A Royal Commission into the Bondi Hanukkah terrorist attack would expose Labor’s deepest fear. That is why it has been resisted so ferociously.

Such an inquiry would not merely catalogue bureaucratic missteps; it could trigger class actions of unprecedented scale and demolish the fiction that this atrocity was unforeseeable.

This was Australia’s deadliest terrorist attack and the worst slaughter of Jews anywhere in the world since October 7. A Royal Commission would not present the Labor government as hapless bystanders. It would reveal them as enablers through ideological indulgence, wilful blindness, and sustained inaction.

The refusal to confront this reality is staggering. This attack was preventable. No one suggests the government pulled the trigger, but it created the conditions, ignored repeated warnings, and left the door wide open. The bloodshed was not an accident; it was the price of failed leadership.

Attempts to equate Bondi with Port Arthur or the Lindt Café siege are misleading. Those were isolated tragedies, shocking but without a long political or social runway. Bondi did not occur in a vacuum. It followed over two years of escalating antisemitism which was tolerated, excused, and ultimately normalised under the Labor government. It was the culmination of systemic failures.

The pivotal moment came barely 48 hours after October 7, when the Sydney Opera House, lit in blue and white in solidarity with the Jewish community after the murder of 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of 250 hostages, became the backdrop for openly antisemitic chants:

‘Gas the Jews.’ ‘F- the Jews.’

No arrests. No prosecutions. No consequences. The message was clear, this behaviour would be tolerated. Albanese’s silence was not neutrality, it was permission.

Over time, the slogans morphed, but the intent remained: ‘Zionists are terrorists.’ ‘Globalise the intifada by any means necessary.’ The language evolved; the hatred endured. Anyone who has visited Yad Vashem in Jerusalem or a Holocaust museum would recognise the pattern. History rarely repeats itself verbatim, but it often rhymes. Hatred is repackaged in language more palatable to modern sensibilities.

Antisemitism has since become routine in Australia: graffiti, intimidation, boycotts, harassment, and firebombings of synagogues and Jewish institutions. Tony Burke himself admitted that antisemites have been operating ‘just below the criminal threshold’. Intent does not disappear because conduct skirts prosecution. Yet rather than prioritise public safety, the government chose political convenience. A government’s prime responsibility is the security of its citizens. This one failed.

Warning signs for the political mood were visible long before Bondi. Albanese’s anti-Israel activism during his university years is a matter of public record. Penny Wong’s first major act as Foreign Minister was to reverse Australia’s recognition of West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. This was an extraordinary decision given that nations do not determine the capitals of other sovereign states.

Wong’s record is consistent. Funding was restored to UNRWA despite documented terror links. Within hours of Hamas’ invasion, the Foreign Minister called for ‘restraint’ by Israel and demanded humanitarian aid. Israel was repeatedly admonished to comply with international law, while Hamas was rarely mentioned. Wong delayed her visit Israel, and when she did, failed to visit sites of Hamas atrocities or meet the family of the lone Australian victim.

When Hamas praised Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state, warning bells should have sounded.

Tony Burke’s record is no less troubling. As Home Affairs Minister, he denied visas to Israeli public figures including former minister Ayelet Shaked, senior MK Simcha Rothman, and tech entrepreneur Hillel Fuld. Meanwhile, ISIS brides were allowed to return while over a thousand visas were granted to Gazan refugees despite concerns over vetting.

These decisions reflect a profound misreading of risk.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge protest illustrated this permissiveness. Elected members of government marched while flags belonging Hamas and other extremist groups were on display, along with a portrait of the Ayatollah. The Supreme Court allowed the protest to proceed despite objections from NSW Premier Chris Minns.

Is it any wonder Albanese refuses a Royal Commission… He insists his job is to act in the national interest, which means he should welcome the one mechanism capable of exposing the full truth.

A Royal Commission would answer important questions.

What did authorities know, and when?

Why were warning signs dismissed or minimised?

How could an individual previously examined by ASIO gain access, through family, to legally owned firearms?

Why did intelligence-sharing, licensing, policing, and community safety systems fail?

Are threats from Iran, Qatar, and China being taken seriously?

Without the coercive powers of a Royal Commission, these questions will be buried in internal reviews and carefully managed language. Public trust collapses. Lessons are diluted. Responsibility evaporates.

Calls for a Royal Commission persist not for symbolism, but for accountability, prevention, and truth. Could different leadership, laws, or enforcement have prevented Bondi? Where negligence or recklessness is found, there must be consequences.

Royal Commissions are not instruments for political theatre. They exist because some failures are catastrophic and demand full transparency. They reshape laws, intelligence frameworks, and security practices to prevent repetition. Those who ignore the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them. A visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where over one million people, mostly Jews, were gassed and cremated, leaves a searing impression.

We need to lift the lid. Stricter gun laws are not the solution; Australia already has tough laws. Terrorists will find other methods. Suicide bombings, knife attacks, and vehicle rammings are familiar methods. The real issue is radical Islamic hatred, a reality Albanese’s government refuses to name.

Albanese’s legacy increasingly resembles one of drift: two years of doing nothing while extremism metastasised and antisemitism was normalised. A Royal Commission would likely confirm what many Australians already suspect: this government did not merely fail to prevent the Bondi attack but helped create the conditions that made it inevitable.

If that conclusion terrifies the Prime Minister, it is all the more reason to proceed. The families of the victims and the integrity of the country deserve nothing less. Australians must stand with the families of the victims and the Jewish community and demand a Royal Commission. Australia deserves nothing less.