Parliament date set, as Labor Ministers defend royal commission delay

Anthony Albanese’s WA-based Ministers have defended his late decision on a royal commission into the Bondi terrorist attack and anti-Semitism, insisting he took the time to listen.

The Prime Minister announced a year-long royal commission last week, 25 days after the attack that left 15 innocent people dead and 40 injured, amid growing pressure from victims’ families, Jewish and business leaders, and other significant Australian figures.

Resources Minister Madeleine King avoided answering when asked whether she would have preferred an earlier decision.

“Much will be made of what has been said and not been said,” she told reporters in Rockingham on Monday.

“I know in the immediate aftermath of the killings of the Jewish people at Bondi that our government, our Prime Minister, our Attorney-General, our Home Affairs minister, and the members of the NSC, the National Security Committee, have been working every single day on this.

“Calls from different parts of the media about what we should and should not do are important, and I respect them, but I also respect that processes have to be gone through very thoroughly.

“This is an event that has changed the nation. . . there’s no doubt about it. Into the future, the Royal Commission will be an important investigation of the rise of anti-Semitism in this country and the need for increased social cohesion and we’ll all participate.”

Ms King said the right decision was made.

“There were calls and lots of speculation from many places. What is really important is that the Prime Minister and all the Ministers have listened to those calls,” Ms King said.

“I understand people might have wanted different things at different times, but I know. . .there’s been an extraordinary amount of effort gone into addressing what is a tragic moment in our country’s history and making sure it never happens again.”

Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Fremantle MP Josh Wilson rejected claims the decision wasn’t made fast enough.

“Australians expect the government to respond to something as awful and grave and serious and momentous as Bondi in an effective and timely way, but both of those things are important for it to be effective,” he said.

On Monday, Mr Albanese announced plans to recall Federal Parliament on January 19 to debate new hate speech and gun laws.

“The terrorists at Bondi Beach had hatred in their minds but guns in their hands, this law will deal with both,” the Prime Minister said.

“And we do need to deal with both of these issues. These complex laws and our focus is ensuring they’re effective and practical.

“There will be legal processes, because this is an area of constitutional question. This is new laws going further than they ever have before. But we want to support the efforts of our police and our security agencies.

“We want to ensure that Australia remains a society where everyone has the right to be proud of who they are. And we also want to make it clear that conduct which is hateful, dangerous, and divisive will also be illegal.”