Mike Kelly has urged the prime minister to launch a federal royal commission.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The co-convener of the Labor Friends of Israel group urged Albanese to reverse course and launch a national inquiry that would cover both the attack and antisemitism, joining the families of Bondi victims, national and state Jewish community groups, more than 200 senior members of the Australian bar, over 100 captains of industry, the Business Council of Australia, the Law Council of Australia, Catholic bishops and prominent sports stars.
The former defence materiel minister, who had earlier signed his name to an open letter by Labor identities, said on Tuesday Albanese should seize the opportunity to listen to what MPs are hearing from their constituents as parliament returns in coming weeks.
“The government can then come out and say, look, we’ve heard what the community has to say. We’ve seen this new information, and we have decided now to act,” he told reporters.
“And we will give them all the credit in the world for recognising that. We don’t want to attack anybody here. We just want our country to be safe.”
Kelly confirmed Labor figures, who because of their current or former positions within the party did not want to comment publicly, were privately lobbying the prime minister to reverse course.
Albanese has at several press conferences rejected calls for a federal royal commission, arguing it would be lengthy, divisive and risk duplicating work already under way.
Kelly questioned the government’s argument that because many details of the case were known, further investigation was not necessary.
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“We’ve heard comments about there being no terrorist cell uncovered, or that these were lone actors, but that, to me, signals a misunderstanding of how terrorism operates these days and the disaggregated nature of terrorism, how people are groomed, how people are recruited, how they’re given the ability to acquire weapons, how they’re empowered and enabled to develop improvised explosive devices.
And how are we set up as a nation to be able to track those data points effectively? And are our agencies equipped with the best tools that… can enable you to follow up situations like we’ve had here with Bondi, where there was a bright red threat to one individual,” he said.
Kelly also warned that federal agencies and their employees would be reluctant to “fully open the kimono” to the NSW royal commission because it did not offer the same legal protections as a federal inquiry would.
“In the past, I knew someone who had some really important information to provide about the Iraq War, who was actually a civilian in defence. He just wouldn’t do it unless he had that protection,” he said.
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“I know there are Commonwealth officers who will not want to speak fully and openly unless they have the legal protections of a Commonwealth royal commission.
“[A federal royal commission] can do things and in a way that does not affect ongoing criminal proceedings, and can do it in a secure and classified way, which underlines the difference between a Commonwealth royal commission and the state royal commission, which cannot compel Commonwealth agencies to reveal information and to require cooperation.”
Kelly said reviewing new information and changing course was “the responsible thing for a government do and certainly, I think Australians will reward that that kind of response”.
He recalled former Queensland premier Peter Beattie, who would admit to a “screw-up”, apologise, and move on.
The Law Council of Australia was on Tuesday the latest organisation to throw its weight behind the calls for a federal royal commission, saying “the nature and scale of the issues exposed by the Bondi terror attack” justified the powers of a national commission to probe the rise antisemitism in Australia and the events leading up to that attack.
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