An interim report by the Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion is only “part of the solution” for getting Australia “back to where it needs to be” as key questions remain unanswered, a leading Jewish figure has warned.
The report from royal commissioner Virginia Bell released on Thursday included 14 recommendations, five of which were kept confidential for national security reasons.
The remaining nine spoke to refining counter-terror co-operation between federal and state agencies and included a review into “leadership structures, team integration, systems access and information sharing arrangements”.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-executive officer Alex Ryvchin welcomed the recommendations while to speaking to Sky News from the Bondi Pavilion on Thursday.
However, he said they were “only part of the solution to getting this country back to where it needs to be”.
“To getting this country back to a place where Jewish Australians can feel safe walking down the street or gathering at a place like this without being slaughtered,” he said.
Mr Ryvchin said there were “still many questions left to be answered”.
“We hope that, in time, with the completion of the work of the Royal Commission and the full report handed down on the anniversary of the massacre, we will have substantive answers to those questions and a way forward,” he said.
Mr Ryvchin said security was needed “in the immediate term”, and that among the community there was, after an alleged anti-Semitic attack in London overnight, “no sense whatsoever that the worst is behind us”.
“They seem to be on the identical trajectory and path that we were on, where you have these escalating attacks, increasingly malevolent street protests, incitement against the community, burning of Jewish targets, involvement even in foreign regimes as we had as well, and finally, they’re at the stage of attempted murder – we’re at the stage of (alleged) mass murder,” he said.
Shadow education spokesperson and Australia’s most prominent Jewish parliamentarian Julian Leeser told the ABC he welcomed the report.
He said there was a lot in the reporting showing “systemic failures when it comes to the NSW Police”.
“I think it is important that security (is) stepped up at Jewish communal events,” he said.
Mr Leeser claimed there were no officers posted to another Chanukah event he was attending at St Ives despite fears of a possible copycat attack.
He went on to claim the government’s response was “lacking”.
“It may not have had issues with regulation and legislation, but it was the way in which it approached the response,” he said.
“The National Security Committee of Cabinet was not match fit, the fact we had seen a decline in the funding of counter-terrorism activities despite an increase in the threat level, the fact they convened the wrong committee to deal with these matters.
“That is certainly the view of Jewish Australians and the view if you went down to Bondi and talk to people whose loved ones were (allegedly) murdered that night.”
Bondi report ‘sobering’ reading
Addressing the interim report, NSW Premier Chris Minns said the royal commission was “an important opportunity to shine a spotlight on the questions that needed answering” after the alleged Bondi terror attack in which 15 innocent people were killed and to ensure everything was done to stop it from happening again.
“While we can’t do anything about yesterday, we have to do everything possible about tomorrow,” Mr Minns said.
He condemned a “rising tide of hatred” against Jewish Australians in recent years and thanked police not only for their actions on the night of the alleged Bondi attack but in “keeping community calm and cohesion when there’s heightened tensions and protest activities that, in some cases, are designed to rip apart the seams of our town and our community”.
“This was incubated in hatred,” he said of alleged attack.
“And, that has to be part of the conversation about ensuring it never happens again.”
Mr Minns said if the government had “known what was going to happen, we would have put an army out there”.
He also noted reforms taken by the state government since December 14, including firearms legislation, terrorist symbols, and protest rights.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the force acknowledged the report’s recommendations.
“We have and will continue to work with the royal commissioner, and we are committed to implementing any recommendations that impact on the agency,” he said.
NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane welcomed the interim report in a statement.
“The recommendation that police procedures in respect to Operation Jewish High Holy Day be applied to other high-risk Jewish festivals and events should be adopted by the NSW government immediately,” she said.
Initial findings
Fifteen innocents were fatally shot when “ISIS-inspired” gunmen opened fire on the Chanukah by the Sea festival at Bondi Beach on December 14 last year. Dozens more were injured.
In comments to the commission, agencies said they could address challenges without major overhauls.
“No agency, either commonwealth or state, advised that urgent legislative or
regulatory reforms are required in order to prevent, detect or respond to an attack
of a similar nature to the Bondi attack,” the report said.
“No agency has suggested that the current legislative framework prevented intelligence or law enforcement agencies from taking action that may have prevented the Bondi attack.”
Among the report’s recommendations were for heightened security measures during Jewish High Holy Days and all Jewish festivals.
It also recommended the commonwealth counter-terrorism co-ordinator should be made a full-time role and all ministers on the National Security Committee, including the prime minister, take part in counter-terror exercises within nine months of each federal election.
The report’s final two recommendations called for a stronger national approach to gun laws.
“The commonwealth and states and territories should prioritise efforts to finalise and implement an updated and nationally consistent national firearms agreement,” the report advised.
“The commonwealth, states and territories should prioritise efforts to implement the proposed national gun buyback scheme.”
Responding to the report, Anthony Albanese said the government would accept all recommendations.
“The government welcomes the interim report, accepts all recommendations that relate to the commonwealth, and is committed to working with the states and territories to adopt a national approach to implementation of all 14 recommendations,” the Prime Minister said in a statement.
“While Commissioner Bell found Australia’s existing legal and regulatory frameworks did not hinder agencies’ ability to prevent or respond to the Bondi attack, and that no urgent or immediate action is required, the recommendations go to enhancing our national counter-terrorism arrangements and capabilities.”
He also vowed to “respond swiftly to these recommendations and Australians will see practical outcomes through a range of policy, program and funding measures”.
‘Heightened risk’
The report revealed that Jewish security group CSG raised safety concerns with NSW Police under a threat assessment headed “heightened risk” as early as November 28 – 16 days before the attack on the Chanukah by the Sea festival.
It warned “the likelihood of violent and/or anti-Semitic incidents was elevated due to
the visibility of identifiably Jewish individuals in public spaces and the prominence of
the festival”.
“It stated that ‘CSG continues to record unprecedented volumes of anti-Semitic incidents, reinforcing that the threat environment remains heightened’,” the report said.
Despite the warning, NSW Police did not act on CSG’s written request for more officers at the event.
The request was sent to an email address associated with the Operation SHELTER Intelligence Unit.
But NSW Police said it “received no specific request for dedicated police resources” for Chanukah by the Sea event when CSG’s NSW chief spoke with the inspector for local police command.
“NSW Police stated that the event organiser was responsible for security for Chanukah by the Sea, and any police involvement was supplementary and focused on maintaining public order and community safety,” the report said.
“Although it is possible for community event organisers to request an increased or visible policing presence at an event on a user-pays basis, there has been no evidence provided that this User Charges Policy was invoked for, or even applied to, Chanukah by the Sea.”
NSW Police later told CSG it “‘could not provide static resources’ for Chanukah by the Sea, but that ‘Eastern Suburbs PAC would provide mobile patrols with taskings to check in and monitor the event’”.
‘Very swift government response’
Independent MP Allegra Spender, whose electorate of Wentworth covers Bondi Beach, urged the government to “adequately” fund security for the Jewish community while responding to the report’s release.
“We still don’t have all the details, but what I am expecting is a very swift government response, and in particular some of the things that I’ll be looking for are responses in terms of security funding for the Jewish community,” she told Sky News.
“This is an enormous issue in my community … the level of security infrastructure that the Jewish community needs to put into its community is just out of step with any other community in this country, and we need to have that funding.”
Her electorate is home to a large Jewish population in Australia.
She has been among the most vocal parliamentarians calling for action against anti-Semitism.
Governor-General receives report
Earlier, Governor-General Sam Mostyn remarked that “this is a very important matter that you have reported on”, as she received the report from Commissioner Bell.
“I look forward to receiving the final report in due course,” Ms Mostyn said.
The commission will hold its first two-week block of public hearings in Sydney from next Monday, May 4.
The hearings will focus on Jewish-Australian lived experiences of anti-Semitism.
Opposition frontbencher Julian Leeser called on Australians to make a submission regardless of their faith.
“My plea to Australians this morning, whether they are Jewish or not, is, please make a submission to the Royal Commission on anti-Semitism,” the Jewish MP told Sky News.
“You don’t have to be Jewish to do it, but if you don’t like the way our country has changed and the way our country has failed to deal with the growth in anti-Semitism and the things that you’ve seen change in our country over the last couple of years, it’s really important that the royal commission hears from you.”
He also said that “there’s plenty of anti-Semitic activity that’s continuing to occur in Australia” despite the royal commission and the raft of snap reforms passed following the Bondi attack.
“So we’ve got a lot of work to do to deal with the anti-Semitism that is rife in this country and has been largely allowed to go unchecked for the last few years,” Mr Leeser said.
“That’s why the royal commission is so important. That’s why we want to see strong recommendations.”
A final report is due to be handed down on the first anniversary of the attack on December 14.
