Alice Jordan-Baird (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Prime Minister's condolence motion this afternoon and, like my many colleagues before me, express my deepest sympathies for the families and loved ones of the 15 innocent people murdered at Bondi Beach on 14 December 2025—15 innocent lives lost: Boris and Sofia, Rabbi Schlanger, Dan, Peter, Alexander, Reuven, Rabbi Levitan, Tibor, Marika, Edith, Boris, Adam, Tanya and darling Matilda. To these families, the Bondi community and the entire country: we mourn with you, and we commit to doing everything we can to prevent something like this from ever happening again.

This is a dark moment for our nation. This horrific act of terrorism on Jewish Australians was an attack on every single Australian. There is no place for this antisemitism, hatred, violence and terrorism in our country. Australia is braver than those who seek to make us afraid.

I cannot express enough gratitude for those who risked their lives in aiding the victims, including members of the local lifesaving clubs; frontline responders such as New South Wales police and New South Wales ambulance and healthcare workers; and community groups such as Community Safety Group and Hatzolah. I want to repeat a statement made by the New South Wales Premier, Chris Minns, that members of the New South Wales police force, including two who were left in critical care, were shot in the front and not in the back. When our Australia was tested, our selfless public service ran towards the violence—risking their own lives to save others. That is the true meaning of public service. And then there's the heroism of everyday Australians, the men and women who responded at the scene: those who ran towards danger and those who comforted and protected others. Those like Ahmed al-Ahmed, who tackled the gunman and wrestled the gun out of his hand. Despite being shot twice, he kept going and, in doing so, saved the lives of countless people. Or like Jessica or 14-year-old Chaya, who each shielded toddlers they had never met before; they held and comforted them during the attack. Jessica and Chaya were both injured protecting the children. Or like Constable Dyson, a police officer who was profoundly injured while trying to protect his community. These acts of courage are essentially what it means to be Australian. In a moment that tested us, true heroism, bravery and selflessness came through. That is who we are. We are a nation built by migration and strengthened by multiculturalism. We are a nation of resilience, strength and endurance, where we look after each other and where hatred and extremism will not be tolerated. A month on, this is what we will choose to remember from that dark day.

But the attack didn't come from thin air. Children aren't born hateful, they learn it. And this kind of hatred is not Australian. Neo-Nazis proudly showing their faces outside a state Parliament House is not Australia. Attacks on places of worship are not Australia. Terror attacks in our cities, on our streets and on our beaches are not Australia, and we refuse to let those be Australia. I'm proud to represent one of the fastest-growing diverse electorates in the country. Like young Matilda's parents, who left Ukraine for a safer life in Australia, many of my constituents came to Australia to build a better life for their families. About one-third of people in my electorate of Gorton were born overseas. What we saw at Bondi was the worst of what hatred can become. People in my diverse community are no strangers to the everyday experience of hate. It is unacceptable that fear should shape the lives of any Australian.

In moments like these, how we respond in this chamber matters. The country looks to us, and we set the tone for the nation. After the Port Arthur massacre, the Bali bombings, the Lindt Cafe siege in Martin Place in Sydney and during COVID there was unity in this place. I thank my colleagues for standing united. We stand together in grief and in action. Hanukkah is a story of survival—of hope and light, and of good triumphing over evil. We will let that message of hope and unity guide and inspire us, and we will act on it. I commend this motion to the House.

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