Former Liberal finance minister Josh Frydenberg has held Anthony Albanese personally responsible for the deaths of 15 people in the Bondi terror attack, saying the prime minister is blaming a “perverted ideology, a terrorist ideology”.
The comments were part of an extraordinary escalation of political rhetoric on Wednesday, as the New South Wales premier said the government would consider new restrictions on protests, saying they would “tear apart our communities”.
Mr Frydenberg accused the prime minister of “letting down” Australia’s Jewish community over the Bondi terror attack. His comments came amid bipartisan disagreement over the response to the shootings, with former coalition colleagues calling for an emergency convening of Congress to tighten immigration controls.
The federal Labor government has focused its immediate response to the attacks on possible gun reform, but key figures in the coalition have rejected calls for firearms control, saying Albanians are trying to “distract” from anti-Semitism.
“Our government has failed all Australians when it comes to fighting hate and anti-Semitism. Our prime minister, our government, has allowed Australia to become radicalized on its watch,” Mr Frydenberg said in an emotional speech at the Bondi Pavilion.
“It’s time for our Prime Minister to accept personal responsibility for the deaths of 15 innocent people, including a 10-year-old child. It’s time for our Prime Minister to accept accountability for what happened here.”
Shortly after Mr Frydenberg’s speech, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns announced the government’s plans to further restrict protests following the terrorist designation and expand the grounds on which police can refuse applications for public demonstrations. The state legislature is expected to convene next week and pass the bill.
Australia’s constitution includes an implicit right to freedom of political communication, and Mr Minns acknowledged potential constitutional problems with the proposal, saying the new law would need to be “drafted in a particular way”. He could not confirm how long restrictions on protests would remain in place after the terrorist designation.
After speaking with members of the Jewish community, Minns said large-scale protests would “tear our community apart” and expressed concern about the “combustible situation and community harmony.”
But Minns said the bill was not aimed at any particular group, although he was particularly wary of “protests related to international events.”
The Minns Government had previously refused permission for the Sydney Palestine Action Group to march across the Harbor Bridge in August, but this decision was later overturned by the Supreme Court.
“I think it’s a terrible situation to have a large-scale demonstration at a time when we’re in a terrible situation where so many people are being killed and mowed down just because of their religious beliefs,” Minns said Wednesday.
Parliament is not scheduled to sit until February and although there are currently no plans to urgently recall MPs, government sources did not rule out returning to Canberra early if necessary. The federal coalition is calling for parliament to sit before Christmas to enact parts of anti-Semitism envoy Gillian Segal’s report into law. Nationals leader David Littleproud called for urgent action, particularly on recommendations for increased testing of immigrants with extremist or anti-Semitic views.
Mr Frydenberg, who lost the Victoria seat of Kooyong in the 2022 general election, called for the government to “ban preachers of hate”, prosecute those who chant “from river to sea” or wave Hezbollah and Hamas flags at protests, and demand a general ban on pro-Palestinian protests, which he claimed were becoming a “hotbed of hatred”.
The former Liberal MP also called for greater investment in anti-Semitism and Holocaust education, tougher immigration checks on immigrants and a Royal Commission into anti-Semitism and the Bondi attack. He also criticized Labor for allowing migrants to arrive from Gaza.
There is currently no suggestion of a link between the pro-Palestinian protests and the Bondi terror suspect. Sajid Akram came to Australia from India in 1998 when John Howard was Prime Minister, but his son Naveen was born in Australia. Guardian Australia reported that processing times for arrivals from Gaza were much longer than coalition members claimed.
Finance Minister Jim Chalmers said he respected Mr Frydenberg’s views but said Labor had taken and would continue to take action against anti-Semitism.
He said: “The Government takes the evil of anti-Semitism seriously and has already taken some important steps. However, we all agree that further action is needed and will be taken. We will consider any reasonable proposals for these further steps.”
“(Mr Frydenberg), like many Australians, is saddened and we will take any suggestions from him or other members of the community very seriously.”
Albanians on Wednesday condemned the “terrorist ideology” allegedly behind the attack and criticized “this perversion of Islam that leads us to support the Islamic State.”
“Certainly, as you recognize, it is difficult to legislate hatred on such a large scale,” he told a news conference.
Mr. Albanese reiterated the need for gun reform and the need to speed up the response to Mr. Segal’s report. The government has not said which parts of her recommendations it supports or rejects, but the coalition is calling for their full implementation.
While Littleproud and other coalition members have rejected or questioned the need for gun reform measures and advocated instead focusing on anti-Semitism, some opposition parties have also called for tougher rules on immigration.
“Well, the current gun laws weren’t the issue. It was the people who used the guns, the people who used the bombs,” Littleproud told the ABC.
Former Nationals leader Michael McCormack told Sky News: “I don’t think we need to change firearms laws.”
But Opposition Leader Susan Lee said the Coalition would consider all proposals, and while she acknowledged there were “issues that need to be addressed”, she downplayed the National Cabinet’s gun reform blueprint as a “plan in the making”.
“Gun control cannot be used as an excuse for this problem… because when you have hatred for Jews in your heart, you become a tool of terrorism,” she said.
