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Transcripts
January 9, 2026
BARBARA MILLER: Let's get a view from the Opposition now. James Paterson is the Shadow Minister for Finance, the Public Service and Government Services. Welcome back to Breakfast.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA MILLER: The Prime Minister, as we've been saying, says he listened to the community and he's now delivered what you, the Federal Opposition, have been calling for. Do you give him credit for that?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: We certainly welcome the fact that the Prime Minister has finally listened to the families of the victims of the Bondi attack, to the Jewish community, and so many eminent Australians across so many fields. But we are disappointed that it's taken so long and such an effort to get the Prime Minister to finally act. I mean, it's been 25 days since Bondi. And for most of that time, the Jewish community has been crying out for a royal commission. And for most of the time, the Prime Minister and his ministers have been making baseless and sometimes offensive arguments against why a royal commission should be held, essentially saying it would be dangerous and irresponsible to hold a royal commission. So the backflip and the concession made by the Prime Minister is welcome. But I know that many in the Jewish community and many families of those victims feel exhausted and devastated that they had to fight their own government for almost a month to get the bare minimum action that they are, and every Australian is, entitled to.
BARBARA MILLER: Is it time, though, to put that all behind us, as it were, and should you now move forward more in a spirit of unity?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, we certainly want the Royal Commission to succeed. It's critically important that it succeed, and it must be independent, it must be wide-ranging, and it must be well-resourced because we must get to the bottom of how antisemitism was allowed to flourish in our country with such devastating consequences. Because there have been warnings from the Jewish community, from intelligence and security experts, and from the Opposition for the last two and a half years that the government wasn't taking this threat seriously enough, and it has ended in the most tragic way imaginable. We must make sure that never happens again. So we wish Commissioner Bell all the best for this royal commission, and we will do everything we can to support its success.
BARBARA MILLER: Does she have your confidence?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: It's not up to me to comment on individuals like Commissioner Bell. She's obviously a very eminent former jurist, and she's now been chosen by the government. I think it's important that the government demonstrate that they consulted widely and that they had the support of the Jewish community in that appointment. But she has now been appointed to that role, and we wish her well.
BARBARA MILLER: Well, you say it's not up to you to comment. I mean, we had your colleague, Jonno Duniam, on the show yesterday, certainly parsing comments about her.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, we certainly want her to succeed, and she's been appointed by the government now, and now that she's been appointed, I think the only thing every Australian will do is wish her well in the task and hope that she gets to the bottom of this toxic cancer in our society, which has been allowed to fester. It has festered in the arts, it has festered in universities, it has festered in the media, it has festered in the community, in some religious communities particularly, and it's not in our interest for this to continue in our country and we hope the Commissioner gets to the bottom of it and recommends actions that the government can now take to address it.
BARBARA MILLER: On Radio National Breakfast, my guest is the Opposition frontbencher, James Paterson. Are you satisfied with the terms of reference as laid out by the Prime Minister?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: We're examining them carefully, and we will be consulting the Jewish community and other experts today to make sure that they think that it's sufficiently wide-ranging and that it captures and encompasses all of the challenges we've seen with antisemitism over the last two and a half years in our country.
BARBARA MILLER: Do you think the Royal Commission should look at other forms of hate and prejudice that are a threat to social cohesion, such as Islamophobia? We've known that it has been on the rise. We've spoken to members of the community since the Bondi attacks who say there's been a further uptick.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: No, I think its priority and its focus must overwhelmingly be on antisemitism because it is only antisemitism that has resulted in Australia's worst ever terror attack and the loss of 15 lives, 13 of whom were from the Jewish community, who are attending a Jewish community event and were targeted allegedly by people who are motivated by an Islamic state ideology. So I think that must be the overwhelming focus of the Royal Commission.
BARBARA MILLER: Is the government, though, doing enough to tackle Islamophobia?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: That's a good question you would have to put to the government. All forms of hatred, including Islamophobia, are abhorrent and morally wrong and unacceptable and should not be tolerated.
BARBARA MILLER: Shouldn't the Opposition have a view on whether enough is being done to target Islamophobia?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, I have to say we are speaking this morning in the aftermath of Australia's most ever terror attack. And thank God, it didn't target Muslim Australians. It targeted Jewish Australians. And my focus is overwhelmingly on making sure there are no other attacks on the Jewish community like this, because of course, the Bondi terror attack is just the culmination of the attacks on the Jewish community over the last two and a half years. We had a synagogue in Melbourne, which was firebombed in an act of state-sponsored terror, sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran. And I think that is overwhelmingly a problem that we face in this country at the moment.
BARBARA MILLER: Virginia Bell has been asked to report back by December 14, a year after the horrific attack. Is that a reasonable timeframe?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, it's understandable why the government wants the report to return quickly, so that any actions necessary out of the Commission can be enacted. But in order for it to be able to report on that timeline, it will need very significant resources to make sure there are no impediments to achieving that timeline. And it's also critically important that ministers of the government, that their departments and agencies also very promptly comply with any requests for information and evidence for the Commission. We cannot have it being delayed or held up in any way.
BARBARA MILLER: We heard your leader, Sussan Ley, on AM still talking about the fact that the Opposition wanted three commissioners again. Is it time to sort of put that argument to bed and move on with the one that's been selected?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Well, Sussan Ley was directly asked whether or not our call, which has been for several weeks now, for three commissioners, was something we still believed in. And yes, we do. We thought that that had merit yesterday, so we still think it has merit today. But we accept that the government has appointed Virginia Bell to conduct this commission, and we wish her well.
BARBARA MILLER: James Paterson, thank you very much.
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Thank you for having me.
ENDS