‘Cried inconsolably’: MP reveals son’s fear after Bondi

Lucinda Garbutt-Young and Melissa Meehan | July 24, 2026

A prominent Jewish politician has emotionally recalled how his seven-year-old son no longer feels safe going into synagogues or crowded places. 

Holding back tears, Liberal MP Julian Leeser recalled to an inquiry the moment news broke of the shooting on December 14. 

He was attending a different Hanukkah event in northern Sydney, where he made a speech before being pulled aside by a rabbi who said shots had been fired at Bondi. 

“My son at that time was seven and my daughter was three,” Mr Leeser told a royal commission into anti-Semitism on Friday. 

“And my son had overheard the adults talking about the fact that people had been shot and killed in Bondi. He cried inconsolably.”

The member for Berowra said he was unable to guarantee his son would be safe, which had made the boy scared to enter synagogues or community events. 

“What sort of Australia are we setting up that a seven-year-old child doesn’t feel safe going to a place of worship?” Mr Leeser said. 

“That’s not the Australia I know and love and it’s not the Australia I want for my children or anyone’s children.”

The commission has spent a week hearing about security measures used before and after the Bondi attack to keep Jewish communities safe. 

Earlier, the inquiry heard of an anonymous phone call in which synagogue attendees were called “maggot rat Jews”.

A Melbourne place of worship was called by an unknown woman on October 3, who allegedly told the recipient Jews were “genocidal”, pedophiles and that their days were numbered. 

Victoria Police assistant commissioner Martin O’Brien confirmed no incident fact sheet had been logged for the call, which is required for any prejudice-motivated crime that relates to racial, political or ideological circumstances. 

Mr O’Brien said the force had “automatic scanning” every day of incidents, along with human analysts to consider threats.

But another incident, in which a 5.5-metre swastika was graffitied on a construction site, was also not recorded as being motivated by prejudice. 

Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Stephen Nutt gave evidence in a closed hearing because of the sensitive nature of his testimony, along with several other witnesses. 

Mr Leeser’s testimony will help shape the royal commission’s understanding of the police data collection processes relevant to assessing risk to the Jewish community and the role of emergency preparedness and resilience training. 

The royal commission was called after 15 people were killed and dozens more injured when two gunmen opened fire at the Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach.

Hearings in Melbourne are probing security risk assessments and the relationship between law enforcement agencies and Jewish security groups.