Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of Bennelong, I express my heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in the terror attack at Bondi late last year. Their loss is immeasurable and their grief is something no words in this place can ease. I want those impacted to know that they are not alone and that their loss and trauma is recognised and mourned in this place, in Bennelong, and right across the country. The lives lost were sons and daughters, partners, friends, community leaders and colleagues. Fifteen lives were lost: people with routines, plans and futures that were cruelly taken away from them in an instant by a despicable act of terror and hate.

As I come into this place today, I know I am carrying more than my own words. I'm carrying the voices of people right across my community, in Bennelong, who have reached out to me over the last four weeks, sharing their sadness, their shock, their anger and their disbelief that this tragedy could happen here in Australia. Over recent weeks, I've spent time with our community in Bennelong, who, like all of us, are trying to make sense of what has happened. People have spoken to me about fear for their families, about the shock of seeing such violence occur in our suburbs and about the weight that they have been carrying since 14 December.

For many in the Jewish Australian community, it has compounded existing fears and anxieties and reinforced legitimate concerns about antisemitism and personal safety. This reality needs to be acknowledged openly and plainly. Antisemitism must be called out and condemned wherever it appears. Further, hatred directed at people because of who they are—their race, their religion, their gender or their sexuality—has no place in Australia and mustn't be allowed to fester in our communities. The response of this parliament, both from the government and the opposition, must be to root this hate out and pass laws to eradicate it.

I'd like to thank the members of Bennelong's local Jewish community and the leaders and members of North Shore Temple Emanuel. Since October 7, they've shared with me their stories of exhaustion and worry. They've spoken about a deep sense of grief and sadness but also about a feeling that this attack in Bondi did not come as a shock to them. For many in the Jewish community, concerns about safety and targeting have been raised for a long time, and there's a strong sense that the seriousness of those concerns has not been understood or heard.

That sense of fear was made real at Bondi on 14 December. Just 20 minutes away, local families from my community in Bennelong were in St Ives; they were gathered to celebrate Chanukah on the Green at the same time as the attack in Bondi. Children and families there were placed into lockdown, frightened and uncertain about what was happening in Sydney.

What I've heard for a while, but even more since Bondi, is a clear message: that living in fear should not be normal and Australia can no longer accept that the Jewish community need to live this way. One member of Bennelong's local Jewish community put it to me in a way that has struck a chord. He said to me, 'My wife and I have two children, who are now adults, who we had to take through security to kindergarten, to school and to synagogue. Now we have grandchildren, and we are doing the same with them—only the security required has increased, not decreased.' To say this is disheartening is an understatement. As a country, as local communities and as this parliament, we have to smash that reality, which has existed for too long in this country. Antisemitism has to stop. I'll advocate for and support laws designed to stop it.

In moments like this, the way communities respond matters. I've seen people reach out quietly to one another across faiths, backgrounds and beliefs to offer support and reassurance. I've also seen that solidarity expressed in simple meaningful ways. In Bennelong, in the days after the attack, a community gathered for a Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony and, throughout Hanukkah, kept the Canopy screen at Lane Cove illuminated with the candles of the menorah. We had the lovely show of support by households across my community putting a lit candle in their front windows. The great Australian instinct to stand together is one of our greatest strengths. It's how our communities endure loss and overcome adversity. It is also how this parliament should respond—with unity and dignity in honour of those precious lives lost.

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