Anthony Albanese has countered accusations of his administration’s alleged reversal regarding a Royal Commission on antisemitism, asserting its announcement was made with unprecedented speed.
Just ten days prior, the Prime Minister had strongly opposed the idea, cautioning that such an investigation could foster division instead of unity.
At the time, he emphasized, “Our focus should be on urgency and unity, rather than division and delay.”
However, in a surprising turn of events, Albanese declared a Commonwealth Royal Commission yesterday, responding to growing demands. This movement gained momentum through advocacy by affected families from Bondi, and received support from sports figures, national security officials, and even members of his party.
During an appearance on Sunrise, the Prime Minister defended the abrupt policy change by indicating that a Royal Commission was, in essence, already in motion.
“We are aware that the New South Wales Government had taken steps to initiate a Royal Commission,” he remarked.
‘We said that we would fully cooperate with that. That in effect would have been a Commonwealth Royal Commission.
‘But just around events in New South Wales and antisemitism there. We needed to make sure that there weren’t two Royal Commissions.
‘Now, the New South Wales Government last night announced that they would not be proceeding with theirs – that was important. We also wanted to make sure that there wasn’t any interference with any legal processes.’
Defending the sudden shift during an interview on Sunrise, the Prime Minister suggested a Royal Commission was already effectively underway.
Albanese also insisted the government had acted carefully and appropriately.
‘I’ve sat down in the homes of families who are grieving. I’ve listened to them. We’ve also made sure that we’ve got this right in an orderly way,’ he said.
‘This is actually a record time for the calling of a Royal Commission. The last funeral was just two days ago.
‘The Royal Commission will begin today with the meeting of the Executive Council at the Governor-General’s residence at Admiralty House. So, we needed to get the right commissioner, the right terms of reference, in the right time frame, because we can’t afford to not get this right.
When Sunrise host Edwina Bartholomew pressed him on why Australians had been left waiting for a Royal Commission, Albanese rejected the claim.
‘No, what we did do was act immediately on the things that were required – the immediate priorities,’ he said.
‘The immediate priority was: are there any national security issues arising from this? We needed to examine through the National Security Committee whether these people were part of a wider cell, whether there’d be other events following.
‘If you look at terrorist actions around the world, what you often have is one event followed by another. We needed to prioritise those national security issues and sit down with our security and intelligence agencies.’
Bartholomew acknowledged the security concerns but said many believed both processes could have happened at the same time.
‘No one disputes that, Prime Minister. But many people arguing that the two things could have happened at the same time.’
Albanese rejected that suggestion, insisting there was a proper sequence to follow.
‘I have attempted to do in an orderly way, the way that my government functions is orderly, considered get to the right decision, do it in the right order, and that is what we have sought to do here. And of course, my heart breaks for these families.’
Daily Mail Australia political editor Peter Van Onselen accused the Prime Minister of ‘gaslighting’ the public.
‘The PM is now gaslighting Australians that he never really opposed a Royal Commission in the first place.
‘Worse than that he’s gaslighting the families of the victims. He’s been dragged kicking and screaming into calling a Commonwealth Royal Commission.
‘You don’t flag concerns over social cohesion and claim that your ‘actual experts’ don’t think a Royal Commission is the right way to go if you’re genuinely planning to announce one.
‘For Albo to try and spin this backflip into a well timed, well planned next step is an embarrassingly fraudulent nonsense.’
