Agencies to be probed for ability to keep Aussies safe
Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies will be scrutinized for their ability to keep Australians safe after the Bondi massacre.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the review on Sunday as he held more national security meetings following terror attacks targeting a Jewish celebration a week ago.
15 people were killed in the deadliest attack, carried out by a father-son duo apparently inspired by the Islamic State.
Former intelligence chief Dennis Richardson will lead the inquiry, which will examine “whether federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies have the right powers, structures, processes and sharing arrangements to keep Australians safe”.
“Last Sunday’s ISIS-inspired brutality reinforces the rapidly changing security environment in our country,” Mr. Albanese said in a statement.
“Our security agencies must be in the best position to respond.”
The review by agencies such as ASIO and the Australian Federal Police will be carried out by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
It will be delivered to the government and made public by the end of April 2026.
The Prime Minister’s announcement comes as calls are growing for him to set up a federal royal commission into the atrocity that would give investigators the broadest powers and scope to examine the lead-up and motive for the attack.
Mr Albanese instead backed NSW Premier Chris Minns to lead a state-based royal commission into the attack, but was criticized by the opposition for not launching his own broad investigation.
David Littleproud, the leader of the national contest, said he believed Mr Albanese had stayed away from the federal royal commission because he was afraid of the truth.
“And there’s been a series of failures here for two and a half years,” he told Sky News.
“There were warning signs… but we have to look it in the eye.
“We have to look at the failures of decisions made at the political level, at the intelligence level. And many of these institutions are at the federal level.”
Mr Littleproud acknowledged the failures could date back to before Labor returns to power in 2022 and welcomed any potential inquiry examining shortcomings under previous coalition governments.
One of the attackers, Naveed Akram, came to ASIO’s attention because of his dealings with others in 2019, when the coalition was in power.
Mr Minns said the royal commission’s role was not to apportion responsibility.
“I will take responsibility for this; I was the prime minister when this happened,” he told ABC TV.
“This is to make sure we get a full picture of exactly what happened so we can take steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
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