Greek Australian political and business leaders are adding their voices to the national campaign calling for a federal royal commission into anti-Semitism and the Bondi terror attack, increasing pressure on Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to reconsider his opposition to an inquiry.
Former Victorian Labor minister Philip Dalidakis said a royal commission is sometimes necessary when “something has broken down and trust has been lost,” arguing that while such inquiries are difficult, they may now be essential.
“This is no longer about institutional defensiveness,” he wrote. “It’s about whether the government is prepared to look honestly at uncomfortable intersections between the policy and politics of security, migration and public funding.”
Dalidakis said the calls from grieving families and the Jewish community “have shifted the context,” and warned that “waiting should not become a substitute for listening.”
He argued that if current reviews expose serious gaps, “a properly sequenced federal royal commission” may be required to reset public trust.
Prominent Greek Australian business leader Con Frantzeskos was also among more than 130 signatories from banking, media, education and industry who have signed an open letter calling for a Commonwealth-led royal commission.
The letter describes the Bondi massacre as “a national crisis, which requires a national response,” adding: “This goes beyond politics, it’s about the future of our country.”
The campaign also has political support in Western Australia, where WA Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas has publicly backed calls for a royal commission into the attack.
Zempilas has argued that the federal government has a responsibility to respond fully to community concerns surrounding rising antisemitism.
Prime Minister Albanese has so far resisted the proposal, saying a royal commission would take too long and risk deepening social division.
Instead, the federal government has ordered a review of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, led by former intelligence chief Dennis Richardson, while backing a separate NSW royal commission into the attack.
Business leaders, legal experts and victim families argue this is not enough.
They say a federal royal commission would help uncover how the December 14 Bondi massacre, in which 15 Australians, including 13 Jews, were allegedly murdered by Islamic State-inspired attackers Sajid and Naveed Akram, was allowed to occur, and how anti-Semitism has escalated in Australia.
