VOICES CALLING FOR BONDI ROYAL COMMISSION
The families of 11 of the Bondi Beach massacre victims
Former Governor General Peter Cosgrove
Former High Court chief justice Robert French
Former chief scientist Alan Finkel
Former intelligence chief Nick Warner
Former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg
Former AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty
Former BCA president Graham Bradley
Billionaire Jack Cowin
The family of Katrina Dawson, who was killed in the 2014 Lindt Cafe siege
ECAJ co-chair Peter Wertheim
Former Qld premier Peter Beattie
Labor backbenchers Mike Freelander and Ed Husic
More than 136 silks – including former Federal Court chief justice James Allsop, former solicitor-general David Bennett, former Federal Court judges Julie Dodds-Streeton, Sylvia Emmett, Raymond Finkelstein, Ron Merkel, Ronald Sackville, Peter Jacobson, Paul Anastassiou
Ms Ley accused Mr Albanese of failing to listen to the request of the victims’ families.
“The families of victims want this commonwealth royal commission,” she said.
“The Jewish community wants it. Eminent Australians want it. And I suspect millions of ordinary Australians want it too. Former governors general want it. Judges, former AFP commissioners, senior lawyers and security experts want it. The Coalition wants it. Even Labor MPs want it.
“Today, the Prime Minister thumbed his nose at these families and told them, in effect, that he knows better.”
The Liberal Opposition Leader said that “instead of listening to those most affected, the Prime Minister has decided to speak over them”.
“Instead of the truth, he’s hiding behind process,” she said.
“By speaking over victims and their families and declaring that his pathway forward is the right one, the Prime Minister has actually insulted those who have endured the unimaginable.
“It is not protective, it is patronising.
“It’s also an insult to the Australian people. Australians do not need to be shielded from the truth.”
Ms Ley also picked up on Mr Albanese’s argument that her proposal for a royal commission would be too wide-ranging.
“We need to be wide-ranging in consulting and listening and understanding the surge of anti-Semitism across this country,” she said.
“Australians are entitled to know how the Prime Minister can be trusted to confront anti-Semitism if he won’t answer questions about it within the Labor Party itself.”