PM resists Bondi beach terror attack royal commission

A retired intelligence chief will lead a review into the agency’s response to the Bondi attack, but the opposition and Jewish groups want a royal commission.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has again resisted calls for a national royal commission into the Bondi Beach terrorist attack in favour of a quicker and “safer” review process.

The review will be led by retired intelligence head and former diplomat Dennis Richardson, and will finalise its report by the end of April.

“The Richardson review will be able to look at any issues related to the events on December 14, the atrocity that was committed,” Mr Albanese said in Canberra on Monday.

“This is the most experienced person who can have a look quickly, sharply, go through with the experience that he has to determine any further actions that are required by the commonwealth government.

“He will talk as well, with not just NSW but other state agencies if required.”

Mr Richardson will assess whether the relevant commonwealth law enforcement and intelligence agencies, in the context of the Bondi shootings, performed to maximum effectiveness.

He will examine whether they have adequate powers, the right systems, processes and procedures, and determine whether information sharing with other federal, state and territory agencies is working.

He will also consider the circumstances in which the two men who carried out the attack were assessed by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Federal Police, and consider any necessary changes.

Mr Albanese said the Richardson review into national security was in the “national interest” as there has “never been a royal commission which has been capable of acting with the speed this inquiry will deal with”.

He has said a full royal commission would take years, adding that the coalition’s proposed inquiry would have more than 100 separate areas of investigation.

“It’s in the interests of everyone’s safety that we get it quickly,” Mr Albanese said.

Jewish community groups have been pushing for Mr Albanese to set up a national royal commission to examine the events leading up to the anti-Semitic attack on December 14, with 17 families demanding one in an open letter published overnight.

“Announcements made so far by the federal government in response to the Bondi massacre are not nearly enough,” the letter states.

“You owe us answers. You owe us accountability. And you owe Australians the truth.”

Mr Burke said a national royal commission would “provide a public platform for some of the worst statements and worst voices” and that people would have to relive the worst examples of anti-Semitism.

“If a royal commission is to deal with issues like that, they have to provide public evidence for those voices as well,” he said.

The government needed “the sort of inquiry that keeps Australians safe and that does not provide a platform for the worst voice; the Richardson inquiry does exactly that”, Mr Burke added.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley lashed the prime minister’s decision, saying he has refused to use his power to eradicate anti-Semitism.

“The prime minister has actually insulted those who have endured the unimaginable. It is not protective, it is patronising,” she said in Canberra.

“What is the prime minister hiding?”

Ms Ley said speed was not an issue with the coalition’s proposed royal commission as it would provide interim recommendations by July of next year.

Some 15 people died after a father-son duo inspired by Islamic State, or ISIS, targeted a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach.

Nine people remain in hospital, including three who are in a critical but stable condition.

By: Grace Crivellaro/AAP