‘Disgusting’ politicisation of Bondi massacre slammed
The opposition leader has been condemned for a “disgusting” personal attack on a senior government official who he claimed shed no tears over the Bondi massacre.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the coalition would clash badly with Australians as it tried to score political points on the tragedy.
“I thought it was a disgusting element of increasingly partisan politics in the wake of a national crisis,” he told ABC Radio National on Tuesday.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley attacked Foreign Minister Penny Wong after the senior Labor leader said she wanted to see Australians’ fevers drop following the Bondi terror attack.
Fifteen people were killed and dozens more seriously injured when two Islamic State-inspired gunmen opened fire on an event for the first night of Hanukkah celebrations.
“I didn’t see Penny Wong on the streets of Bondi,” Ms Ley said on Monday.
“I didn’t see Penny Wong at the memorial service for the 15 murdered innocent Australians.
“Last night, on the eighth night of Hanukkah, I didn’t see Penny Wong at Bondi. I didn’t see Penny Wong attend a single funeral. I didn’t even see Penny Wong shed a single tear.”
Mr. Bowen said those remarks revealed more about Ms. Ley than about Senator Wong.
“Australia has come together in moments like this in the past, whether it’s the Lindt Cafe or Port Arthur, and the opposition has chosen not to make political points,” he said.
“I think Susan Ley needs to reflect on her behavior yesterday, it was pretty disgusting.”
But the opposition leader doubled down on his comments on Tuesday, saying he had not apologized for his “passion for Australians, Australian Jews and this disgusting act of terrorism”.
“I was there (Bondi),” he told Nine’s Today programme.
“The Prime Minister was barely there. Penny Wong was not there at all. Her calls for lowering the temperature were completely inappropriate.”
Jewish leaders also criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his government for their perceived failure to take action to combat anti-Semitism before the attack.
Mr Albanese was booed when he attended a memorial service in Bondi on Sunday to mark one week since the attack, while his NSW Labor counterpart Chris Minns received a standing ovation.
The federal government has resisted calls for a national royal commission into the massacre; Instead, it launched a more limited review of federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies and supported an investigation in NSW.
The opposition was joined by a handful of Labor supporters in pushing for a broad federal inquiry, which the coalition wants to focus on the drivers of anti-Semitism before the attack.
