Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Fifteen blessings. Fifteen rays of light. Fifteen beacons of hope. Fifteen beautiful, innocent lives gone—lost, taken, stolen—in a hail of hateful bullets, a mad and bad fury of mere minutes when iconic, peaceful Bondi Beach changed forever. These were 15 Australians—strangers to most, but Australians. They loved and were loved.

This country is girt by sea. We know this because we sing it every time we join in the national anthem. Bondi provides some of that girt. It encircles, fastens and helps to bind Australia. Our Jewish Australian community does the same. On 14 December, hundreds of Jewish Australians gathered at Bondi to celebrate and to commemorate. Hanukkah is about the victory of light over dark. What took place on that day of infamy should never, ever have happened—not anywhere and certainly not here in our law-abiding, peace-loving country. But let's be honest. Let's look deep into our hearts and minds. If we were that law abiding and peace loving, then how does something so terrible and terrifying occur?

We need to be better as a nation and as a people. But will we? Already, in the short, sad days since the worst terrorism attack on Australian soil, we have seen and heard more of the antisemitism, the radical Islamist extremism, that has been allowed to spread like a cancer through society across our communities, even regionally. This must stop. It has to end now, for little Matilda's sake if nothing else. When a state premier, Chris Minns, and a police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, ask that a particular protest not go ahead, those requests must be upheld and honoured by the judiciary who head up our courts.

Our New South Wales police, and all first responders to this incident, were magnificent. They were. They ran to help when harm threatened. The ordinary, everyday heroes were courageous in the true Australian spirit of mateship, of bravery and of humanity. Locally, for my electorate, candlelight vigils were held at Wagga Wagga on 18 December, when the mercury hovered around 40 degrees Celsius, and three days later at Yass, when it rained heavily—tears from heaven. Both were touching ceremonies. Thank you, Riverina.

I communicated this morning with my good friend Jewish Australian Josh Frydenberg, the former federal treasurer. This is what he said: 'This is Australia's fight. Jews are the canary in the coalmine. It is critical the government supports the victims' families in a big way. Many of them have very limited financial means. Securing the royal commission was the result of people power.' And he's right, of course. Josh, as has every Jew, has especially felt this tragedy—this unnecessary tragedy. Jewish Australians have been let down. They have been badly let down. No more. May light always conquer darkness. May justice be served on the perpetrators and all of those who seek to do harm in words or actions to Jews in this life or the next. Shalom to the 15 victims and their families, whose lives have been irrevocably changed by this awful event. May the names of those so evilly murdered live forever in the conscience of a bereaved but, hopefully, better nation.

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