Barnaby Joyce blasts Anthony Albanese over Bondi probe as Jewish groups renew calls for national inquiry into anti-Semitism

Barnaby Joyce has erupted over Anthony Albanese’s refusal to establish a federal probe into anti-Semitism in the wake of the Bondi massacre. Despite immense pressure from the Coalition, Jewish Australians and more than 100 top silks to establish a national inquiry into Jewish hatred, the Prime Minister has consistently ruled out an investigation of that scale. The decision has been driven by concerns for social cohesion and national security as well as the need for urgent action following the mass shooting. Instead of a federal royal commission, the government has established an independent review led by former ASIO chief Dennis Richardson AC, who will examine the actions of Australia’s federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the lead-up to the attack. However, Mr Joyce claimed it was “necessary” to launch a national inquiry following the December 14 attack and branded Mr Albanese’s leadership as having a “weakness”. “The more (Mr Albanese) ducks and weaves and prevaricates and says, ‘Look over here, here’s Dennis Richardson who’s going to ask all sorts of wonderful questions,’ but it’s only half the questions that need to be asked, it just makes us suss about the Prime Minister,” the newly minted One Nation MP told Sky News. “I don’t think he’s malevolent or he’s an anti-Semite, but I think he knows full well that his government did not do a very good job. “He knows that he has not done what he had to do, and he was not strong, and now he’s not fooling anybody. “Everyone’s calling it for what it is. They said, ‘Look, we know you’re covering stuff up, mate’. “It’s not covering up like in a legal fashion but covering it up in his duty-as-a-prime-minister fashion.” ‘Australians deserve answers’: Ley Sussan Ley has ramped up her criticism of Mr Albanese’s decision to reject the probe, accusing him of using “slippery language” to avoid accountability. “Yesterday, he claimed that unnamed actual experts had advised him against holding a Commonwealth royal commission,” she told reporters on Wednesday. “Today, he refuses to say who those experts actually are. “But Australians do deserve the truth, not what they heard from the Prime Minister yesterday, vague gestures towards the National Security Committee of cabinet talk about process, his usual slippery language. “We need clear answers.” The opposition leader pointed to specific agencies like the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, and Office of National Intelligence, while questioning which one advised the Mr Albanese against a federal royal commission. “None of these agencies have publicly stated this,” she said. She described the Albanese government’s focus on gun laws as a “massive distraction”. “I will not be distracted from the real issue here, which is about anti-Jewish hatred and a royal commission into that, and indeed the events that led to the Bondi massacre,” she said. Ayres brands federal probe ‘divisive’ Earlier, Environment Minister Tim Ayres defended the Albanese government’s approach to investigating the Bondi massacre. Mr Ayres understood why Australians were calling for a royal commission, given the traumatic nature of the event, however branded the move as a “symbolic” one, rather than rooted in any meaningful action. “I understand why it is that when people see an event of this magnitude, the biggest terrorism attack on Australian soil in our history, see 15 lives lost and see this terrible violence in one of our iconic national places, people want to see the firmest possible response from the Australian Government,” he told Sky News. “And the royal commission sounds like an effective response, it sounds like a big response. “The truth is, it would take many, many years to complete. It would be a symbolic approach about division and delay, rather than an approach that is about getting practical responses. Pressed on why the government could not conduct the Richardson review and a royal commission at the same time, Mr Ayres said: “We don’t want to duplicate a response here.” “(The Richardson review) is much more far reaching, much more practical, much more directed than a judicial review conducted by, typically, a former judge,” he said. “This is a senior former intelligence official who’s got deep experience in Australia and internationally doing what needs to be done to to harden and make more effective our approaches.” Minns will not intervene in federal probe NSW Premier Chris Minns has rejected claims his government’s bipartisanship with the NSW Coalition could be threatened by the federal government’s refusal to establish a probe into anti-Semitism. “I’m not worried about that. I’ve got a job to do. My responsibilities are really clear, and I think politics can wait for another day,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “We’re just rolling out day by day the changes that we believe are necessary for NSW.” Mr Minns also refused to be drawn on NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane’s request for him to lobby Mr Albanese to launch a national inquiry, saying she was “entitled to a view”. “No, I’m not going to criticise her for that. She’s been, and the opposition’s been, very, very helpful to us in pushing through major changes in NSW, which we’re grateful for,” he said. ‘Listen to the people’: Jewish groups Earlier, a coalition of Jewish groups from every Australian state and territory have urged Anthony Albanese to “listen to the people” and walk back his rejection of a federal royal commission. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, and the Jewish roof organisations in each state and territory have again urged Mr Albanese to reconsider his decision. In a joint statement, the groups claimed it was necessary for both government and Australian society to understand where anti-Semitism came from, including how Jewish hatred had become “extraordinarily rampant”. “Only a federal royal commission encompassing the nation as a whole would provide that process,” the statement read. “We have watched with increasing dismay as the federal government has resisted calls from all sectors of society for a federal royal commission. “We believe that as many have already noted, the arguments against such a royal commission not only are unconvincing and misconceived but perhaps more importantly deny the urgent need to tackle the evil of anti-Semitism in the interests of unity and social cohesion in Australia.” The outpouring of support from the Australian public, and wide-ranging calls for a federal probe from different sectors, was heartening, the groups said. “Australians are demanding accountability and healing. It is time for the federal government to listen to the people,” the statement said. The decision to reject a national probe came despite the families of Bondi victims signing an open letter to the Prime Minister and urging him to establish a federal investigation into anti-Semitism. Despite ruling out a federal royal commission, Mr Albanese has acknowledged the calls to establish one – primarily from the Jewish community – come from a “good place”. “This atrocity is something which understandably people want answers on how it occurred,” he said on Tuesday. He also reiterated the Commonwealth’s commitment to complying with the state royal commission and emphasised the importance of the Richardson review. “We will have a NSW royal commission that will look at the actions clearly of NSW authorities, including the police response, gun licensing issues that are the prerogative of the NSW government. “But also we’ve said very clearly that the Commonwealth government will co-operate with those processes and will provide whatever information is requested is necessary during those processes.