Sussan Ley makes ‘no apology for my passion’ as Labor denounces ‘disgusting’ ‘partisan pile-on’ over Bondi attack | Bondi beach terror attack

Chris Bowen accused Sussan Ley of “disgusting” behavior and politicizing the Bondi antisemitic attack and claimed the Coalition was putting partisan points ahead of national unity in the wake of Australia’s worst terror attack.

Ley, whose coalition has increasingly unleashed extraordinary political criticism blaming the government for the terror attack, defended her personal charge against foreign minister Penny Wong for “not shedding a single tear” over the attack.

Anthony Albanese accused the Coalition of seeking “political product differentiation” in response to the attack. Bowen said the opposition leader was “not the arbiter of grief” and could not dictate how other people mourn.

Labour’s energy minister told the ABC: “I thought it was a disgusting element of increasing partisan agglomeration in the wake of a national crisis.”

“Australia has come together at moments like this in the past, whether at the Lindt Cafe or in Port Arthur, and the opposition has chosen not to express political views. This opposition is trying a different path.”

Ley said Tuesday he was not ashamed of his criticism of Wong. This came at a press conference on Monday where shadow minister Bridget McKenzie claimed – without evidence – that Labor’s recognition of a Palestinian state and Wong’s failure to visit specific sites of Hamas’ October 7 massacre in Israel had “brought this to us”.

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Wong strongly condemned antisemitism and the Bondi attack on Monday and called on politicians to “lower the heat” in Australia’s national debate. Raising her voice and slamming her hand on the podium, Ley harshly criticized Wong for not attending the shooting victims’ funerals or visiting the Bondi memorial site.

Ley told Channel Nine’s Today on Tuesday: “I make no apologies for my passion about this incident and my ongoing passion for Australians, Jewish Australians and this disgusting act of terrorism.”

“I was there. The Prime Minister was barely there. Penny Wong wasn’t there at all. Their calls for lowering the temperature were completely inappropriate.”

Albanese visited Bondi beach the day after the attack and attended the commemoration ceremony held there on the first week anniversary. He said on Tuesday: “I absolutely regret the politicization of this issue.”

He said at a press conference: “This is a time when the nation must come together in unity, and with that sense of purpose, this is not the time for people to seek political product differentiation. And I will continue to argue for unity.”

“This is what happens in times of national crisis and mourning. This is what national leaders do. This is what has happened in the past.”

In his speech, which was covered numerous times in the media on Monday and Tuesday, Ley said Albanese had received “jeers” during the vigil on Bondi beach. On Channel Seven’s Sunrise programme, he once again called for a federal royal commission and twice suggested the government was “hiding” by not calling one.

“Were there warnings that they didn’t listen?” he said. “This morning, we have a growing list of judges, senior figures across the country, including Sir Peter Cosgrove, who know that this is the next important step the government must take. My question is, why not? Why not, prime minister?”

Albanese noted that Coalition governments did not call for royal commissions after the Port Arthur massacre and the Lindt Cafe terror siege in 1996 and 2014, and he stood by his decision not to call for such an inquiry so far.

Labor sources are privately furious at the Coalition’s politicization of the Bondi attack; They compare how past oppositions have supported the governments of the day through previous terrorist attacks, the Covid pandemic and the Port Arthur massacre, with the opposition abandoning a national united two-party approach. Former Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who is Jewish, claimed last week that Albanese was personally responsible for 15 deaths.

Responding to attacks that Labor has been slow to act on antisemitism, government sources said the Coalition voted against Labor’s anti-disclosure bill in November 2024 and failed to take stronger action on banning Nazi symbols during his time in government.

That frustration was further fueled publicly on Tuesday when Bowen claimed the Ley Coalition had prioritized partisan politics, particularly in the attack on Wong.

“Sussan Ley is not the arbiter of grief or bereavement and she doesn’t get to decide how people express that grief and grief… It’s more about Sussan Ley than it is about Penny Wong,” he said.

“I think Sussan Ley needs to reflect on her behavior yesterday. It was pretty disgusting. And the fact that she chose to draw political conclusions from an issue and make a personal attack on someone like Penny Wong, I don’t think Australians will sit well with.”

Referring to the government’s planned crackdown on hate speech, Bowen noted that senior members of the Coalition had previously argued for weakening the laws in a long-running debate over section 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act.

“They spent all their time watering down these laws,” he said. “They’re saying they need to be stronger now. So we didn’t look for this partisan argument, but if they want a partisan argument, then the facts will come out.”

Wong’s office declined to respond to Ley’s allegations on Monday. Albanese said he was avoiding “partisan comments” in the wake of the Bondi attack but rubbished the Coalition’s claims that the terror attack was influenced by Labour’s recognition of Palestine or the schedule of Wong’s trip to Israel, as McKenzie claimed.

“This was an ISIS-inspired attack… These people were not shy about their motivations, and it was there for people to see,” he claimed. “And I think people need to look at the facts that are out there.”