Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

To Boris Gurman, Sofia Gurman, Edith Brutman, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, Boris Tetleroyd, Marika Pogany, Adam Smyth, Matilda, Dan Elkayam, Peter Meagher, Tibor Weitzen, Reuven Morrison, Alexander Kleytman, Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, Tania Tretiak—to the victims of Bondi: may your memories be a blessing. To your friends and relatives: I wish you a long life.

What happened on 14 December at Bondi was a tragedy. It was a tragedy for those involved. It was a tragedy for the Jewish community in Australia.

The Jewish community in Australia is diverse. It has been here since first European settlement. Many of my relatives came here as convicts. They built a life that was aimed at service, at improving the community and at making the world a better place, and they have done so for generations.

The people that were murdered at Bondi were murdered by men who were not just antisemitic but anti civilisation. These people need to be rooted out, no matter where they come from. It isn't just Muslim extremism; we have extreme right-wing Neo-Nazis who want to do the same, and they must be rooted out. That's part of our responsibility as a government, and I apologise deeply to the people who were killed and who were injured that, as a country, we couldn't protect you. It makes me deeply sad.

The Jewish community in Sydney has clustered at Bondi for many generations. My dad went to school at Christian Brothers Waverley, just up the road. He lived in Birrell Street in Bondi. My mother and father met at a party on Bondi Beach—that was the first time they met. My grandfather, Randolph Griffiths, was one of the Bondi lifesavers involved on the Black Sunday rescue on 6 February 1938—the greatest surf rescue that has ever happened in Australia. Hundreds of people were rescued but, unfortunately, five people died. He later went on to become one of the founders of the Emanuel Synagogue in Woollahra.

The Jewish community has contributed to this country over many generations. It is diverse. The Chabad community is a religious community, a part of the Jewish community that has contributed significantly in the relatively short time that it has existed in Sydney. The Jewish community contributes, and there is a huge difficulty with understanding what has happened with antisemitism in the last few years. Why has this happened? It hasn't been built on nothing; antisemitism has existed in Australia since Jewish people have been here. I remember, as a younger person, the fire-bombing of the Bankstown Synagogue when I was a kid. Antisemitism has existed for a long time. It is important that we find out why this has ramped up, and it is important that we root it out. As I said, this is not just antisemitism; this is anti civilisation. There is not a person in this place, I know, who would not support measures to make sure we root out antisemitism in our community, because it's not just about the Jewish population: it's about all civilised people. We have to make change—we cannot continue on this road.

I congratulate the Prime Minister and the cabinet for their behaviour in the way they have dealt with this. I'm very proud to be part of a government that has dealt with this tragedy and is looking to further measures to make sure we don't have further episodes of antisemitism to this violent extent in Australia. But it's important that we reach into the depths of our society and look into why this has happened. We need to improve our civics education and we need to make sure that all communities are included in our society, and that none are excluded. I have been gratified, actually, by the contact I've had with people of all religions, from our local Buddhists to our local mosques, and people of all religions working in the health system with me. I look forward to a better future. We have seen at Bondi that great tragedy can be followed by great heroism. As a society, great disasters can be followed by great light and great improvement. This is what Hanukkah is about: light in the darkness.

I thank all those who have delivered messages of hope and positivity. We must look forward, not backwards, but we must make sure that this cannot happen again. Thank you.

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