00:00More than 20 former Labor MPs, senators and party officials have signed an open letter
00:10calling for a Federal Royal Commission and they've also raised concerns that a state
00:17level inquiry won't have enough power. Now, before Christmas, we saw Labor MPs Mike Freelander
00:24and Ed Husic break ranks and call for a Royal Commission in the wake of the Bondi terror attack
00:32today, evidence that pressure is mounting within the Prime Minister's own party. Now, similar to
00:39other groups that have called for a Royal Commission, these former Labor politicians
00:44would like it to examine the causes of the Bondi terror attack, but also the broader
00:54ecosystem of hate and terror, as well as the capacity of agencies to monitor terrorist threats.
01:01Now, this is the latest group to make calls for a Royal Commission at the Commonwealth level. Within
01:09the past week, we've seen business leaders and sporting stars make the same call. Among the
01:17signatories within today's open letter is Mike Kelly. He's a former federal minister for defence
01:25material and also president of the Labor Israel Action Group. And there are a raft of other
01:33former Labor politicians that have also signed this open letter. Now, one of the unique aspects from this
01:41group and the calls that are being made is that they argue that a New South Wales led Royal Commission
01:47wouldn't be able to compel individuals and institutions to give evidence outside of its jurisdiction.
01:55The federal government has repeatedly said that it will cooperate with a New South Wales Royal
02:01Commission. But these former Labor politicians say that that just won't have the same level of powers as a
02:09Royal Commission at the Commonwealth level would have. Now, the Prime Minister and the government have
02:16has now resisted these calls for weeks. Yesterday, we saw Treasurer Jim Chalmers say that these calls for
02:24the Commonwealth Royal Commission come overwhelmingly from a good place and that he respects a lot of the
02:31voices that are making these calls. But the government continues to dig in its heels this morning,
02:37with Health Minister Mark Butler also reiterating that the government plans to stick to its approach
02:44of a review into intelligence and law enforcement agencies led by former spy boss Dennis Richardson.
02:52This all also comes as yesterday we heard that Parliament is now expected to return weeks earlier than
03:00initially planned this year as the federal government looks to urgently pass reforms to both gun and hate
03:08speech laws that were announced in the wake of the Bondi terror attack. However, the government has faced
03:16criticism from particularly the opposition leader Susan Lee, who says that Parliament should have
03:21returned much earlier. Independent Senator David Pocock has also been critical that a return date
03:28hasn't yet been announced. But Health Minister Mark Butler earlier defended the government's approach.
03:34Let's take a listen.
03:36Well, our government is back at work when the parliament is not in session. I can assure your
03:42viewers of that. Our officials, our ministers have been working day in, day out right through this
03:47period. And you can go to other crossbench MPs who've also made the point that they don't want
03:52parliament record until the laws are ready, until the laws are legally watertight. And that's what we
03:58are working on. So now we're yet to see specifics of the legislation that will be introduced when
04:06parliament returns. But as flagged earlier, we are expecting it will be around those gun and hate
04:12speech laws. And we're also still anticipating the announcement of an exact date of that return as
04:19well. Meantime, Romy, the Prime Minister is touring flood grounds in northwest Queensland this morning.
04:25Yeah, that's right. So the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to head to that flood zone today and
04:33assess the flood damage. Now, whilst there are still warnings in place, and the flooding is still
04:42occurring there, we are starting to hear, I guess, the extent of devastation in that region.
04:49Figures such as more than 19,000 head of stock reported dead or missing, more than 900 kilometres
04:57of fencing damaged, and almost 1,600 kilometres of private roads affected. So the flood water is still
05:06receding. So those figures could rise. And there are still multiple flood warnings in place across the
05:11region. But the Prime Minister will head to Cloncurry near Mount Isa today to visit and see the extent of
05:20damage. We are anticipating that he will do a press conference. So as well as being asked about
05:27the local impacts and support available, we are expecting that he will field a number of
05:34additional questions on this mounting pressure to call a Royal Commission. Gemma?
05:38Romy Stephens there at Parliament House.
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