Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We should not need to be here this week. This week of parliament should not have been necessary. On 14 December our nation changed. We witnessed the worst act of terror in Australia's history. Fifteen Australians were murdered at Bondi Beach, and 40 more were injured. They were gathered at a Hanukkah event. They came to celebrate faith, family and light. They were met with terror. This was one of the darkest days in our nation's history. This was not only an attack on the Jewish community; it was an attack on every Australian. It was an attack on our values. It was an attack on our way of life. These were lives—not statistics, not headlines. They were parents and grandparents, children and siblings, friends and neighbours. They were Australians. They were murdered in an act of violent extremism, an act designed to spread fear, to divide us and to silence our community. It will not succeed.

The Jewish community came to Australia for the same reason as so many others, including my own family. They came for safety—safety from war, safety from persecution, safety to raise their family and safety to practise their religion in peace. But this compact, the compact of Australia, has failed our Jewish community over the last two years. We have seen the rise of antisemitism in our schools, in universities, online, on our streets and in places of business. Worst of all, we have seen leaders weaponise this for political gain. This is simply not good enough. It is the responsibility of every Australian to say clearly that antisemitism has no home in Australia. Hatred has no excuse. Violence has no justification. We must do better. We must be better.

Today we also honour the heroes of Bondi, the police, the paramedics, the doctors and nurses, the members of the Bondi and North Bondi surf lifesaving clubs, the volunteers of Hatzolah and the ordinary people who ran towards danger. Boris and Sofia Gurman saw the Islamic State flag in one of the cars. They tried to stop the attackers, seizing his weapon, before being shot by a second rifle the shooter had in his car. Reuven Morrison charged one of the gunmen with only a brick. He was killed for his courage. Ahmed al-Ahmed disarmed one attacker, saving countless lives, before being shot twice. Geffen Bitton tried to help him and was critically wounded. On that day, they showed the best of Australia—courage, decency and self-sacrifice.

In the book of Psalms it is written:

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Today our nation is broken-hearted. We grieve with the families. We stand with the injured. We stand with the Jewish community. We stand together. There is a long road ahead. Trust must be rebuilt. Safety must be restored. We must walk that road together with unity, with resolve and with courage. My condolences go out to those we have lost. Lest we forget.

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