Press conference - Parliament House, Canberra

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thank you for joining us. Just over two weeks ago antisemitic terrorists tried to tear our country apart, but our country is stronger than these cowards. They went to Bondi Beach to unleash mass murder against our Jewish community. We need to respond with unity and urgency rather than division and delay. I have just come from another meeting of the National Security Committee here this morning, and today we will release the terms of reference for the Richardson Review conducted by Dennis Richardson. Mr Richardson will assess whether Commonwealth agencies performed to maximum effectiveness. He will consider what these agencies knew about the alleged offenders before the attack, the information sharing between Commonwealth agencies and between Commonwealth and state agencies, what judgements were made and actions taken by agencies, whether there were any additional measures the Commonwealth agencies could have taken to prevent the terrorist attack, whether Commonwealth agencies were prevented from taking prohibitive actions by the current legislative framework and authorising environment, what additional measures should be taken by relevant Commonwealth agencies to prevent similar attacks occurring in the future - including whether they have adequate legislative powers, systems, processes and procedures, including in regards to information sharing. Whether warrant and data access regimes and powers are adequate, and whether any legislative amendments are required. The Parliament will resume in 2026, as soon as possible, to consider legislation. But this report will be finalised by April. The government is committed to making sure that we can't wait years for answers, we need to get on with any changes that are required. Mr Richardson will engage with New South Wales agencies and to the extent necessary agencies in other states and territories. The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has established a Secretary for the review and he is providing logistics support as required and the review is under way. Mr Richardson will have full access to all material he considers may be relevant to his inquiry. Departments and agencies will cooperate fully with the review and provide assistance in the form of documents, data, material and meetings. This ISIS inspired atrocity in Bondi is a stark reminder of the rapidly changing security environment that we face, and the need to make sure our agencies have what they need and we're determined to make sure they get exactly that. Minister.

TONY BURKE, MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS: Thanks, Prime Minister. I acknowledge the work of the agencies. I'm continuing to meet daily with Home Affairs, with the Australian Federal Police and with ASIO both in terms of making sure that there's constant briefings happening as the investigation continues as well as the work that needs to be done with respect to legislation. And then also providing daily briefings back to the Prime Minister. The agencies all welcome and look forward to working with the Richardson Inquiry. When the Prime Minister refers to the need for urgency, not delay, this inquiry is exactly how you act on national security when you need that sense of urgency. You need to have the right person, and you need to have the right speed, you need to have the right access to information. Dennis Richardson, across the entire national security community, has an impeccable reputation. You would not find anyone more highly recommended to do this job with the expertise that Dennis Richardson has. This report is able to be commenced immediately, to be dealt with urgently, and to report in April. That is how you need to deal with national security. If there are recommendations that come forward that can improve our national security settings, we need them fast so that the Parliament can deal with them, so that we can act on them, if it requires legislative change, so that we can do that. This form of inquiry gives us exactly that. It's also the case that it is an inquiry that will not provide a platform for some of the worst voices. I've been deeply concerned in terms of social cohesion. When you think through some of the terms of reference that have been circulated for other forms of inquiry where because of the issues that have been raised in different terms of reference the necessary outcome would be to re-platform and provide a public platform for some of the worst statements and worst voices. To effectively relive some of the worst examples of antisemitism over the last two years. If a royal commission is to deal with issues like that, they have to provide public evidence for those voices as well. This form of inquiry allows us to deal squarely with the urgency of the national security issues, to be chaired not by a retired judge, but to be chaired by someone who is held throughout the country as a preeminent national security expert. We need to have the sort of inquiry that keeps Australians safe and that does not provide a platform for the worst voices. The Richardson Inquiry does exactly that.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the victims of the Bondi terrorist attack have come out in favour of the royal commission, this is on top of eminent people such as Mick Keelty, Peter Cosgrove, Robert French, Luke Warner, Josh Frydenberg, two Labor MPs, Former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, Alan Finkel. Are all these people wrong?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, my heart breaks for the families of the victims of the Bondi terrorist atrocity. And my heart and my heart goes out to them at what is an incredibly traumatic time. I was in Bondi again yesterday, meeting privately with people who've lost loved ones and discussing the full range of issues and support that's available from the Commonwealth and considering further requests for further support. My job as the Australian Prime Minister is to act in the national interest. It is in the national interest for us to do the Richardson Review on national security, on any gaps which are there in the conduct of our agencies, including the AFP, ASIO, ASIS, the interaction between the Commonwealth and State jurisdictions, any gaps which are there, and to then make sure that we act on the recommendations which are there. The other proposals which are there, there's a proposal from the Leader of the Opposition that has 73 different sub items to be considered going forward. And as the Minister has just said, the issue there is that royal commissions can be good at deciding facts, what the Richardson review will do is decide facts. Where royal commissions are not as good, is to consider things that are not agreed, where people have differences of views and to enable, which is what it would do, a repetition of some of the worst elements. As the Minister has said. the Government is responding quickly. We have had as well the envoy on antisemitism's report that we are busy implementing and working with her and working with the community on these issues.

JOURNALIST: Isn't antisemitism a national issue though? Since Bondi, we've seen a Rabbi's car firebombed in Melbourne. How will the Richardson Review look at that, and isn't that the point of the royal commission and take a broader review?

PRIME MINISTER: The Richardson review will be able to look at any issues related to the events on December 14, the atrocity that was committed. But we've made it very clear to Dennis Richardson, who is, I remind you, a former Secretary of Defence, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, head of the intelligence agencies, Ambassador to the United States. 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, Or indeed he will talk as well with not just New South Wales, but other state agencies, if required.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, has the New South Wales Premier requested military support to guard Jewish sites? And is this something the government is considering?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I've had a discussion with Premier Minns, and we are having discussions over coming days about the best way, the best form, that Commonwealth assistance can be provided for security. We'll have those discussions. We'll have more to say about that in coming days. New South Wales, of course, have primary responsibility for law and order and for the conduct of police, but we will have further discussions over coming days. We want to make sure that the best form of Commonwealth support is provided to New South Wales.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, yourself and Mr Burke once said that one of the reasons not to have a royal commission is that it can force people to relive these atrocities. But isn't that, can be, a necessary part of holding these types of inquiries? We saw it in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, even into Robodebt. That it is only through that mechanism that you can provide a vehicle for victims to be able to express their views, but also accountability on individuals and agencies responses.

PRIME MINISTER: The proposed terms of reference by the coalition go into an examination of the Human Rights Commission, examination of the media, an examination of a full range of issues across education, the arts, culture, foreign affairs. Foreign Affairs -

JOURNALIST: Well they don't need to be the terms of reference -

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we are concerned with getting to answers, getting to answers that are comprehensive. The terms of the Richardson review, I invite you to have a look at it, see if there are any gaps there, because we have consulted extensively. Mr Richardson had the direct input as well into the terms of reference. He'll have the full cooperation of all of the agencies.

JOURNALIST: PM, just catching up on that issue. Does it allow Mr Richardson to look at resourcing and staffing of agencies? And just to come back to Dan's question, the Muirhead and McClellan royal commissions clearly looked at issues that were very upsetting to those that were affected. Are you saying that you can't have a royal commission by going through this process?

PRIME MINISTER: No, what I'm saying is, as Minister Burke has said, and I'll ask him to comment some more, the full suite of issues that have been asked to be examined would delay by a number of years, a number of years, any outcome. What we need to do is to look at issues immediately. And if the Richardson review finds there are any inadequacies in resources, then that, of course, is something that they can find through that review.

MINISTER BURKE: Thank you. I'll deal with both urgency and with unity. In terms of urgency, there has never been a royal commission which has been capable of acting with the speed that this inquiry will deal with. And in terms of who you get to chair, to get a retired judge as you normally would for a royal commission is not the sort of person you need to lead this inquiry. And obviously with national security information, by definition, it doesn't lend itself to public inquiry, by definition. We need this information quickly. It's in the interest of everyone's safety that we get it quickly. But the second is the issue of unity versus division. For a series of the issues, including those which have been raised in questions. Now, if you were to make those issues subject to a royal commission, it is not simply the people who feel they have been harmed by things that have been said or slogans that have been used - who will be called? It will also be those who have made those statements. They will make submissions, they will, under a royal commission, be platformed, and all of that happens again. All of that happens again and gets relived. Now, no one can tell me that that is in the interest of unity, to re-platform some of the worst voices. But a royal commission by definition does that and does that publicly. Now, I understand why families and different people would call for it. You understand you have the worst action, you think, oh, this is the biggest response, you understand why it's a logical starting point. But when you then look at is it the right way to deal with national security? The answer is no. Is it the right way to deliver unity? The answer, again, is no.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, have you considered, or would you consider a broader inquiry to run at the same time into responses to extremism broadly, not just antisemitism narrowly, given that that's something that Mike Burgess and other security bosses have been warning about for a couple of years now. And Chris Minns has said today that he thinks his, you know, a couple of different inquiries and the justice process can run parallel, why can't a couple of different things run in parallel at a Commonwealth level as well?

PRIME MINISTER: But they are running in parallel. You will have a New South Wales Royal Commission, you will have the Richardson review, you will have court cases against the perpetrator of this atrocity who survived, will all be running at once. And at the same time, you will have legislation proposed before the Parliament here. You will have all of those running at once.

JOURNALIST: Are you then asking those families to then trust you, given that one of the points of not going through royal commission is you don't want people to relive that. But given how vocal they've been, wouldn't you want to give them that opportunity to, and as I said, are you asking those families to then trust you that this is the right call?

PRIME MINISTER: Look, I have nothing except sympathy for those families. Nothing but sympathy. They are going through a traumatic period of losing a loved one at such an unexpected time. They had every right to expect that people participating in Hanukkah could be able to celebrate the victory of light over darkness. And the fact that that was taken away from them is traumatic. And I have nothing but sympathy for them and my heart goes out to them. These are people who are grieving.

JOURNALIST: Should this sympathy then extend to what they're asking for with a focus on antisemitism rather than on security agencies?

PRIME MINISTER: These are people who are grieving, and my heart goes out to them. My job as Prime Minister is to look at how we build unity, how we build social cohesion, how we do what the nation needs at what is a very difficult time. Thanks very much.