Families shocked as ex-spy chief quits Bondi inquiry
Families of people killed in the Bondi massacre fear the royal commission into anti-Semitism is turning into a farce after a former ASIO boss abruptly resigned following the investigation.
Former spy chief and US ambassador Dennis Richardson announced that he was dropping the investigation because it was “redundant.”
The report, originally brought in to conduct an independent investigation into possible intelligence failures leading to the December 14 terrorist attack, has been submitted to a wider anti-Semitic royal commission.
The wide-ranging federal investigation was called after almost a month of lobbying by Australia’s Jewish community.
Jenny Rotyur, the niece of Boris Tetleroyd, who was fatally shot at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach, said families were worried “everything will fall apart”.
“We wanted to look really closely at the intelligence agencies and their failures,” he told AAP.
“We are extremely concerned that this royal commission is turning into a farce.
“We need the truth to be found, and I find it hard to believe that they can do that without being an expert on the security agencies.”
Speaking to reporters in Canberra on Thursday, Mr Richardson said his departure would not affect the inquiry’s investigation into the intelligence services.
Holocaust survivor Sabina Kleitman, daughter of Bondi victim Alex Kleytman, said she and the community were “shocked” by Mr Richardson’s statement.
“Because of his credentials, he will be the person who will best understand the why behind what is going on,” he said.
Ms. Kleitman said the families only learned of his resignation through media reports and were waiting for a full response.
His 87-year-old father was shot in the chest when he died protecting his wife of almost 60 years from gunmen.
Mr Kleytman lived in World War II before moving to Australia with his family for a safer life. He had survived the horrors of World War II and persecution in the Soviet Union.
He was among 15 people killed by a father-son duo in one of the nation’s worst-ever mass shootings.
The inquiry, chaired by former Supreme Court justice Virginia Bell, is due to submit an interim report by the end of April.
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