ALISON PIOTROWSKI, HOST: Well, it's taken three weeks, but the Prime Minister has finally announced a Royal Commission into antisemitism following the Bondi terror attack.
JOEL DRY, HOST: It comes 26 days on from the deadliest mass shooting in Australia since Port Arthur. Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, joins us now from Canberra. Prime Minister, why did you take so long to call the Royal Commission? Did you fold under pressure?
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. This is actually record time for ever calling a Royal Commission, if you go back in history. We wanted to make sure in the immediate aftermath of this antisemitic terrorist atrocity that we brought together the National Security Committee, it's met almost every single day since then, that we had to do the proper assessments which were, you know, were these people part of a cell? Would there be follow ups? Where were the connections there? We wanted to make sure as well - then we acted on increasing security resources. We instituted the Richardson Review to look at the aftermath of the way that national security agencies were operating, the links between Commonwealth and state jurisdictions. We implemented and fast tracked some of the recommendations of the antisemitism report that we'd received. And we've sat down, I've sat down with families in homes, in synagogues, in my home, my office, and at events, including even on New Year's Eve. Sat down, listened to families, listened to their concerns. We wanted to make sure as well that we had a full announcement, not a half one. A Royal Commissioner, terms of reference that had been agreed. I spent many hours sitting down line by line with the community, with legal experts as well, making sure that this Royal Commission was got right. So, we needed New South Wales to withdraw from their Royal Commission so there weren't two. You didn't want duelling Royal Commissions hearing from the same people, perhaps coming to different conclusions. We wanted to make sure that any Royal Commission didn't interfere with the legal processes as well. There's going to be a court case going forward. Perhaps that's why there haven't been Royal Commissions in the past terrorist atrocities, including the Lindt Cafe siege, the Bali bombing, the Port Arthur massacre as well. So, we've made sure that we've got it right, we've got the right commissioner in Virginia Bell and we've got the right terms of reference.
PIOTROWSKI: We'll get to Virginia Bell in a moment, and I think it is so important, obviously, to make sure you have all your ducks in a row to make sure that you've spoken to everyone involved and to the leaders of the Jewish community. That is very important, PM. But just over a week ago, we saw you and your Minister, Tony Burke, stand side by side, not far from where you are right now, and you gave no indication that a royal commission was even on your mind. Should you have so the Australian public could have known that you were thinking about it? Because it really was not clear a week ago, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we've been doing is not engaged in some of the political discourse that has been happening. Looking at how do we promote unity and bring the country together. I've confirmed that this is, I think, a necessary precondition to bring the country together. We've listened to people on that, but we've also done the hard work. One of the things we wanted to avoid was adding to some of the conflict which is there. We're not big players in the Middle East, and one of the problems has been that people have sought to bring that conflict here. People don't want that. One of the things that the Royal Commission, in the terms of reference, says, is that we need to make sure that any processes don't prejudice the legal proceedings that are ongoing, but also that they contribute to social cohesion. That's why a lot of thought, a lot of legal advice - a Royal Commission isn't something that's a spontaneous just writing on the back of a coaster. What you need to do is to make sure that all of those legal measures are got precisely right. We have done that. We have spent hour after hour after hour with legal experts as well as with the community. I was in a meeting for four hours days ago which went through line by line with community leaders. That was not the first meeting I've had with those leaders. We have engaged respectfully -
DRY: You mentioned Virginia Bell, we had Josh Frydenberg on the program earlier and this is what he had to say about the appointment.
JOSH FRYDENBERG: And I would have thought after the last two and a half years of terror and trauma, the Prime Minister would have got the support of Jewish leaders in our country for his choice to head up the Royal Commission before the name was floated publicly. That, unfortunately, did not happen.
DRY: So, you clearly changed your mind on a Royal Commission following consultation with the Jewish community. So, why not take on board their views on this and change your mind on the appointment of the Commissioner?
PRIME MINISTER: I didn't leak the name publicly. The fact is that that came from - perhaps Mr Frydenberg is more conscious of that, that fact than I would be. I don't know where that got into the public arena. That was something that we needed to make sure, that was one of the risks here was that people would seek to politicise these issues. Virginia Bell is a former High Court Justice of extraordinary standing of more than a decade. A former senior person in the New South Wales Supreme Court. A criminal lawyer who will bring that expertise, that expertise to being able to manage the issue that there will be a criminal trial underway whilst there is a Royal Commission. What you do not want, and I don't think anyone would want, is for there to be a disruption of that trial because of those proceedings. We've seen that occur, of course, in recent times where issues have been politicised. The fact is that there was consultation. There were a range of names mentioned. More than a dozen different names were floated by different people. There is no one, though, of Virginia Bell’s standing, the only former High Court Justice who has been raised, the only person who has that background in criminal law, someone who is widely respected across the board. And one of the things that I've done is read Jim Spigelman’s tribute to Virginia Bell upon her retirement in New South Wales going to the High Court. That was, you know, if I've seen higher praise, I don't think I've seen it in recent times. She will do an outstanding job and she has been welcomed by members of the Jewish community.
PIOTROWSKI: Prime Minister, you mentioned that we are a long way from the Middle East and it is important to note, but New South Wales currently has a temporary ban on protests in the state. The big and recent protests that we have seen are people taking to the street, wanting to voice their concerns over the treatment of Palestinians. Where do you stand on Australians expressing their views on Palestine in the form of protest?
PRIME MINISTER: It's important that people in a democracy are able to express their views, but it's important that it be done in a respectful way. I had people stopping my local constituents going in to get assistance in my office in Marrickville for month after month after month. People being abused who were turning up to get assistance with their social security or their Medicare or their pension or indeed migration. That does nothing to advance the cause there. And the problem that has occurred in a range of areas is the targeting of Jewish Australians from people who object to the actions of the Netanyahu Government. And a young Jewish student wearing a school uniform, going to school should, not be the subject of abuse. They should be able to go about their lives in a respectful way without suffering from that. Jewish artists like Deborah Conway and others should be allowed to participate and to go about their lives and provide the skills that they have without being doxxed. That’s why we introduced laws on doxxing.
DRY: You're absolutely right, PM. We know you're very busy this morning. Just quickly if we can, we've got catastrophic fire conditions across Victoria today. Heat in New South Wales, a potential cyclone in Queensland. What is your message to those people right across this country who are facing weather risks this morning?
PRIME MINISTER: Three messages. The first is, Australians are thinking of you at this difficult time. The second is, please listen to the advice of the authorities. If you’re asked to leave your property, please do so. If you're asked to provide any action, please listen. If you are confronting a road that has water on it, that is flooded, forget it. Do not try to drive through it. And the third is just a big thank you and shout out to those Australians who will be helping their fellow Australians during this difficult period. Our emergency services workers, our SES, our police, our fire brigades, these are extraordinary Australians showing the best of the Australian character. And after this interview, I'll be going straight down to the National Emergency Management Agency to get a briefing about these events right around this vast continent of ours. Please stay safe, listen to the advice and follow the advice. And our thoughts are with you.
PIOTROWSKI: Minister, Anthony Albanese, thanks for your time on Today.