Some sources expected the government could confirm multiple parts of its response to the Bondi attack alongside a royal commission announcement, including details of its hate speech law changes <\/a>and parliament\u2019s early return<\/a>. It\u2019s understood the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and other Jewish groups have been consulted on the hate speech changes.<\/p>\n The prime minister\u2019s office declined to comment.<\/p>\n Ananda-Rajah was formerly the Member for Higgins, in urban Melbourne, before moving to the Senate. She \u201cwholeheartedly\u201d supported calling a royal commission, becoming just the third Labor MP to publicly back such an inquiry, after earlier support from backbenchers Ed Husic and Mike Freelander<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cA royal commission will enable us to flush out the failings that led to this permissive environment for antisemitism, do it in full public view to rebuild trust and afford the Jewish community testimonial justice or they risk feeling permanently marginalised in their own country,\u201d Ananda-Rajah said.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that a royal commission focuses not only on how we outlaw the bad stuff but on how we strengthen the bonds between us and between disparate communities \u2013 the social engineering measures matter as much as the criminal justice ones.\u201d<\/p>\n No decisions have been finalised, but the government has floated former high court justice Virginia Bell as a potential commissioner on the federal inquiry. An esteemed lawyer and judge, Bell was appointed as counsel on NSW\u2019s Wood royal commission into the police service in 1994, then in 1999 was appointed a judge on NSW\u2019s supreme court and court of appeal. In 2009, she was appointed to the high court, where she sat until retiring in 2021. Bell was commissioned by Albanese\u2019s Labor government in 2022 to investigate former prime minister Scott Morrison\u2019s secret decisions to appoint himself to multiple ministerial portfolios without the knowledge of the ministers in those roles.<\/p>\n But reports in multiple media outlets claimed some Jewish groups had raised concerns about Bell\u2019s political leanings, related to her investigation into Morrison\u2019s multiple ministries scandal.<\/p>\n Government sources pushed back strongly on such criticisms, pointing to Bell\u2019s extensive legal experience in the NSW and high courts, particularly in criminal law \u2013 a key factor, considering any further inquiry would be expected to operate alongside a criminal trial for alleged Bondi shooter Naveed Akram, who faces dozens of serious charges, including murder and terrorism<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Rabbi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2331.jpg\")
Rabbi reads names of 15 Bondi shooting victims, three times a day at beach memorial site \u2013 video<\/p>\n