The Prime Minister must put pride and political interests to one side and urgently act on calls to extend the Antisemitism Royal Commission from Australia's most respected national security leaders.
Many Australians will be shocked and alarmed today to learn that the Royal Commission is winding up early despite key witnesses - including government ministers, universities and other institutions - not having been called to give evidence.
It comes as thirty of Australia's most senior former military, intelligence and national-security figures have called for the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion to be extended. They include former Governor-General and Chief of the Defence Force David Hurley, former ASIS chiefs, a former AFP Commissioner and former Chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
They have specifically cited the national security threat posed by antisemitism and Islamist extremism, and expressed concerns that the Royal Commission has not called Commonwealth Ministers, Islamist organisations, and protest organisations.
The Coalition calls on the Prime Minister to listen to this unequivocal national security advice, and extend the Royal Commission. He should make government ministers available to the Royal Commission, and appear personally to give evidence, consistent with the principle of ministerial accountability.
The Commission must be given as much time as is needed to properly examine antisemitism - and the sources, origins, and growth of Islamist extremism leading up to the Bondi massacre.
The intervention by distinguished military and intelligence figures today shows that calls to extend the Royal Commission are not only bipartisan - given the backing of NSW Premier Chris Minns - but are essential for safeguarding Australia's national security.
It is time for the Prime Minister to put Australia's interests first and political interests second.
He must immediately give the Royal Commission the additional time, direction, and resources required to complete its work.
Quotes attributable to the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon Angus Taylor MP:
"This is the Royal Commission the Prime Minister didn't want. He was dragged kicking and screaming to call it in the first place.
"Now we know the Royal Commission is winding up early, with key witnesses still not heard and serious questions remaining unanswered. Senior decision-makers have not been held to account. Governments, universities and institutions that allowed antisemitism to take hold have not been called.
"We have also seen the deeply troubling spectacle of an Australian Jewish leader being cross-examined in a hostile manner and being asked to account for the actions of a foreign government.
"That is not what this Royal Commission should have become.
"I am deeply concerned about where this leaves the Royal Commission.
"We wanted it to succeed. We wanted Australians to have confidence that the truth has been properly examined and that those responsible for allowing antisemitism to grow are held to account.
"But I am increasingly fearful that it will fail to deliver that. And if it does, it will be an enormous betrayal of the Jewish community.
"The Prime Minister should give the Royal Commission the time and resources it needs to complete its vital work, and immediately grant it an extension."
Quotes attributable to the Shadow Attorney-General, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash:
"When a former Governor-General, former intelligence chiefs, a former AFP commissioner and former service chiefs tell the Prime Minister that this Royal Commission needs more time, he should listen.
"Labor voted against giving the Commission more time last week. Since then Chris Minns has backed an extension, public hearings have been cut short and some of Australia's most experienced national-security leaders have added their voices.
"The Prime Minister's position is becoming impossible to defend.
"There should be no artificial deadline on establishing how antisemitism was allowed to grow, how our institutions responded and what must change to protect Australians in the future."
Quotes attributable to the Shadow Minister for Defence, Senator James Paterson:
"The Royal Commission's Interim Report made recommendations that went to funding, staffing and resourcing for counter-terrorism, and the "match fitness" of the National Security Committee of Cabinet to respond to a terrorist attack. Despite this, not a single member of NSC has been called before the Royal Commission."
"Those are core matters of ministerial responsibility. It is our Ministers who determine priorities, allocate resources and make the decisions that shape our national-security architecture.
"Every Australian is entitled to know whether we adequately understood and confronted the threat of antisemitism and Islamist extremism."
"A Royal Commission established in the aftermath of a terrorist atrocity must be in a position to call Ministers and examine those questions thoroughly."
Quotes attributable to the Shadow Minister for Education and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Mr Julian Leeser:
"This Royal Commission has three fundamental tasks: to hear the experience of Jewish Australians, to recommend reforms, and to hold people in positions of responsibility to account."
"There were 800 days between the October 7 terror attacks and the December 14 Bondi Massacre. Eight hundred days of hate, violence and warnings. Eight hundred days where antisemitism ran riot, Islamist extremist conduct went unchecked and every Australian was made less safe in their own country."
"I am calling on the Prime Minister to keep faith with all Australia and extend the Commission."
"We know where we ended up: 15 Australians were murdered on our most famous beach. Anthony Albanese and his Ministers must show the courage and accountability to explain what went wrong."
"We owe it to the memory of the Bondi victims and to all Australians to get this right."
