Dozens of Australian Sports Figures Call for Royal Commission Into Antisemitism After Bondi Attack
Grandparents of 10-year-old Matilda, who was killed during a mass shooting targeting a Hanukkah celebration on Sunday, grieve at the floral memorial to honor the victims of the mass shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Australia, Dec. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jeremy Piper
More than 60 notable Australian sports figures penned an open letter on Sunday calling for the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to immediately form a federal royal commission into antisemitism, radicalization, and the events leading up to last month’s terrorist attack at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach.
“A royal commission is the most credible and unifying pathway to understanding what went wrong, ensuring accountability, restoring social harmony, and taking Australia forward with a meaningful, practical plan of action,” they argued in their letter. “As Australians who have long championed unity and national pride – on the field and beyond it – we implore our leaders to act with urgency and moral clarity. The safety of Australians, and the future cohesion of our nation, depends on it.”
The sports icons added that the Dec. 14 mass shooting in Sydney, in which 15 Jewish people were killed and dozens more were injured, was “a national crisis, and it demands a national response.” They explained how the attack, perpetrated by who law enforcement described as two Islamic State-inspired gunmen, “did not occur in isolation” and took place following “more than two years of escalating extremism, intimidation, and unchecked radicalization within Australia.”
The open letter‘s signatories include Olympic gold medalists Jessica Fox and Ian Thorpe, rower Mike McKay, Sydney Swans soccer player Isaac Heeney, hockey player Danni Roche, former Olympic swimmer Dawn Fraser, former tennis player Lleyton Hewit, and former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Former Labor federal senator and Olympian Nova Peris also signed the open letter, as well as John Alexander, an ex-tennis player who was formerly a Liberal member of Parliament.
“As sporting leaders, we understand that leadership matters, especially when values are tested,” the letter noted. “We call on the prime minister and the Australian government to show decisive national leadership by confronting extremism and terrorism in all its forms, without fear or hesitation. We must also put an end to the unprecedented harassment, intimidation and violence that has been directed at the Australian Jewish community since Oct. 7, 2023.”
Australia has experienced a historic surge in antisemitic incidents over the last two years, amid the war in Gaza following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
The signatories of the letter said the world will be turning its attention even more to Australia in the near future because of the upcoming Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games. “The safety of our citizens, the integrity of our public spaces, and the values we project as a nation have never mattered more,” they stated in conclusion.
Family members of those murdered in the Bondi attack have previously called for a federal royal commission to investigate antisemitism and issues surrounding the mass shooting on Dec. 14. Similar sentiments were expressed in an open letter penned by more than 120 business leaders and public figures in the Business Council of Australia, and repeated by more than 200 judges. Senior Catholic bishops and Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay have also stated that a national inquiry into antisemitism in the country is needed.
“Understanding the deeper causes of violence is critical. The Bondi terrorist attack was driven by antisemitism. Confronting that directly must be a national priority,” Finlay said in a post on X on Dec. 31. “A federal royal commission is essential to fully understand what has happened and ensure it never happens again.”
The New South Wales government has instead chosen to run a state-based royal commission to investigate the attack, and the prime minister called for a review of intelligence and law enforcement agencies by the former Australian Security and Intelligence Service head Dennis Richardson. The federal government has also introduced tougher gun laws since the attack on Hanukkah.