Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

There's a small number of events in everyone's lifetime where you and everyone you know can remember where they were when they heard the news. There is no doubt, I think, that for every single Australian the tragic events at Bondi meet that category. For those of us who live in Sydney, we immediately, when we found out, made inquiries as to where our families and our children were, and immediately we were glued to television sets and to telephones, checking social media, as we watched the horrific events unfold. And what unfolded was a cowardly act of hate-filled antisemitism, one which every single right-minded Australian has condemned and will always condemn.

For the families of the victims, their lives were changed forever. But it's true to say our country was changed forever as well.

In the weeks since, we've mourned with and cared for Australia's Jewish community, and that caring must continue indefinitely. We must wrap our arms around that community and grieve alongside them, with all of them—especially, as I know many members have mentioned, for the tragic loss of Matilda, who was stolen at the tender age of 10. It has been said that there is a word in the English language for someone who loses their partner—'widow' or 'widower'; there's a word for someone who loses a parent—'orphan'; but there's no word for someone who has to bury their child, because it is too confronting and horrible a concept to be captured by a mere word. Every child is precious, and no parent should ever have to bury their child as Matilda's parents had to do.

As we saw the worst unfold, we also saw the best of Australia come forward: those who stood up to assist in the face of incomprehensible danger to themselves, whether they were formally first responders—and I want to recognise the bravery of the New South Wales police who were on site, and the surf lifesavers, who save lives every day but weren't contemplating having to save them in this context—or those who were simply having a day out with their families, who didn't contemplate that they would need to risk their own lives that day to save others, but risk their own lives and save others they did. Then there were those, of course, who weren't there, who couldn't be there, who couldn't help, but felt a visceral need to help, who lined up to donate blood in the days following, right around Australia, as the call went out to do. I had calls from constituents saying, 'We can't donate blood; there are not enough spots,' and had to explain to them that it wasn't because there weren't enough chairs; it was simply because demand was so high as, in the Lifeblood facilities in Blacktown, in Liverpool, and elsewhere in Western Sydney, people were simply taking all the spots to donate blood. So this was the very best of Australia.

But, overwhelmingly, today is about the parliament coming together as one, to extend our condolences to every family who lost someone in the Bondi tragedy—an empty chair at Hanukkah, an empty chair at Shabbat dinner, an empty chair at birthdays and family celebrations for eternity. That chair represents stories never told, adventures never shared and a life that should have been lived to the fullest. Every single right-minded Australian comes together with that sentiment. On behalf of my electorate and my community, I want to express that sentiment.

In the days following the attack, I was struck again by the spontaneous acts in Western Sydney, like the makeshift floral tribute which emerged in Cabramatta for people who couldn't get to Bondi to lay their wreaths at Bondi Pavilion. It was a simple street sign in Cabramatta that became a Western Sydney shrine, where mums, dads and families turned up on Saturdays and Sundays and quietly laid a wreath—again, as I said, showing that Western Sydney spirit, giving blood and supporting in any way that they could. Faith leaders throughout Western Sydney were uniting.

Western Sydney has been mentioned a little bit in recent days, which I regret, but I want to tell the story of Western Sydney coming together, in a very unified and strong fashion, to condemn this violence and to extend our condolences to every single impacted person. When Bondi was attacked, Australia was attacked. It's in Australia's DNA to reject antisemitism. It's in Australia's DNA to respect faith, to practice religion freely and to live together in peace. It's in Australia's DNA to stand with the Jewish community in their time of need. So let us gather in this parliament not only to remember and offer our sympathies but also to say that we will continue to do so for as long as those sympathies are accepted by the impacted Australians.

See this speech in context