“This royal commission is the right format, the right duration and the right terms of reference to deliver the right outcome for our national unity and our national security,” Albanese said.

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Albanese said one royal commission was what was needed but that NSW Premier Chris Minns, who had already announced a state royal commission, would have more to say.

The prime minister had withstood growing demands for a federal royal commission as they came from the Jewish community, lawyers, business figures and sports stars who argued the highest form of inquiry was required to grapple with antisemitism and the circumstances that led to the December 14 Bondi massacre, which killed 15 innocent people at a Hanukkah event.

Albanese had said that a federal inquiry risked delaying action and duplicating a state royal commission that had been promised by Minns. Instead, he commissioned a rapid review into intelligence failures by ex-ASIO boss Dennis Richardson, and said federal agencies would co-operate with the NSW probe.

His government also suggested a royal commission was not best-placed to deal with national security issues and risked giving a platform to antisemitic hate speech.

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But Albanese this week changed his message, and did not rule out a federal inquiry. “We’re continuing to examine everything else that is required,” he said on Tuesday.

A growing number of Jewish leaders, including former treasurer Josh Frydenberg, on Thursday raised concerns about the mooted appointment of Bell as Albanese’s choice to lead a royal commission, warning that broad community consensus over the commissioner “should be a minimum requirement” for the inquiry to succeed.

Bell was appointed by Albanese in 2022 to probe Scott Morrison’s multiple ministries, and has been hailed by several eminent judges for the clarity and precision of her judgments.

Calls for a royal commission had come from 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, prominent sports stars and two Labor backbenchers.

Former Labor frontbencher Mike Kelly, a leader of the Labor Friends of Israel group, said this week that several Labor figures – who because of their current or former positions within the party did not want to comment publicly – had also privately lobbying the prime minister to reverse course.

More to come

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