Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was a long way from Bondi Beach on the evening of Sunday 14 December, at a community event to celebrate the festive season, up above the Hawkesbury River in part of the greater Blue Mountains. But, like so many others, I was only one person removed from knowing people who were there that evening, people who'd left the beach a little earlier, people who were about to go for their regular run, people who were at the surf lifesaving club for Christmas parties—and the connections go on.

However, it is not the proximity to danger that has created horror and anguish for people; it's the sheer evil act—the murder of 15 innocent people at Bondi Beach that evening, at a celebration for the first day of Hanukkah, in a horrific, targeted antisemitic attack. It's something none of us could have imagined would happen on Australian soil. As it should, this has left Australians reeling. Our thoughts are foremost with the 15 innocent victims and those who love them, whose lives have been changed forever by this loss and who are now suddenly navigating unimaginable grief. May the memory of those lost be a blessing.

Bondi is a special place. It's a meeting point between sand, sea and sky, between locals and visitors, and between generations. For Sydneysiders, it holds memories of our visits—as kids, as adolescents and as new parents—and, always, that feeling of being on one of the world's most famous beaches. It represents the freedom and safety that every Australian deserves. It represents the carefree, joyful spirit of our national character. It's a place that belongs to us all. To see such a place violated by an act of senseless violence has shaken Australians deeply because it has struck somewhere that felt shared, open and safe, a place where all Australians should be safe, and where Jewish Australians celebrating Hanukkah should have been safe. This attack on our Jewish community was an attack on all of us.

I want to also acknowledge those who were injured, physically and psychologically. I want to acknowledge the bravery of the first responders, some of whom I had the privilege of thanking this morning—representatives of Bondi and North Bondi lifesaving clubs and Waverley Council lifeguards. I also acknowledge the bravery and humanity of ordinary Australians who showed the best of who we are in the worst of circumstances—people who ran towards danger to protect others, strangers who offered shelter, comfort and first aid to other strangers, and the countless private, quiet gestures of care and sympathy.

I travelled from the Blue Mountains to Bondi a few days after the shooting. As I stood in the early morning light, I recognised that I was not alone in being drawn to that place to stand quietly alongside a community in mourning and to convey the respects of my own community. The objective of terrorist acts such as this is to divide us and to instil panic and suspicion in communities who are essentially full of goodwill. I understand the feeling of powerlessness that many Australians felt in the aftermath of this horrific attack. But I also understand that, as a community, our power lies in how we respond to this atrocity. Every act of compassion, kindness and unity is an act of defiance of these terrorists' will and a tribute to the memory of those victims. Every step we take to keep each other safe affirms our commitment to protecting life without surrendering the openness and respect that define us as a society. This attack did not take place in my local community, but it was an attack on the values shared by the entire Australian community.

In 1623, the English poet John Donne wrote:

No man is an island,

Entire of itself;

Every man is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

…   …   …

Any man's death diminishes me,

Because I am involved in mankind.

As Australians, we are all diminished by this loss. To Jewish Australians, to the Bondi community and to those directly affected by this attack, we say clearly that this parliament stands with you and shares in your grief. To all Australians, may we respond to hatred not by shrinking from one another but by standing closer together with resolve, with compassion and with humanity. May our response honour the 15 innocent lives lost and the values of Australian society of which they were such a treasured part.

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