Malcolm Roberts was interviewed on a YouTube channel earlier this month where he was asked ‘do you think that Bondi was a false flag?’ Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenMalcolm Roberts was interviewed on a YouTube channel earlier this month where he was asked ‘do you think that Bondi was a false flag?’ Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty ImagesOne Nation senator Malcolm Roberts again fails to rule out Bondi beach terror attack being ‘false flag’Queenslander under pressure after YouTube interview where he said he was ‘not ruling it out’ but ‘I don’t have the facts yet’
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One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts has caused further confusion in comments about the Bondi beach antisemitic terror attack, clarifying that he thought it was an “absurd proposition” to call the shooting a “false flag” but standing by his claim that he didn’t have “data” to rule it out.
Roberts, Pauline Hanson’s fellow senator from Queensland, was interviewed on a YouTube channel, with the clip posted earlier this month. At one point in the 23-minute clip, social media creator Lisa Jane Spencer asked “do you think that Bondi was a false flag?”
A “false flag” is a term for an event or attack which would later be blamed on someone other than the actual perpetrator. The term originated in military operations, but is also commonly used by conspiracy theorists to claim governments stage false events to create favourable circumstances for actions which would otherwise be unpopular.
Roberts first responded “we haven’t had the royal commission”, before criticising prime minister Anthony Albanese’s initial opposition to holding such an inquiry, going on to claim Labor had tolerated antisemitism and “given fertile ground for Islamic terrorists”.
“So, what was the question? Oh that’s right, false flag. I haven’t got the evidence. I doubt whether it was a false flag,” Roberts said.
The interviewer responded: “it was a bit sus [suspicious] afterwards when the laws came out.”
Roberts replied: “I’m going to challenge you on that, because while what you said is correct, there are so many things in the last 30 years, but especially with Covid, that they seem to arrange something and then the laws would come. I can acknowledge that point, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the case here.”
“You asked me if I thought it was a false flag. If I make a statement, it’s got to be backed by fact. I don’t have the facts yet. I’m not ruling it out. You notice that?” Roberts said, before going on to discuss the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The 14 December shooting at a Chanukah festival at Bondi beach left 15 people dead. Within hours, police and investigators said they were treating the incident as an act of terrorism, allegedly inspired by Islamic State. One of the alleged shooters, Sajid Akram, was killed at the scene and his son, Naveed Akram, is before the courts, charged with dozens of offences including 15 counts of murder. The federal government has convened a royal commission into the attack and broader issues of antisemitism in Australia.
2:00'They came to kill us – we just weren't there,' Jewish woman tells royal commission – videoAt a press conference on Wednesday alongside Hanson and One Nation colleagues in Canberra, Roberts was asked why he said he was “not ruling it out” in the interview when asked about the attack being a false flag.
“First of all, it’s an absurd proposition,” Roberts replied.
“Second thing is that I reinforce the fact that I make decisions and statements based on data, and I don’t have data.”
Asked for clarification, Roberts urged media to “look at it in context. The lady interviewing me was very naive and very young, very inexperienced. And I was just being gentle with her”.
Under sustained questioning from other journalists, Hanson stepped in to defend her colleague, claiming he’d been taken out of context.
“We have shown our support for the Jewish community, for what’s happened in this country. We’ve been very supportive of the people at Bondi, against the Bondi attack. We’ve come out quite strong on that,” she said.
“You have to understand the terminology that Senator Roberts used in that interview is not, is being taken completely out of context.”
Roberts interjected to add: “The other thing is that the media is culpable for that woman’s question, because the media has misled. People don’t trust the media. They don’t trust you.”
Asked by another journalist if Roberts would confirm that he didn’t believe there was a “false flag” attack, he said: “that’s an absurd proposition”.
Hanson replied: “of course there’s no false flag”.
“I will answer because I’ve had this discussion with Senator Roberts, there is no false flag.”
“We’ve been very, very strong on the floor of parliament to support the Jewish community. We pushed for this royal commission to antisemitism. And we’ve been very strong on that.”
Allegra Spender, the member for Wentworth which includes Bondi, said on the ABC on Monday night that Roberts’ comments on the YouTube interview were “absolutely appalling”.
“I have been to funerals … it is completely out of line of what Asio, the security agencies and others know. It is an affront to the families who have lost their loved ones.”
