The royal commission already looked rushed. Now it’s ‘embarrassment all round’

March 12, 2026 — 4:17pm

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Dennis Richardson’s shock resignation from the antisemitism royal commission will rattle Australians’ faith in the inquiry’s ability to determine how the worst terror attack in Australian history occurred.

After 15 innocent people were gunned down at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach late last year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the former ASIO and Defence Department boss was uniquely qualified to scrutinise whether any policing or intelligence failures contributed to the attack.

When Albanese bowed to public pressure to hold a royal commission, he said Richardson would continue his work and fold it into commissioner Virginia Bell’s probe.

Now Richardson has stepped away with just a month-and-a-half remaining until Bell is scheduled to deliver her interim report. The news blindsided Jewish community leaders, who had been given no indication he was about to quit.

An inquiry that already looked rushed, facing questions about its effectiveness, has now suffered a major reputational blow, inflicted from within. In Richardson’s own words, his departure is an “embarrassment all round”.

Presented to the public as a crucial contributor to the royal........

© The Age