Strengthening Australian Social Cohesion Could Take Years, Says Bondi Attack Inquiry Head

(MENAFN- IANS) Sydney, Feb 24 (IANS) The head of a major inquiry into the antisemitic terror attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach in December said on Tuesday that it could take years to strengthen social cohesion in Australia.

Former High Court Justice Virginia Bell, who was appointed by the federal government to lead the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion, said in her opening statement on the inquiry's first day on Tuesday that the work of the commission would help Australians come to terms with the attack.

The royal commission was established by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in January, almost one month after 15 people were killed in the fatal mass shooting that targeted a Jewish event at the iconic beach on December 14.

Bell said that it is of critical importance that the inquiry hands down its final report before the first anniversary of the attack, but warned that strengthening social cohesion would be the work of "years, not months."

Bell said she was interested in hearing from Jewish Australians who had experienced antisemitism,“whether at school or at university or in the workplace, or elsewhere”, and making a submission online did not commit them to giving evidence in public.

She said that the royal commission would not hear evidence from eyewitnesses of the attack so as not to prejudice criminal proceedings against the surviving alleged gunman Naveed Akram, Xinhua news agency reported.

The senior counsel assisting the royal commission, Richard Lancaster, said that dozens of notices have been issued to federal and state government agencies to appear before the inquiry and produce relevant documents.

"A large part of the work of this commission will be to present evidence to allow a broader understanding of the scourge of antisemitism, its nature and prevalence throughout Australian society and its impact on the lives of fellow Australians," he said.

The inquiry is expected to hand down an interim report by April 30.

The commission will identify antisemitic conduct and its drivers in Australian society, examine how law enforcement and security agencies were tackling antisemitic conduct and protecting the Jewish community and look at the circumstances leading up to the attack.

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