherwise, and you know how I’d be convinced otherwise by them taking strong action that is opposed by their own community,” he said.

“When John Howard took on gun reform, he was opposed by his own community in terms of the people that he was introducing.

“And so that’s a test of leadership, not whether you go with the wind and you go with the votes.”

Mr Frydenberg and Mr Husic had a one-time bromance when they were both in parliament, with the unlikely friendship between a Jewish Liberal MP and a Muslim Labor MP drawing widespread attention.

Mr Husic, who is Australia’s first Muslim MP, has been an outspoken Labor voice on the war in Gaza and blamed his stance as part of the reason for why he was dumped from Cabinet shortly after the election.

On Sunday, Mr Husic released a statement about the Bondi terror attack that did not mention Jews or anti-Semitism.

Mr Frydenberg said the statement showed Mr Husic was more than ignorant and incapable of extending the compassion that had been demonstrated to the Muslim community after the Christchurch massacre, including when he visited an Islamic centre with the Governor of Victoria and the Mayor of Melbourne.

”I remember speaking to Ed about that. I remember when (former Senator) Fraser Anning made comments about Muslims, and I embraced Ed on the floor of the Parliament. Pictures were taken, and the images went far and wide,” he said.

“I haven’t seen reciprocity from Ed after the biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust,” he said.

“Now, I do understand how saddened he is and how saddened I am by the loss of innocent life in Gaza. I absolutely get that. And you only have to go to Israel to know how critical they can be of their own government.”

Mr Husic did not respond to The Nightly’s request for comment.

Earlier this year, Mr Husic led the pro-Palestinian march on the Sydney Harbour Bridge alongside former NSW premier and foreign minister Bob Carr.

On social media, Mr Carr posted a photograph of himself marching alongside Mr Husic that prominently showed an image of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei being held up behind him.

Mr Carr, who was handpicked to be foreign minister by Julia Gillard and served in Cabinet with Mr Albanese, has rushed to the Prime Minister’s defence, saying the terror attack was not a government failure but a foreign strike ordered out of Iraq.

ISIS flags were found in the car belonging to the father and son gunmen, one of whom was shot dead, while the other is in hospital facing 59 charges.

Philip Dalidakis, who sat in Victoria’s upper house as a Labor member, said Mr Carr had normalised hate speech and had become a national embarrassment.

“Bob Carr has spent the better part of the last two years attacking the Australian Jewish community relentlessly, so to see him pretend to care now that people have died makes me want to throw up,” he said.

“He’s an embarrassment, should sit this one out and consider his own role in normalising hate speech against our community.

“Bob Carr is like that weird uncle at family gatherings that no one wants to sit next to or have to talk to.”

Mr Carr was contacted for comment.