Virginia Bell has requested a four-day extension to the anti-Semitism royal commission, to avoid presenting her final report on the one-year anniversary of the Bondi massacre.
Speaking on the final day of hearings of the Royal Commission into anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion, the commissioner said the final report would be handed down on December 18, rather than December 14.
The short extension was in response to concern from Australia’s Jewish community that the report coming out on the day of the anniversary of the attack would be a distraction from memorials.
However, Commissioner Bell did not seek a significant extension, despite calls from members of the Coalition and some Jewish advocates to do so.
She acknowledged the frustration the commission did not appear to outwardly investigate the events leading to the attack, but said closed hearings had been held to avoid prejudicing ongoing criminal proceedings related to the attack.
The findings from those hearings and other classified evidence would be in a confidential volume of the final report, Commissioner Bell said.
She also addressed the evidence of a former spy who has publicly claimed he warned ASIO about the father-son duo responsible for the massacre six years before they shot 15 people dead on December 14 last year.
The spy has lived in hiding overseas since 2023 after ASIO withdrew its support for his permanent residence, hindering a bid by the commission to hear his evidence.
But Commissioner Bell said the spy - whose application for a visa to return to Australia was rejected - had been offered the chance to give evidence remotely from overseas, but declined as it did not allow him certain legal protections.
Giving evidence publicly could prejudice ongoing legal proceedings about the two shooters, she said.
The commission accessed reports the spy provided to ASIO at the time, she said.
“I am satisfied I am currently in a position to give a full and fair account of the term of reference, which asks whether, in relation to the Bondi Hanukkah attack, our intelligence and our law enforcement agencies operated or performed to maximum effectiveness,” Commissioner Bell said.
Leaders of Australia’s Jewish community expressed gratitude for those who gave evidence at the commission, often at a personal cost.
The commission heard directly from roughly 14,000 members of the community through evidence given in person and in writing, Commissioner Bell said.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief Peter Werheim said the community had put its heart and soul into the commission.
“Australia is the only country in the world which has turned the spotlight on itself to examine its own record of anti-Semitism, and to do so with the seriousness of purpose that the issue clearly warrants,” he said.
