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.