The events leading up to Australia’s worst mass shooting in decades will go under the microscope in a royal commission tasked with investigating antisemitism and failures in the nation’s intelligence agencies.

After weeks of political pressure from Jewish groups, business leaders, sporting greats and the federal opposition, Anthony Albanese has announced a Commonwealth probe into the Bondi mass shooting.

Former High Court judge Virginia Bell will lead the inquiry, despite opposition from some members of Australia’s Jewish community because of her past rulings which have helped overturn anti-protest laws.

Bell – who previously who led a probe into Scott Morrison’s multiple ministries saga – has been asked to look into the nature and prevalence of antisemitism and religiously motivated extremism.

She will also examine the circumstances surrounding the December 14 terror attack, and has been empowered to make any other recommendations needed to strengthen Australia’s social cohesion.

The former justice will report back to the government by the one-year anniversary of the Bondi attack, Albanese said.

“This was an antisemitic terrorist attack, aimed at Jewish Australians, inspired by ISIS. The deadliest that has ever occurred on Australian soil,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“Of course, a royal commission is not the beginning or the end of what Australia must do to eradicate antisemitism, or protect ourselves from terrorism, or strengthen our social cohesion. That’s an ongoing national effort for all of us as individuals, but also institutions.

“Here in Australia, light will always triumph over darkness.”

Fifteen people were killed and dozens more injured in the attack carried out by father-and-son duo Sajid and Naveed Akram when the pair opened fire on Jewish Australians celebrating Hanukkah.

A separate inquiry led by former spy chief Dennis Richardson is investigating the role of Australia’s intelligence agencies and will be rolled into the federal investigation.

A NSW royal commission into the attack may also be rolled into the federal inquiry.

The Bondi shooting was the deadliest antisemitic attack in Australia. Photo: AAP

Ahead of Albanese’s announcement of the commission on Thursday afternoon, ex-Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg had blasted the push for Bell to run the probe, saying Jewish leaders had expressed “serious concerns” about the appointment.

“After more than two years of unprecedented hate, harassment and violence directed towards the Jewish community, culminating in Australia’s deadliest terrorist attack at Bondi Beach, it is unthinkable the Prime Minister would choose a commissioner that did not have the total confidence of the Jewish community,” Frydenberg, previously the coalition’s most senior Jewish MP, said in a post on social media platform X.

“This is the time to do the right thing and call a commonwealth royal commission with the appointment of the right commissioner whose leadership will provide the answers and solutions our country so urgently needs.”

Opposition frontbencher Jonno Duniam had also expressed concern about Bell, saying a trio of commissioners would be better placed to lead the probe.

But Ben Saul, a widely respected expert on international law and the United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights, said Bell was highly regarded, fair, and impartial.

“It is time to stop politicising any Bondi inquiry,” the professor said in a post on X.

–AAP