However, Mr French, who served as chief justice from 2008 to 2017, warned the tragedy created a \u201cmoral imperative\u201d to \u201cconsider the conditions which gave rise to the attack\u201d after 15 innocent people lost their lives.<\/p>\n
In a statement issued to Sky News, he described the attack as \u201ca moment of surreal evil\u201d and said it demanded a Commonwealth Royal Commission.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe attack on Jewish Australians at Bondi Beach was a moment of surreal evil. It has given rise to a moral imperative on the Australian nation as a whole,\u201d Mr French said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is an imperative to consider the conditions which gave rise to the attack and the practical mechanisms which were or could have been available to Commonwealth and State agencies to prevent it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt requires consideration of the measures necessary to strengthen and add to those mechanisms including enhanced Commonwealth and State cooperation and cooperation with foreign governments and international agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr French proposed the creation of a joint Commonwealth\u2013State Royal Commission, with input from federal, state and territory governments.<\/p>\n
He said such a structure would enliven statutory powers across jurisdictions and require reporting to every Australian government.<\/p>\n
\u201cA most effective way of acknowledging and meeting the moral imperative generated by the Bondi Beach massacre would be the creation of a whole-of-Australia Royal Commission,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The former chief justice said the inquiry should prioritise the functions, powers and cooperative arrangements of intelligence, law enforcement and security agencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuch a Royal Commission could give priority to the practical questions of the functions and powers and cooperative arrangements of Commonwealth and State agencies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat priority could be recognised by the provision of an interim report on those and other topics regarded as urgent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr French stressed governments would not need to pause their immediate responses to the attack while a commission was underway.<\/p>\n
![\"\u2018Alarm](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/515f3c3f5ad7ac5ca29fbd9ef956d76c.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n