Former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg UNLEASHES on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over Bondi Terror Attack, Demanding Personal Responsibility for ‘Radicalisation’ of Australia
- Frydenberg blasts Albanese for ‘allowing Australia to be radicalised’ and claims Jewish-Australians have been ‘abandoned’
- Demands Labor takes stronger action against hate preachers, radical Islamist groups, and anti-Semitism
- Slams Albanese for delay in implementing anti-Semitism envoy’s report, saying it’s been ‘gathering dust on his desk’ for 150 days
- Claims Labor’s failure to act on anti-Semitism has led to ‘graphic and tragic failure of operational security’
Former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, blaming him personally for the Bondi terror attack and accusing him of failing to take action against anti-Semitism. In an extraordinary tirade at the Bondi memorial in Sydney’s east, Mr Frydenberg claimed Mr Albanese had ‘allowed Australia to be radicalised’ and that Jewish-Australians had been ‘abandoned’.
‘Until you (Mr Albanese) stand here in front of these cameras and say that you and your government, hand on heart, accept personal responsibility for what has taken place, then everything after that will mean nothing,’ he said. ‘Unless our governments, federal and state, take urgent, unprecedented and strong action, as night follows day, we will be back grieving the loss of innocent life in another terrorist attack in our country.’
Mr Frydenberg also called for Labor to take stronger action against hate preachers, radical Islamist groups, and anti-Semitism, including banning hate preachers, proscribing radical Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organisation, and including Jewish history in the Australian education system. He also demanded the banning of pro-Palestine protests, branding them ‘incubators of hate’.
‘And Prime Minister, I heard you say yesterday that you are ready for the fight on guns. Well, let me tell you, guns may have stolen the life of 15 innocent civilians, but it was radical Islamist ideology that pulled the trigger,’ he said. ‘And if you, Prime Minister, can’t say those words, Islamist ideology, if you can’t speak them, you can’t solve them.’
Mr Frydenberg’s comments come as the first funerals for the victims of the Bondi massacre are set to take place, with tributes continuing to pour in for the lives lost to tragedy. The school attended by the youngest victim, 10-year-old Matilda, has broken its silence to share ‘beautiful memories’ of their ‘little ray of sunshine’.
Matilda’s parents have also spoken out about the devastation of losing their eldest daughter, with her father Michael saying, ‘We came here from Ukraine… and I named her Matilda because she was our firstborn in Australia. And I thought that Matilda was the most Australian name that could ever exist.’
Meanwhile, NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon has revealed that alleged gunman Naveed Akram will only be interviewed when his medical condition is ‘appropriate’. Akram, who is accused of carrying out the terror attack with his father Sajid, has reportedly woken from his almost 48-hour coma.
The death toll from the horrific terror attack remains at 15 victims, with 22 others still receiving care in hospital. Three remain in a critical condition and another three remain in a critical but stable condition.