PM considering backdown after Bondi attack

It is possible that Albanese could change his position by expanding the Richardson review or setting up another inquiry not under the guise of a royal commission, but sources believe this is more likely to set up a royal commission, the highest form of official inquiry.

Reports of the Prime Minister’s shift in thinking followed a shift in language from cabinet ministers Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Health Secretary Mark Butler, who stressed they respected the many calls for a royal commission to be established.

On Tuesday, former Labor leader and army colonel Mike Kelly appeared in Canberra and warned that only a federal royal commission could give law enforcement officials the legal protection they need to tell the truth about what went wrong in the lead-up to the Bondi Beach massacre.

A co-convenor of the Labor Friends of Israel group called on Albanese to reverse course and launch a national inquiry that would cover both the attack and antisemitism, bringing together families of Bondi victims, national and state Jewish community groups, more than 200 senior members of the Australian bar, more than 100 captains of industry, the Business Council of Australia, the Law Council of Australia, Catholic bishops and leading sports stars.

The former defense materiel minister, who previously signed an open letter written by Labor Party figures, said on Tuesday that Albanians should seize the opportunity to listen to what MPs hear from their constituents as parliament returns in the coming weeks.

“The government can then come out and say: Look, we heard what the community has to say. We saw this new information and decided to act now,” he told reporters.

“And we’ll give them all the credit in the world for accepting that. We don’t want to attack anyone here. We just want our country to be safe.”

Kelly confirmed Labor figures, who did not want to comment publicly because of their current or former positions within the party, had privately lobbied the prime minister to reverse course.

Albanese has rejected calls for a federal royal commission in several press conferences, saying it would be lengthy, divisive and risk duplicating work already underway.

Kelly questioned the government’s assertion that there was no need for further investigation because many details of the case were known.

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“We have heard comments that there have been no terrorist cells uncovered or that they are lone actors, but to me that points to a misunderstanding of how terrorism works today and the disaggregated nature of terrorism, how people are groomed, how people are recruited, how they are given the ability to acquire weapons, how they are empowered and empowered to develop improvised explosive devices.

And how are we set up as a nation to be able to effectively track these data points? “And are our agencies equipped with the best tools to enable you to pursue situations where there is a bright red threat to a person, like we have here in Bondi?” he said.

Kelly also warned that federal agencies and their staff would be reluctant to “open the kimono fully” to the NSW royal commission because it did not offer the same legal protections as a federal inquiry.

“I knew someone in the past who was actually a defense civilian who gave out really important information about the Iraq War. He wouldn’t have done that unless he had that protection,” he said.

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“I know there are Commonwealth officials who will not want to speak fully and openly unless they have the legal protection of a Commonwealth royal commission.

“[A federal royal commission] in a way that does not affect ongoing criminal proceedings and can do so securely and confidentially; This underlines the difference between a Commonwealth royal commission and a state royal commission; this commission cannot compel Commonwealth agencies to disclose information and request cooperation.

Kelly said reviewing new information and changing course “is the responsible thing for a government to do and I certainly think Australians would reward that kind of response.”

He recalled former Queensland premier Peter Beattie, who admitted he had a “fuck up”, apologized and moved on.

The Law Council of Australia became the latest body to weigh in on calls for a federal royal commission on Tuesday, saying the “nature and scale of the problems exposed by the Bondi terror attack” justified the mandate of a national commission to investigate rising antisemitism in Australia and the events leading up to that attack.

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