More than 60 Australian sports leaders have added their voices to the growing calls for a national royal commission into antisemitism and the fight against antisemitism. Terror attack on Bondi.
The high-profile stars, including Olympians and AFL coaches, became the latest figures to call for a federal investigation on Sunday, saying Australia’s security and social cohesion had been damaged. broken by the carnage.
“This attack did not occur in isolation. It followed more than two years of escalating extremism, intimidation and unchecked radicalization within Australia,” they said in a joint statement on Sunday.
“For generations we have stood for fairness, respect, equality and the principle that every Australian – no matter who he or she is – deserves safety, dignity and the freedom to live without fear.”
The statement was coordinated by Olympians including former hockey player Nova Peris and former swimmers Grant Hackett and Ian Thorpe.
Other signatories include NRL commentator Brad Fittler, former swimmers Michael Klim and Dawn Fraser, tennis player Lleyton Hewitt and surfer Mick Fanning.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has so far resisted recent calls from seventeen families linked to the victims, hundreds of leading legal minds, Jewish groups and more than a hundred business leaders for a federal royal commission.
Albanese instead announced the Richardson Review, to be led by former ASIO boss Dennis Richardson, which will examine law enforcement and security services’ responses to the massacre.
He insists a Commonwealth royal commission would not provide the urgent response needed after the two gunmen shot Hanukkah festival revelers on December 14, killing 15 people and wounding dozens of others.
But the public calls persist, despite Albanians claiming that a national royal commission is not an efficient way to deal with intelligence matters.
The latest joint statement went on to say that the “eyes of the world will soon be on Australia” for the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane and that the safety and integrity of public spaces have never mattered more.
“A royal commission is the most credible and unifying path to understanding what went wrong, ensuring accountability, restoring social harmony and moving Australia forward with a meaningful, practical plan of action,” the report said.
Meanwhile, crowds flocking to Sunday’s final Ashes Test can be assured the sold-out event will be safe, one of Australia’s top counter-terrorism officials said.
Heavily armed uniformed and mounted police officers, along with public order officers and riot police, will patrol the Sydney Cricket Ground match.
Some will be equipped with long-arm rifles and conduct high-visibility patrols.
NSW Police Counter Terrorism Chief Assistant Commissioner Leanne McCusker said arming officers with the weapons was not due to a specific threat.
“I want to emphasize that there is no active or imminent threat,” she said.
The measures mirror those for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, where specialist police were armed with semi-automatic rifles and patrolled the busy stadium, a nearby park and railway junction.
Victims of the Bondi massacre, first responders and community members will be honored with an on-field tribute, including a guard of honor and a round of applause in recognition of the efforts and service of emergency response organizations and community members.
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