<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today defended his pick of former High Court Justice Virginia Bell to lead the Bondi terror attack royal commission, insisting she would do an "outstanding job".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Following three weeks of pressure from across the Australian community, Albanese folded yesterday and announced a royal commission into the deadly attack.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But some Jewish leaders have expressed concerns Bell, a former NSW Supreme Court judge, is not sympathetic to their concerns.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/royal-commission-into-antisemitism-and-social-cohesion-announced-after-bondi-attack/e0e904a6-e291-413e-a47c-9213be5343d7" rel="" target="_blank" title="Prime Minister calls Bondi attack royal commission"><strong><span>Prime Minister calls Bondi attack royal commission</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Albanese told Today this morning others had been considered for the royal commissioner role, but Bell was the person best qualified.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The fact is that there was consultation, there were a range of names mentioned, more than a dozen different names were floated by different people.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There is no one, though, of Virginia Bell's standing. The only former High Court justice who has been raised, the only person who has that background in criminal law, someone who is widely respected across the board," he said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/prime-minister-defends-bondi-beach-shooting-royal-commissioner-virginia-bell/4428e9b6-5efa-435b-9482-a0f299452120" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jewish leaders have welcomed the royal commission, but some have questioned her appointment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Among them was former Coalition treasurer Josh Frydenberg, a prominent voice calling for a wide-ranging federal inquiry into the Bondi attack.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/bondi-victim-has-named-changed-while-in-hospital/3cfa267d-8d4e-4829-b4af-2971e3af5eb1" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>'Ripped of my identity': Bondi terror victim says name was changed in hospital</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said Bell was a "very experienced and top jurist" but questioned her appointment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I would have thought after the last two and a half years of terror and trauma, the prime minister would have got the support of Jewish leaders in our country for his choice to head up the royal commission. Before the name was floated publicly.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"That unfortunately did not happen."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Albanese defended the federal government's wait in creating a royal commission, insisting he didn't want a "spontaneous" announcement and needed time to get it right.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We have spent hour after hour after hour with legal experts as well as with the community," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I was in a meeting for four hours days ago, which went through line by line with community leaders."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The review into the effectiveness of federal agencies in the Bondi attack that is currently underway will be folded into the royal commission, but will still deliver an interim report as expected in April.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The planned NSW royal commission into the incident has been scrapped, following the announcement yesterday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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