<\/p>\n
Former Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg has claimed Anthony Albanese<\/a> is personally responsible for the 15 deaths in the Bondi terror attack, as the prime minister lays the blame on \u201cperverse ideology, a terrorist ideology\u201d.<\/p>\n The comments were part of an extraordinary escalation of political rhetoric on Wednesday as the New South Wales premier said his government would consider new restrictions on protests that he said \u201cwould rip apart our community\u201d.<\/p>\n Frydenberg accused the prime minister of having \u201cfailed\u201d Australia\u2019s Jewish community over the Bondi terror attack. His comments come amid fracturing bipartisanship on the response to the shooting, with his former Coalition colleagues demanding that federal parliament be urgently recalled to toughen immigration rules.<\/p>\n While the federal Labor government has focused its immediate response to the terror shooting on potential gun reforms<\/a>, leading Coalition figures have rejected calls to restrict firearms, claiming Albanese was seeking to \u201cdistract\u201d from antisemitism.<\/p>\n \u201cOur governments have failed every Australian when it comes to fighting hate and antisemitism. Our prime minister, our government, has allowed Australia to be radicalised on his watch,\u201d Frydenberg said in an emotional address at the Bondi Pavilion site.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is time for him to accept personal responsibility for the death of 15 innocent people, including a 10-year-old child. It is time our prime minister accepted accountability for what has happened here.\u201d<\/p>\n Shortly after Frydenberg\u2019s speech, NSW premier Chris Minns announced his government\u2019s plan to further restrict protests after a terrorism designation, expanding grounds upon which police can reject applications for public demonstrations. State parliament will be recalled next week, with the laws expected to be rushed through.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s constitution includes an implied right to freedom of political communication, and Minns acknowledged potential constitutional issues in the proposal, saying the new law had to be \u201cdrafted in a particular way\u201d. He could not confirm how long protest restrictions would stay in place after a terror designation.<\/p>\n Minns said that, after speaking with Jewish community members, large protests \u201cwould rip apart our community\u201d, voicing concern about \u201ca combustible situation and community harmony\u201d.<\/p>\n But while raising particular alarm about \u201cprotests about international events\u201d, Minns said the legislation would not be targeted at any one group.<\/p>\n Minns\u2019 government had previously rejected a permit for Sydney\u2019s Palestine Action Group to march across the Harbour Bridge in August, a decision later overturned by the supreme court.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019ve got a terrible situation when people are killed, mowed down in great number just because of their religious faith, I think it would be a horrible situation to see a mass demonstration,\u201d Minns said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Federal parliament is not scheduled to sit until February, but while there are no current plans to urgently recall MPs, government sources did not rule out potentially returning to Canberra early if needed. The federal Coalition is demanding parliament sit before Christmas to legislate parts of antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal\u2019s report<\/a>; Nationals leader David Littleproud specifically called for urgent action on a recommendation around increased screening for migrants for extremist or antisemitic views.<\/p>\n Frydenberg, who lost his Victorian seat of Kooyong at the 2022 election, demanded the government \u201cban hate preachers\u201d, prosecute people chanting \u201cfrom the river to the sea\u201d and brandishing Hezbollah or Hamas flags at protests, and generally ban pro-Palestinian protests he claimed had become \u201cincubators of hate\u201d.<\/p>\n The former Liberal MP also demanded greater investment in antisemitism and Holocaust education, more stringent immigration checks for migrants, and a royal commission into antisemitism and the Bondi attack. He also criticised Labor for allowing migrant arrivals from Gaza.<\/p>\n There is no indication at this time of any link between pro-Palestine protests and the alleged Bondi terror shooters. Sajid Akram came to Australia from India in 1998, when John Howard was prime minister, while son Naveen was born in Australia. Guardian Australia has reported the processing time for arrivals from Gaza was much longer than Coalition members had claimed<\/a>.<\/p>\n Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he respected Frydenberg\u2019s views, but said Labor had taken action on antisemitism, and would continue to do so.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government takes the evil of antisemitism seriously, and we\u2019ve taken some significant steps already. But we\u2019ve all acknowledged that more steps need to be taken and more steps will be taken. We will consider any reasonable suggestions for those additional steps,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201c[Frydenberg], like a lot of Australians, is mourning and is grieving. And we will take suggestions from him or from other members of the community very seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n Albanese on Wednesday condemned the alleged \u201cterrorist ideology\u201d behind the attack, criticising \u201cthis perversion of Islam that leads them to support Islamic State\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is indeed, as you identify, hard to legislate against such massive hatred,\u201d he told a press conference.<\/p>\n Albanese again emphasised the need for gun reforms and moving faster to respond to Segal\u2019s report. The government has not said which parts of her recommendations it would endorse or reject, but the Coalition is calling for its implementation in full.<\/p>\n Littleproud and other Coalition members have rejected or questioned the need for gun reform measures, urging instead a focus on antisemitism, while some in the opposition are also urging tighter rules on migration.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, the current gun laws were not the problem. It was the people who were using the guns and using the bombs,\u201d Littleproud told the ABC.<\/p>\n Michael McCormack, the former Nationals leader, told Sky News: \u201cI don\u2019t think the firearms laws need changing.\u201d<\/p>\n