Albanese finally met the mood. If only he’d done so weeks ago |
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was emphatic about one thing as he stood in his courtyard on Thursday afternoon to announce a major reversal in his position on a Commonwealth royal commission: he had been listening.
“As prime minister, I respect people’s views and I listen to them.”
Albanese described sitting down with leaders in the Jewish community – in their homes, without cameras – and shedding tears with them. He thanked those people for “honest and open-hearted conversations” and stressed his priority was for the country to heal, learn and come together in a spirit of national unity.
“It’s clear to me that a royal commission is essential to achieving this,” the prime minister said.
Anthony Albanese announced that Virginia Bell would be at the head of the royal commission. Credit: Michael Howard
And he was clear on that point. Late on Thursday afternoon, he made a compelling case for why the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, with former High Court justice Virginia Bell at its helm, would help Australia probe its pernicious problem with antisemitism.
More than that, he gave the impression the government had been working up to this point the whole time. “This........