Share and Follow
The tragic events of December 14, in which a hail of gunfire claimed the lives of 15 individuals, left a community in mourning. Among the victims was 68-year-old Boris Tetleroyd, who found himself at the heart of the attack allegedly orchestrated by a father and son duo.
In the wake of this horrific incident, Jenny Roytur, Tetleroyd’s niece, has stepped forward to voice her dissatisfaction with the response from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. She openly criticized the prime minister, dismissing his recent apology as insincere.
“Our community has repeatedly warned our governments, anticipating a tragedy of this nature,” Roytur expressed to 9News. “Now that it has occurred, empty words from our leaders offer no solace, especially when they arrive over a week too late.”
Roytur’s frustrations extend beyond the apology, as she calls attention to the prime minister’s reluctance to initiate a federal royal commission. She argues that without a thorough investigation, the families of the victims are left without the answers they desperately seek, compounding their grief.
Roytur said the prime minister’s refusal to hold a federal royal commission and give the victims’ families answers is adding to their pain.
“Every single person who was hurt or murdered, all of their blood is on their hands,” she said.
“Silence is complacency, and this is where we got to.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong joined Albanese in expressing her regret and apologising.
“I’m desperately sorry for what has occurred in our country and what the Jewish community have experienced,” she said in a statement.
“Of course, always in politics and in life, you always regret what more could have been done. I think we’ve made that clear. We acted, but we have to do more, and we are.”
While her assistant minister, Matt Thistlewaite, added that all of government was sorry.
“Every single member of our government is deeply, deeply sorry for the atrocities that were committed against Australia’s Jewish community,” he said.
But Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said, “words are not enough”.
”The way we honour the victims of this tragedy is by confronting uncomfortable truths and taking action,” she said.
The Coalition has been calling for a federal royal commission and proposed their own draft terms of reference to get the ball rolling.
Albanese has repeatedly rejected calls to hold a federal royal commission, saying that there is already a state version, a departmental review and investigation running at the same time.
He said it would delay action and could take years.
“Royal Commissions take years [and] they take even longer to implement the recommendations,” Thistlewaite said.
There is no sign that the government will change its stance when it recalls parliament early to implement a series of legislative changes in response to the Bondi attack.