It’s been three days since the jihad against innocent Jews at Sydney’s Bondi beach. A nation’s grief is swiftly turning to anger and Australia’s prime minister is floundering.

As more is learned about the father-and-son killers who took 15 lives and wounded many more, questions are piling up. How did the father enter the country? How did security agencies lose track of the son, who not only imbibed his father’s Jew hate, but may have been further radicalised by reportedly studying with one of Sydney’s most notorious Islamist hate preachers? How did they manage to go to a militant area of the Philippines as recently as a month ago? How did the father manage to hold a gun licence, given his own history and that of his son? How was it that, in the heavily Jewish eastern suburbs of Sydney where Bondi is, with the beach itself drawing visitors of all nationalities and beliefs, there were only three policemen nearby?

And why has Australia’s national government talked a big game on combating anti-Semitism but, since 7 October 2023, done so very little to act? Since July it has sat on a report with practical recommendations from its hand-picked ‘special envoy’ on anti-Semitism. Yet, even after last Sunday, it still hasn’t committed to implementing them.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese is an effective political leader. He is adept at playing politics, positioning himself and his Labor party on issues to their best political advantage. He is........

© The Spectator