PM says government has been working on inquiry logistics ‘for weeks’ – as it happened
Key eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureWhat we learned today, Thursday 8 JanuaryWith that, we will wrap the blog for the evening.Stay safe and cool, we’ll be back first thing tomorrow. Until then, these were the major developments of the day:
The prime minister announced a royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion, to be chaired by Virginia Bell. Anthony Albanese said the decision was an “appropriate way forward for national unity”. It will be handed down by the end of the year.
In Victoria, there were six emergency warnings in place for out-of-control bushfires at Longwood and 25km west of Walwa, with dozens of regional townships urged to take cover or evacuate. The entire state of Victoria will be under a fire ban tomorrow amid an ongoing heatwave.
A legal challenge was lodged against controversial laws in New South Wales that restrict protest actions for up to three months after terrorist incidents, introduced after the December Bondi attack.
And the Reserve Bank of Australia’s deputy governor, Andrew Hauser, said the current cycle of rate cuts was likely over and the central bank needed to ensure the recent period of high inflation does not repeat.
ShareUpdated at 07.47 GMTSix bushfire emergency warnings in northern VictoriaStill on the bushfires, there are now six emergency warnings to leave immediately or take shelter for the out-of-control bushfires at Longwood and 25km west of Walwa in northern Victoria.More than two dozen townships have been urged to leave immediately as the Walwa fire travels south-east from Mount Lawson state park, including:
Beetoomba
Berringama
Bungil
Burrowye
Colac Colac
Corryong
Crawford Crossing
Cudgewa & Cudgewa North
Dartmouth
Guys Forest
Hodgson Crossing
Koetong
Lucyvale
McNamara Crossing
Mount Alfred & Mount Alfred Gap
Nariel Creek, Nariel Gap & Nariel Valley
Pine Mountain
Shelley
Staceys Bridge
The Lightwood
Thologolong
Thowgla Valley
Tintaldra
Walwa
Willow Crossing
ShareUpdated at 07.41 GMTAdeshola OreParamedics to be relocated away from Victoria’s high-risk bushfire areasParamedics in Victoria will be deployed away from high-risk bushfire areas tomorrow morning, as the state prepares for catastrophic fire conditions.Ambulance Victoria says it has declared a red escalation – the highest level of response – from 7am tomorrow. It means crews are only deployed into high-risk areas for serious or life-threatening illnesses and when a risk assessment has been done.In a statement, Ambulance Victoria said:
For their safety, paramedics and first responders are being relocated from branches within declared regions of catastrophic fire danger risk and where those branches have been identified as high-risk due to their proximity to bushland and limited road access.
Ambulance Victoria has not specified which stations paramedics will be relocated from.ShareUpdated at 07.15 GMTNSW opposition welcomes ‘long-overdue’ federal royal commissionThe New South Wales opposition similarly backed the prime minister’s announcement, while calling it a “long-overdue step”.Its acting leader, Natalie Ward, said the Coalition had “consistently advocated for a national response of this scale”.
This outcome reflects the seriousness of the threat and the clear reality that these issues extend well beyond the borders of any one state. Antisemitism has been allowed to grow unchecked in New South Wales. Successive failures across governments to intervene early and strengthen existing laws have left communities exposed and undermined public confidence.
Ward said the federal royal commission was the “only mechanism capable of examining the full picture … and delivering accountability and reform at a national level”.
The NSW Opposition stands ready to work constructively with the NSW Government to ensure this process delivers real outcomes, restores confidence, and sends an unequivocal message that antisemitism and extremist violence have no place in our state or our country.
ShareUpdated at 07.04 GMTNSW will not proceed with its royal commission, given federal inquiryThe New South Wales government will not proceed with its royal commission into the Bondi attack, given Anthony Albanese’s announcement there will be an inquiry at a federal level.In a statement, the NSW premier, Chris Minns, said the state government welcomed Labor’s decision to establish a royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion in response to the Bondi terrorist attack.
This was the worst terrorist attack our state has faced, and the community deserves clear answers about how it happened and how it can be prevented in the future.
NSW will fully cooperate with the Royal Commission and provide whatever assistance is required to support its work. Given the establishment of a national Royal Commission, the NSW Royal Commission will not proceed.
We will continue to work closely with the Jewish community on matters arising from the Bondi terrorist attack and remain open to further inquiries that focus on NSW Government responses.
Our priority remains unchanged: supporting victims and their families, keeping the community safe, and ensuring everything possible is done to prevent an attack like this from ever happening again.
ShareUpdated at 08.09 GMTAdeshola OreRoyal commission must avoid ‘politicising’ antisemitism, Jewish Council of Australia saysThe Jewish Council of Australia has released a statement after Anthony Albanese announced a royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion following the Bondi terror attack.In a statement, it says the Bondi attack deserves “real accountability”:
This Royal Commission must focus on the failures that led to violence, and must steadfastly avoid politicising the issue of antisemitism to target migrants or silence dissent. That kind of politics makes Jewish people, and everyone else, less safe.
A credible inquiry must be independent, restrained and focused on the massacre itself, not turned into a platform to attack protest movements, universities, migrants or human rights institutions.
The council is a progressive Jewish organisation that describes itself as supporting Palestinian freedom.ShareUpdated at 08.53 GMTJewish community is feeling ‘relieved’ and ‘listened to’, ECAJ president saysAppearing on ABC News, Aghion says the Jewish community is feeling “relieved” and “listened to”.
I think the prime minister has listened very carefully to the Jewish community. I think he has taken soundings and I think at the end of the day, leadership is about accepting that, all right, we don’t always get the decisions right at the right time, but the decision now has been made.
He also welcomes the terms of reference as they stand, while adding that the expectation is “when you look at prevalence and nature of antisemitism and the circumstances leading up to Bondi … you must look at how we got to where we are”.On the appointment of Commissioner Bell, which was strongly critiqued by Josh Frydenberg, Aghion says the ECAJ fully endorses her leadership and will cooperate with her throughout the commission.
Commissioner Bell is a retired high court judge with excellent credentials … I think now is a moment of unity, the community now needs to get behind the prime minister’s decision, and we’ve all got to get on with the job of investigating this problem that … has gotten into the marrow of Australian society and how we get it out, how we get back to the unified and welcoming country for all, including and especially Australian Jews, that we all want this country to be.
ShareUpdated at 06.40 GMTKrishani DhanjiJewish peak body welcomes royal commission announcementThe Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the peak body for the Australian Jewish community, has welcomed the announcement of a commonwealth royal commission, saying it is the “only way” Australia’s standards of decency and fairness can be upheld.The ECAJ president, Daniel Aghion, said the government had made the right decision in calling a commonwealth inquiry.
We are especially grateful to the eminent artists, lawyers, business leaders, sporting legends, political figures, women’s organisations and other groups who added their powerful voices to this call.
We welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement and expect that the terms of reference of the Royal Commission will allow an honest examination of government policies and the conduct and policies of key institutions and figures in major sectors of our society in contributing or failing to adequately respond to the unprecedented levels of antisemitism in Australia over the past two years or more.
Aghion said the ECAJ would cooperate fully with the commission to “ensure that the full force of the community’s views and experiences of antisemitism in various sectors of society are brought to the forefront of the inquiry”.ShareUpdated at 06.37 GMT‘The nation needs to come together,’ PM saysFinally, Albanese is asked if he has “any regrets” about the way Labor “pushed back” against initial calls for a royal commission.He once again says the government has engaged respectfully with people and made sure the process was done in a way which “has got it right”.
We listen to people. I think that’s what people want … The nation needs to come together. When there has been a national crisis in the past, whether it be the Bali bombings … whether it be the attack that occurred on the Lindt cafe in Sydney, whether it be Port Arthur, there was no partisanship, no partisanship whatsoever. The country came together. They offered their unity in moving forward. That is what I have tried to do. I’d ask others to conduct themselves in a similar manner …
Social cohesion is about respect for all of us. That is what Australians want to see … the Australian covenant is that when people arrive in Australia they leave any hatreds or prejudices that they have in the customs hall. That’s what I want to see. That’s how we build a more united Australia. Thank you very much.
Anthony Albanese speaks at Parliament House in Canberra. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShareUpdated at 06.32 GMTGovernment has been preparing royal commission ‘for weeks’, PM saysAlbanese says the federal government has been working on the logistics of a royal commission “for weeks” and there is a working draft of the legislation ready for community members to look over.
We have worked very hard. This hasn’t been done up this morning.
He’s “hopeful” parliament will be able to begin debating the legislation prior to 26 January.You can read the terms of reference here.ShareUpdated at 06.51 GMTAlbanese: ‘I can be accused of many things. Raising the temperature is not one of them’Albanese continues on what led to his decision for a royal commission.He says he has remained “absolutely determined that anything we did had to build social cohesion, not bring it apart”.
I don’t want a royal commission into whether we provide a solution on Gaza or on the Middle East. That’s not the role of a royal commission … Australians want two things when it comes to the Middle East. They want it to stop. They want peace, for Israelis and Palestinians. But the other thing that they want is for conflict to not be brought here.
As to whether taking four weeks to make the decision didn’t help to “lower the temperature”, he says:
In that 25 days we’ve established the Richardson review and got it up and running. We have drafted legislation that we’re sitting down with community members on today. We have increased funding for security agencies. We have had daily briefings of the National Security Committee. We have been undertaking those briefings and getting the reports of what has occurred, some of which has been reported publicly, some of which has not been, trying to get to the heart of what has occurred here.
I can be accused of many things. Raising the temperature is not one of them.
ShareUpdated at 06.18 GMTAlbanese says he listened to a ‘range of voices’ and viewsAlbanese is asked what the trigger was for him to change his mind on a royal commission, and what he would say to critics who suggest it’s been done for “political reasons”.He says he’s “engaged constructively regardless of some of the things that have been said”.
I haven’t engaged in politics. I have been focused on outcomes. That’s the first point. The second is I’ve listened and in a democracy that’s a good thing, to listen to what people are saying and what people are saying is, yes, we’re concerned about the events and the Richardson review will give consideration to those national security issues, whether there are any gaps or anything else. But we want an opportunity to tell our story … what we are doing here is making sure that we get it right.
Pointed to “some members of the community”, including Josh Frydenberg, who expressed concerns over Justice Bell because of her previous decisions on protest laws, he says he listened to a “range of voices” and views.
Mr Frydenberg I leave to one side but we certainly consulted widely … one of the most common themes that I get from members of the Jewish community is that if you’ve got four people, you will have five opinions … there is no one of the stature of Virginia Bell, a former high court judge … someone with a background in the criminal law, someone who is widely respected right across the board.
Anthony Albanese speaks to the media in Canberra. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShareUpdated at 06.25 GMT‘Appropriate way forward for national unity’: PM on royal commissionThe prime minister is asked why he has changed his previous position that a royal commission would take too long and risk traumatising the Jewish Australian community.He reiterates what the federal government has arrived at is an “appropriate way forward for national unity”.
We have listened. We want to give the opportunity for people to come forward and to do so in a way that promotes social cohesion by rolling in the Richardson review and the work that Dennis Richardson will do into the royal commission.
That is one way in which the time frame has been curtailed. I think if we had adopted the 73 point proposal that was put forward by the opposition, we would have been many years down the track before we received any practical outcomes.
ShareUpdated at 06.14 GMT
已Opublikowany: 2026-01-08 07:41:00
źródło: www.theguardian.com
