Tone-deaf? Australian PM’s popularity plunges over response to Bondi attack

SYDNEY – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faces growing pressure over his handling of

the Bondi terrorist attack

, which has brought a sudden end to his soaring political dominance.

Since the Dec 14 attack that left 15 people dead at a Jewish festival at Australia’s best-known beach, Mr Albanese has faced

intense criticism over his failure to combat rising anti-Semitism

despite warnings from intelligence agencies and Jewish leaders that the community was at risk of an attack.

Mr Albanese was criticised for failing to act on the recommendations of his hand-picked anti-Semitism envoy – Ms Jillian Segal, who provided

a report to the government 

on combating anti-Semitism

 in July – until after the Bondi attack. 

The Prime Minister has also rejected widespread calls to establish a royal commission into the worst terrorist attack on Australian soil.

An expert on Australian politics, Associate Professor Zareh Ghazarian from Monash University, told The Straits Times that Mr Albanese was typically cautious and “beholden to process”, but that this approach was backfiring in the face of the tragedy at Bondi Beach.

“It is almost as though the government is playing catch-up,” he said. “We can see from the broader community that there is a demand for the government to be more proactive and engaged, and to lead to whatever comes next.”

Mr Albanese

led the ruling Labor party to a landslide election victory

in May, boosting his personal command of the party and leaving the opposition weakened and divided. But his response to the Bondi attack threatens to damage his leadership and has deprived him of an opportunity to unify and heal the nation.

A Resolve Political Monitor survey published in The Sydney Morning Herald on Dec 22 found that 46 per cent of people thought the government’s response to the attack had been weak, 29 per cent thought it had been strong, and 25 per cent were undecided.

The survey of just over 1,000 people showed that Mr Albanese suffered a strong blow to his approval ratings, with 40 per cent saying he was doing a good job, compared with 48 per cent before the attack, and 49 per cent saying he was doing a poor job, compared with 43 per cent previously. The remainder were undecided.

Unlike former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, who grieved with the families of victims of a terrorist who

killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch

in 2019, Mr Albanese has been unable to play the role – as some analysts have put it – of “mourner-in-chief”.

He attended a memorial service at Bondi for the victims, but was booed by members of the crowd, and has been unable to attend funerals because families of victims have not invited him.

A royal commission into the attack and its causes, including rising anti-Semitism, would have strong investigative powers and could compel witnesses to appear.

Calls for its creation have been backed by former High Court chief justice Robert French, former Defence Force chief and governor-general Peter Cosgrove, former spy chief Nick Warner, and several MPs from the Labor party.

“We all need to know not just how this happened – but what we can do to root out extremism, whatever form it comes in,” Labor MP Ed Husic, who is Muslim, told The Australian Financial Review.

Adding to the pressure on Mr Albanese, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, who is a Labor MP, has announced plans for a state royal commission.

“We need a comprehensive look at this horrible terrorism event. Right now, we’ve got bits and pieces of the jigsaw puzzle,” he said.

A Resolve survey published in The Sydney Morning Herald on Dec 26 found that 48 per cent of people support a royal commission, 17 per cent are opposed and 34 per cent undecided.

But Mr Albanese has insisted that a royal commission would be slow and that a review he ordered into the powers and operations of the nation’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies was adequate. That review is due to report by April, whereas royal commissions can take years.

“We want urgency and unity, not division and delay,” Mr Albanese told reporters on Dec 22. “What we want to do is, if there are any holes, any findings, any actions that are required, we want that to occur.”

But analysts say Mr Albanese could order a commission to provide a quick initial report before completing its inquiries. Veteran political commentator Michelle Grattan said Mr Albanese’s refusal to order a commission was “nearly impossible to comprehend”.

She said Mr Albanese’s position led to perceptions that he had “misjudged the national mood” or that he feared that an inquiry would reveal his government’s failures to combat anti-Semitism.

“Albanese is always (and rightly) worried about social cohesion, and an inquiry could put some further strains on that,” she wrote on The Conversation website on Dec 22. “But if there are issues of cohesion that need to be faced up to, we need to admit and deal with them.”

Since the attack, Mr Albanese has moved to curb hate speech and vilification, and announced that he was acting on the anti-Semitism envoy’s recommendations, including boosting education and improving screening of visa applications.

But the leader of the opposition, Ms Sussan Ley, who heads the Liberal-National Coalition, told reporters on Dec 22 that the Prime Minister’s response had been “too little, too late”.

“To honour the dead, we must confront hard truths,” she said.

Prof Ghazarian said Mr Albanese still has a long time to repair any political damage before the next election, due in 2028, but added: “The government seems to be on the back foot rather than leading. Where that impression is established, it is very hard to shake off.”

Typically, the New Year break is an opportunity for a government to prepare a fresh agenda for the coming year.

The Bondi attack will dominate Mr Albanese’s agenda well into 2026, but the holiday may at least allow him to reset and to demonstrate that he has a firm, consistent plan for preventing further attacks in the future.