Bondi beach victims’ families demand more federal action on anti-semitism

Melbourne: Families of victims of the recent Sydney massacre that targeted a Jewish festival released an open letter on Monday calling for more federal action to investigate a rise in antisemitism and the security failures behind Australia’s worst mass shooting in three decades.

Two gunmen are accused of shooting 15 people dead and wounding another 40 in an attack on a Hannukah festival on Bondi Beach on December 14.

In an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, 17 families of the dead and wounded called for a federal inquiry known as a royal commission to investigate a rise in antisemitism in Australia since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023 and consequent security agency failures.

Royal commissions are the most powerful form of public investigation in Australia and witnesses can be jailed for deliberately withholding evidence.

“We need to know why clear warning signs were ignored, how antisemitic hatred and Islamic extremism were allowed to dangerously grow unchecked, and what changes must be made to protect all Australians going forward,” the letter said.

But Albanese continued to resist calls from the families, Jewish leaders and opposition lawmakers to establish such a royal commission, saying it would take years to provide answers.

Instead, he announced the terms of an inquiry by retired bureaucrat Dennis Richardson that would examine potential failings in procedures and laws that led to the shooting, which was allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group. That inquiry will report in April next year. “My heart breaks for the families of the victims of the Bondi terrorist atrocity,” Albanese told reporters. “And my heart goes out to them at what is an incredibly traumatic time.”

“My job, as the Australian prime minister, is to act in the national interests. It is in the national interest for us to do the Richardson review on national security,” Albanese added.

Albanese said federal authorities would support a royal commission promised by the New South Wales state government, which is based in Sydney.

The families’ letter says a state inquiry is not enough.

“The rise of antisemitism in Australia goes far beyond one state jurisdiction. It is a national crisis that demands a powerful response,” the families said.

As the nation reels from its worst mass shooting since a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania state in 1996, the usual New Year’s Eve celebrations have been cancelled at Bondi. Tickets sold to an annual music festival at Bondi will be refunded, organizers said. Security will be tightened at Sydney’s main celebration with heavily armed police expected to be visible. More than 1 million revelers are expected to crowd the waterfront to see a fireworks display centered on the Sydney

Harbor Bridge.