Jewish MP Julian Leeser blasts Anthony Albanese as pressure mounts on Labor to launch federal investigation into Bondi terror attack

Jewish MP Julian Leeser has branded Anthony Albanese’s response to the Bondi terror attack as “shameful” as the Coalition outlines its plans for a royal commission. Labor has commissioned a review to assess whether Australia’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies are appropriately empowered instead of launching a federal royal commission to investigate the attack. The government has consistently resisted calls for a Commonwealth investigation of that scale, citing the need for an urgent response to the crisis. Speaking to reporters at a Sydney press conference, Mr Leeser lashed the departmental review as emblematic of the Prime Minister’s failure to respond to the attack. “The Jewish community of this country cannot survive on the crumbs of this government and appalling Prime Minister, who is always late to the party and who wants the Jewish community to live in his in half measures,” Mr Leeser told reporters at a Sydney press conference. The Prime Minister’s decision to call a departmental review, instead of a royal commission, was the “most shameful act in the history of our nation, Mr Leeser said. “(Australia) stands humiliated by the failure of leadership of this man, by the failure of leadership, which has led to the extraordinary deaths in a terrorist act on the shores of Bondi in this great city of ours,” he said. Mr Leeser claimed Labor’s departmental review was “another attempt at deflecting and minimising” racial hatred towards Jewish people. “This departmental review can’t call witnesses, it can’t compel evidence in a public forum. It can’t allow the stories of the two years of anti-Semitic hate to be told and retold,” he said. “It cannot root out anti-Semitism where it’s wherever it’s to be found. It’s only a royal commission that can do this.” “We demand the Prime Minister bring the parliament back today to do what (NSW Premier) Chris Minns is doing, to listen to Sussan Ley, to extend the hand of bipartisanship. “And for once in his life to take the real action that is needed to defeat the anti-Semitism that we are seeing and we have seen in this country for far too long.” Coalition outlines probe plan Speaking at a press conference in Sydney, Sussan Ley announced the Coalition had put together a draft terms of reference for the federal probe. “The Prime Minister's refusal to call a Commonwealth royal commission and to offer an unqualified apology as Premier Minns has done is adding insult to the injury that the Jewish community is feeling and our nation is feeling,” she said. Ms Ley claimed Mr Albanese had “failed to respond appropriately to this terrible attack” and proposed a “good faith offer” to work with Labor to establish a royal commission before Christmas. The proposed investigation would include at least three commissioners, including someone of Jewish faith, another with intelligence agency experience, and either a current or former Supreme Court judge. The Coalition intends for an interim recommendation to be handed down no later than June 23, 2026. “It would look at things such as online, the media, arts, cultural and education sectors that led to the Bondi attack,” shadow Attorney-General Andrew Wallace said. “It would look at the conduct of ministers departments across all levels of government with respect to responding to the rise of anti-Semitism and the Bondi terrorist attack. “It would examine the roles of radical Islam, far left and far right, neo-Nazi extremism, as would it look at anti-Israel and anti-Zionist attitudes into elevating anti-Semitic environment in Australia. “The commission would examine whether the Commonwealth and state law enforcement and intelligence agencies co-operated sufficiently together.” Labor MPs break ranks, call for federal probe Two Western Sydney Labor MPs have broken ranks to joins calls for a royal commission led by the Commonwealth into the Bondi massacre. Macarthur MP Mike Freelander told the Australian Financial Review those in his electorate wanted all levels of government to “work together try and get some answers about the event that happened at Bondi”. “That has changed us forever. We need to bury the dead, we then need to look at how to rationally approach all the issues, across all levels of government,” he said. Mr Freelander believed there “certainly” needed to be an inquiry at the national level. Former Albanese cabinet minister Ed Husic agreed with Mr Freelander, telling the same masthead a federal inquiry was needed to understand “how this happened [and] what we can do to root out extremism whichever form it comes in”. “I’ve previously said I don’t care if it’s Islamist or far-right extremism, anything that presents a threat to Australians must be confronted,” the Chifley MP said. “I’d be concerned that federal agencies might feel that they wouldn’t have the ability to participate fully in a state-based inquiry. “Let’s remove the uncertainty and have a proper and thorough look at this.” ‘Afraid’: Wong grilled on Labor’s hesitations Foreign Minister Penny Wong has denied Labor’s opposition to a royal commission is rooted in fears of what the investigation could uncover as pressure mounts to launch a federal probe into anti-Semitism. On Sunday, Anthony Albanese announced the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet would investigate Australia’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies. The Prime Minister has not pushed for a federal royal commission despite NSW Premier Chris Minns publicly backing a state investigation. Speaking to the ABC, Senator Wong was asked whether the government was “afraid” of pursuing a federal investigation. “I think that’s imputing intentions which are not there,” she said. “I think the focus that we have at the moment is to make sure that our agencies have the powers to keep people safe. And that’s why the Prime Minister and the National Security Committee have focused on a review which ensures we get that information quickly, which is by April.” She confirmed the federal government would co-operate with the state probe but pivoted to the government’s planned review of counter-terrorism agencies. “We have to make sure that our national security arrangements are fit for purpose and are able to keep people safe. And we need to learn from any mistakes, if there were any, made in the context of these attacks in a context where we see ISIS and extremist ideology in our country,” she said. “Now, this is the same organisation that the United States has just engaged in bombing raids on. “We all saw ISIS’s perverse ideology and violent acts in the early part of the last decade. They’ve killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world, most of them Muslim, and now we have ISIS-inspired terrorism in our country. “So our focus is what do we have to do to keep Australians safe? And a review that reports by April gives government and the country the assurance that we are doing that.” ‘Not good enough’: Spender Independent MP Allegra Spender has joined calls for a federal probe into anti-Semitism, saying Labor’s prospective review of national security agencies is “not good enough”. The Wentworth MP – whose electorate includes Bondi – told the ABC that she welcomed the inquiry into intelligence agencies however urged a stronger investigation into all levels of government. “I welcome a review, but frankly, this is not good enough,” she said. “We need a federal and state collective royal commission or that sort of inquiry to get to the heart of what happened last week and what we can learn from it. “We have 15 Australians who have died. We owe to them, and to the Jewish community who were targeted simply because of their religion, to leave no stone unturned to understand what happened and what collectively we (can) do to give us the best chance that this can never happen again.” Ms Spender went as far as to say the intelligence review was “inadequate”, agreeing with harsh criticisms lobbied at the government by former treasurer Josh Frydenberg. The review’s “narrow scope” and focus on securing the safety of Australians “in the future” needed to be bolstered by a retrospective look at what had gone wrong, she said. “If we look at the past honestly, then we have a chance of moving forward,” she said. “But we can’t just say, ‘oh, let’s look to the future’. We actually have to look at the past as well.” ‘Australia needs answers’: Sloane State Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane has echoed calls from her federal counterparts for a federal royal commission after NSW Premier Chris Minns publicly endorsed a state probe into the anti-Semitic terror attack. Ms Sloane – who is the member for neighbouring electorate Vaucluse – told the ABC she would like to see an investigation into the Bondi attack led by the Commonwealth. “NSW can’t go it alone in this. Terrorism doesn’t know borders, so, yes, I support a royal commission,” she said. “We need to understand exactly what happened – not just on the day, not just in the weeks and months leading up to it, but the broader build-up – what has contributed (to it). “Australia needs answers on what was the root cause of this terrible attack and what we can do to ensure that we never see this on our beaches, on our cities and our soil again.” The swift, bipartisan effort by Mr Minns and Ms Sloane to recall parliament and fast-track state legislation in the wake of the attacks has been commended by the Jewish community. It has placed immense pressure on their federal counterparts, especially Mr Albanese, to take stronger action on anti-Semitism.