NSW Premier Chris Minns backs royal commission extension if needed

NSW Premier Chris Minns has backed extending the Royal Commission into Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion for a “couple more weeks” if needed, as calls in Canberra to extend the probe fail to gain traction.

Labor earlier this month voted against a motion by opposition education spokesman Julian Leeser seeking to extend the royal commission so that figures including government ministers could give evidence.

Peak bodies including the Executive Council of Australian Jewry have not publicly endorsed the move.

Asked about an extension during a press conference on Monday, Mr Minns said the royal commission was being used to get to “the fundamental truth of what happened” on the day of the Bondi Beach massacre and in the lead-up.

“If we need to for a couple of weeks longer, given that most of the expense was spent setting it up, that would seem to be money well spent because both the federal and the state government are relying on these recommendations to shape some of our policy,” he said.

Mr Minns said he had not seen who was yet to give evidence, but of the people who he had spoken to who had given evidence, “they’ve been satisfied both with the hearing they got and the platform that enabled them to make their case”.

“I’m hopeful that it (the royal commission) will speak to as large a number of people as possible and genuinely get the perspective of the community,” he said.

“If they (the royal commission) need more time, they should have it,” she said.

A change.org petition to extend the royal commission has so far gained more than 2300 signatures.

Organiser and Jewish Australian Marnie Perlstein claimed there had been “an alarming lack of accountability from political figures”.

“The commission was meant to be a thorough investigation into the rising tide of anti-Semitism and the societal tensions it fuels,” she said.

“However, with such a constrained timeline, it has not been possible to call upon all essential witnesses or explore the key drivers thoroughly.”

She claimed the probe needed to further examine pro-Palestine, left-wing, and anti-Zionist voices, many of which had given evidence into the inquiry about mistreatment they claimed to have also received.

Originally published as NSW Premier Chris Minns backs royal commission extension if needed