ACL: Christian Lobby Urges the Government to Keep the Royal Commission Focused
Michael Barnett OAM
From: Mark Davis <Mark....@acl.org.au>
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2026 at 10:23
Subject: Christian Lobby Urges the Government to Keep the Royal Commission Focused
To:
MEDIA RELEASE
Christian Lobby Urges the Government to Keep the Royal Commission Focused
9 January 2026
The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) welcomes the announcement of a Commonwealth royal commission into antisemitism, but warns against it being conflated with other agendas.
While the Government has taken too long to get to this point, ACL welcomes yesterday’s announcement by the Prime Minister. Only a Commonwealth royal commission will uncover all the failures that led to the Bondi attack and ensure the right action is taken to rid Australia of antisemitism.
The tragic events at Bondi demand a strong response from government. ACL supports action that directly addresses radical Islamic extremism and the incitement of violence against Jewish Australians.
However, ACL is concerned other interest groups will use the royal commission to further their own cause. It has already been suggested that the expansion hate speech laws cover gender and sexuality, including by Wentworth MP, Allegra Spender.
The Government has proposed four key areas to be covered by the royal commission. Unfortunately, this implies that it will include a much broader investigation of social cohesion.
ACL CEO Michelle Pearse said, “Australians are calling for action to confront the ideologies that led to the Bondi attack. We owe it to the victims and their families to act decisively. But we must ensure this tragedy is not misused to advance unrelated political agendas.”
ACL welcomes the stance of the Opposition leader, Sussan Ley, who pointed out Australia is not facing a crisis of speech about gender or sexuality, but a crisis driven by radical Islamic extremism and neo-Nazi ideology. ACL agrees that the Government must resist attempts to widen the scope of its response to the Bondi attack.
“We back the Opposition’s call for a focused and disciplined response. Australian communities need to be protected from genuine threats of violence, not laws that stop legitimate debate or silence people of faith,” Ms Pearse said.
ACL has written to the Government to ensure that any necessary reforms are precise, proportionate, and do not undermine genuine freedom of speech.
Media contact: Mark Davis | P: +61 2 6190 1885 | e: Mark....@acl.org.au
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