TRANSCRIPT:
On the day of the final funeral for a victim of the Bondi terror attack, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is intensifying pressure on the Government to establish a Commonwealth Royal Commission.
Both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Ms Ley attended the Sydney funeral of former police detective Peter Meagher, who was killed while photographing a Hanukkah event during last month’s Bondi Beach attack.
The Coalition has already released its recommended terms of reference for a Commonwealth Royal Commission, focusing on government accountability and the evaluation of national security, immigration, and community protections.
While outlining them, Ms Ley says any inquiry must include consultation with the victims' families.
"First, full accountability for executive and ministerial decisions. What were ministers advised? What information were they provided with, particularly since October 7th 2023? What actions did they take as a result of that information? What actions did they not take? All of that has to be clear and the powers of a Royal Commission can do that."
Ms Ley says the Royal Commission must include what she calls a "reckoning" with extremist ideology.
"Secondly, there must be a reckoning with antisemitism and extremist ideology. The terms of reference must properly address the systemic rise of antisemitism in Australia, and they must include reference to radical Islamic extremism, as well as far-left, neo-Nazi extremism. Victims' families have been very clear about this. Antisemitism can't be re-scoped or redefined."
When questioned on whether she was conflating far-left and neo-Nazi movements, Ms Ley clarified her phrasing.
"Far left and neo-Nazi extremism were the words that I used. Yes."
She then went on to outline how the Coalition proposes the inquiry should be structured.
"And thirdly, a Royal Commission has to have real powers and real voices, which is why our proposal has three commissioners. One, a senior judicial individual. Also, a member of the Jewish community with experience and expertise in antisemitism. And the third Royal Commissioner must be a national security expert...and that's because the complex legal, community, and security issues that this royal commission needs to cover demand those three experts be in charge of it."
As the possibility of a Commonwealth Royal Commission grows more imminent, the Labor party is yet to release any preferred terms of reference.
Martin Kear, a Sessional Lecturer at the University of Sydney, suggests the Government’s cautious approach may be strategic.
"As for the Royal Commission, it will depend, I think, on the terms of reference the Prime Minister sits for the Royal Commission, if indeed it is called, I think that he has been resisting the calling of a royal commission because it will suck the oxygen out of the second-term agenda of the government. There will be a drip feeding of sensationalist information, potentially intelligence failures. Why didn't we do this? // And I do think it will inflame community tensions between Muslim Australians and Jewish Australians."
