Australian Muslims shouldn't be made to feel targeted as the nation discusses Islamic extremism in the wake of the deadly Bondi terror massacre, a former ASIO boss says.
Speaking at a Lowy Institute event on Tuesday night, ex-spy chief Dennis Richardson, who quit his position as special advisor to the anti-Semitism royal commission, said the ball had been dropped on combating hatred, and a more forceful response would have drawn a clearer line.
Originally brought on to run an independent investigation into possible intelligence failures leading up to the December mass shooting, his report was rolled into the broader probe.
Mr Richardson said his comments were directed to Australian society as a whole about the risk faced by Jewish Australians.
He pointed to comments posted on social media by an Islamic preacher in November 2023, following the Hamas attack on Israel a month earlier.
"They were started to be reported in The Australian after Jewish believers took the preacher to court. But even then they were not picked up more broadly in the media, and they should have been. Should have been highlighted, and should have been condemned," he told ABC Radio on Wednesday.
Mr Richardson said the nation needed to have a discussion about Islamic extremism without targeting the Muslim community.
"One way to do it is to ensure that Muslim leaders are at the centre of any such discussion and guide that discussion in a way that Australian Muslims as a whole do not feel targeted," he said.
"There is a real risk when you have a discussion about extremist Islam, you have a real risk that Muslims as a whole feel under pressure.
"Equally, if you don’t have that discussion, you play into the hands of extremists at the other end of the spectrum."
Asked about the royal commission, Mr Richardson said everyone should wait until the final report is handed down later in 2026.
Announcing his resignation earlier this year, he said he was "surplus to requirements" when stepping down.
