Albanese’s refusal to heed families’ pleas for Bondi inquiry is hard to understand – and easy for opposition to attack

A review of Asio and the federal police is worthwhile, but it’s not a substitute for a royal commission into antisemitism

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When Anthony Albanese opened a press conference on Monday announcing the release of terms of reference for an inquiry into the Bondi massacre, it seemed for a fleeting moment that he had belatedly agreed to hold a commonwealth royal commission.

The timing would have been understandable, after the victims’ families had penned an open letter pleading for one, making the sort of intervention that can be politically untenable for any prime minister to refuse.