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The Coalition has been deeply critical of the Albanese government’s response to the Bondi terror attack, pursuing the prime minister for acting too slowly on antisemitism, while the Jewish community warned they feared for their safety over the last two years.
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Ley has made repeated visits to the Bondi memorial site over the past week, where she has spent time speaking with grief-stricken community members who are furious with Labor’s approach to antisemitism.
She has also made a point of Albanese’s absence from the Bondi site. The prime minister was jeered by the crowd on Sunday night, when he attended the vigil marking one week since two gunmen killed 15 innocent people at an event celebrating Hanukkah.
Wong on Monday morning outlined actions the government had taken to deal with antisemitism – such as cracking down on hate speech, criminalising doxxing and banning the Nazi salute – while conceding it needed to do more.
“I said last week that we needed to do more and we are, which is why we have announced a stronger package of legislative reforms to crack down on those who spread hate, division and radicalisation,” she said on ABC Radio National.
“Now of course, you know, the prime minister has said, of course we recognise whilst we have done a great deal on hate speech and antisemitism, we have to do more, and we take responsibility for that.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Asked if it was time for the government to say sorry, Wong said: “Look, I think all of us wish that we were not where we are. We all wish that the ISIS-inspired terrorist attackers had been stopped. We all wish that antisemitism had not continued in this country.”
Former prime minister John Howard last week singled out Albanese and Wong for particular blame in allowing antisemitism to fester in Australia. He specifically criticised Wong’s decision not to visit the Israeli communities targeted by the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023, during her trip to Israel last year.
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Asked about that criticism on Monday, Wong said: “I regret that the way in which people have experienced that.”
“What I would say to you is I met instead with hostage families. I met instead with people who had either lost their children or father, or who were waiting for news of them,” she said.
“I’m very aware of the thousands of years of persecution that the Jewish people have experienced. And I am so deeply pained, as someone who has argued all my life for an inclusive Australia, to see the sort of prejudice, the hate that this act demonstrates.
“And I’m absolutely determined to continue to say that we are safer when we stand together and that is what our country must do.”
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