Family of Lindt Cafe victim call for royal commission, ‘appalled’ by PM invoking siege
The family of the Lindt Cafe siege victim have called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to establish a federal royal commission into the Bondi massacre, saying they are appalled that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese brought up the cafe attack to prevent a national inquiry.
The family of Katrina Dawson, who was killed in the 2014 siege, said “painful personal experience” had told them a state-based royal commission did not have the authority to establish what went wrong in the lead-up to the Bondi attack in which 15 innocent people were killed.
“We are appalled that the Prime Minister has said we do not need a royal commission into the Lindt siege, seeking to avoid a much-needed royal commission into antisemitism and Islamic extremism,” Dawson’s parents, Sandy and Jane, and brother Angus, said in a statement..
Calls for a Commonwealth royal commission have continued despite the prime minister insisting on a state-based royal commission, the envoy’s report on antisemitism and a federal investigation into law enforcement processes would deliver the quickest results.
Forced to defend his position, Albanese said on Tuesday that a federal royal commission had not been called following other shootings.
“There was no royal commission called by the Howard government after Port Arthur. There was no royal commission called by the Abbott government after the siege of Lindt,” Albanese said.
“We, as the opposition in both cases, and I was a part of that opposition, supported national unity at that time.”
The Prime Minister said the federal government and intelligence agencies would fully co-operate with the NSW royal commission, but Dawson’s family cast doubt on Albanese’s claim.
The family accused federal agencies of avoiding accountability during the state-based Lindt siege investigation and said they feared the NSW royal commission into the Bondi attack also lacked the power to force law enforcement to co-operate.
“Meanwhile [Lindt Cafe] The Dawson family said following the investigation the Australian Federal Police and ASIO repeatedly relied on extensive legal representation, claims of confidentiality and privilege and procedural resistance that a state coroner had no authority to penetrate.
“This advocacy did not advance the search for the truth. It obstructed answers to legitimate questions, prolonged proceedings and inflicted additional and unnecessary suffering on families who were already grieving and seeking to hold to account those charged with keeping Australians safe.”
Dawson and Tori Johnson were killed during the Lindt Cafe siege in December 2014, after gunman Man Haron Monis held 17 people hostage at the Sydney CBD venue for hours. After the attacker shot Johnson, Monis was shot and killed by police, while Dawson was hit by shrapnel from a police bullet.
Monis had asked for an Islamic State flag as part of his demands during the siege. But his exact motivations have been questioned as Monis was in court at the time of the attack for a string of sexual assault charges and assisting in the murder of his ex-wife.
A judicial inquest held in NSW after the siege investigated the police response and Monis’ bail history.
The family said the Bondi massacre could not be equated with the Lindt siege, which was a “devastating event” rather than a series.
“The Bondi massacre is just the latest in many attacks on Australian Jews over the last two years and two months. And now there are more anti-Semitic demonstrations. Our country is divided and we must do everything possible to mend that division,” they said.
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Brittany Busch is the federal politics correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
