EXCLUSIVE: A former Australian government minister said a combination of Islamic extremism, government inaction and lax security screening measures for migrants from Middle Eastern hotspots were all factors that led to the nation’s worst-ever terrorist attack.
Former Australian Treasurer and Member of Parliament Josh Frydenberg told Fox News Digital from Sydney that, "While guns may have stolen the lives of the 15 innocent souls killed at Bondi Beach, it was actually radical Islam which pulled the trigger." He said the government’s response to the deadly attack has focused on the weapon rather than the ideology behind the violence.
"We’ve taken thousands of people from the terrorist hotspot in the Middle East, namely Gaza," Frydenberg said in a Zoom interview with Fox News Digital. "We have also taken people from many other countries without sufficient security checks, and we are paying a price in Australia for having people in our country who do not share the same commitment that I do and others do to democratic ideals."
Frydenberg’s remarks come as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has moved to tighten Australia’s already strict gun laws in the wake of the massacre, announcing plans for a new national gun buyback scheme and additional firearms restrictions. But in an interview with Fox News Digital, Frydenberg said the measures risk avoiding a harder reckoning with what he described as years of ignored extremism, rising antisemitism and security failures that left Jewish Australians increasingly vulnerable.
"The government needs to do a lot more to tackle the hate preachers, to tackle the organizations that are spreading that hate and to ensure that they prosecute those people who are inciting violence."
Frydenberg said Australia has failed to take steps adopted by other Western democracies, including banning extremist groups that remain legal inside the country.
"Hezbat al-Tahrir, which is banned in the United Kingdom, banned in Germany, banned in moderate Islamic states, is not banned in Australia, and it should be."
Asked whether Jewish Australians feel safe, Frydenberg said the situation has reached a breaking point.
"Australia is unsafe for Jewish people right now," he said, citing what he described as an unprecedented escalation in harassment, intimidation and violence since Oct. 7, 2023.
"We’ve seen Jewish artists that have been doxxed, Jewish businesses that have been boycotted, houses of worship, synagogues that have been firebombed, as well as childcare centers," he said. "Our universities are no longer homes of education. They’ve become hotbeds of hate as people have harassed and intimidated and acted violently towards Jewish students and staff."
His warnings gained renewed attention this week after a separate television interview he gave to Australia’s ABC network went viral following a tense exchange with anchor Sarah Ferguson, who questioned whether his criticism of the government should be viewed through a political lens.
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"I’m deeply offended by what you just said," Frydenberg responded. "That is an insult. That is an insult to say that there’s any political motivation in this."
"My children go to a school where there are armed guards outside," he continued. "When I visit a Jewish Aged Care Center, there are armed guards outside. When I send my kids to Jewish sporting clubs, there are police cars out there and police tape. How should we live with this? Why should we live with this?"
Frydenberg rejected the suggestion that his warnings were partisan, arguing the issue cuts across politics.
"This is not a partisan issue. This is a leadership issue. This is about the safety and the security and the soul of Australia," he said.
He told Fox News Digital the Albanese government’s response will ultimately be judged by what it does next, not by public statements.
"They won’t be judged by their words," Frydenberg said. "They’ll only be judged by their actions, and they’ll need to do a lot more than they’ve announced today in order to turn the situation around."
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