(1) Royal Omission Can't Address Causes

What do you call a can-opener that doesn't open cans? 
What do you call an investigation that doesn't investigate causes?
Whatever it is, that’s what you can call this Royal Commission into antisemitism and social cohesion. A non-Commission. A Royal Omission. It is avoiding its primary commission - to investigate the causes, to hopefully identify solutions. 

Last week the RC's public hearings closed, without having interrogated any sources of antisemitism. Think of that! 

The RC had ASIO submit about declines in national security measures under National Security Committee ministerial oversight, despite increasing National Security warnings about probable threats, particularly to Jews in Australia. (The Weekend Australian 5-6/9/26). And yet no government ministers responsible for these downgrades were interrogated. Ministers who allowed antisemitic threats to continue. Including the Prime Minister's role as chair of the National Security Committee of cabinet. Yesterday Howard called on Albanese to volunteer to face the music if the RC won't call him. 
We had the laws necessary to intercept and prosecute public antisemitic incitement to violence, but ministers responsible failed to approve their use. This RC failed to interrogate them. 

We all witnessed various public scenes of leaders inciting crowds to antisemitic violence, and yet:
No hate preachers were interrogated.
No anti-Israel or anti-Zionist lobbyists, protesters or organisers,
No Palestine Action Group leaders, no pro-Palestine protesters,
No university protest organisers were interrogated.
No socialist paper editors or authors,
No muslim,
No Nazi,
No promoters of anti-semitic views by Greens or The Muslim Vote. (The Australian 29/8/26 p15).
No one who has been publicly on record inciting antisemitic violence has been interrogated by this Royal Commission.

Commissioner Bell justified, “it is not the Commission's purpose to shame or to so further division in our society much less to try and resolve the rights and wrongs of particular disputes.”  

Imagine this justification being used by other RCs! 
Past Royal Commissions interrogated and even prosecuted the guilty. This is how they found solutions. Think of priests at the RC into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Heads rolled at NAB during the Banking RC. The RC heard plenty of victim statements, but so far has investigated none of the perpetrators identified. 

If the terms of reference are so narrow they won't allow interrogation of perpetrators and enablers, then they must be broadened!  Otherwise this can-opener won't open cans. 

In the future, some will claim we “already had a RC into antisemitism.” But did we really? Clearly we should call this the Royal Omission.