Sean Bell (NSW, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today with a heavy heart to offer One Nation's sincerest and deepest condolences following the radical Islamist terrorist attack at Bondi.

Before I begin, I will address that Senator Hanson is not here to speak to this motion because I know she deeply wishes she could be here. Senator Hanson, as leader of One Nation, would ordinarily be the first in this chamber to speak on behalf of One Nation. If she were in this chamber, she would be the first to stand in solidarity with Australia's Jewish community and to condemn the evil that has been done. However, she is currently excluded from the Senate for raising the very serious threats facing every Australian community. It is an evil that has been exposed that permeates in Australia today, an evil that was directed towards Jewish Australians at Bondi Beach 36 days ago: the evil of radical Islamic terrorism. It is an evil that took the lives of 15 innocent Australians. It is an evil that our Prime Minister is refusing to name. So I say directly to the Jewish community, Pauline Hanson stands with you. She has your back. One Nation's door remains open to you not only in the immediate days of grief but in the longer months of recovery and the hard work of restoring confidence and safety.

Today is first and foremost a moment for mourning. To the families who have lost loved ones, there is no speech that can ease the weight that you carry. There are no words that restore what has been taken. There is only the truth that your loved ones mattered, their lives were precious and that this nation grieves with you.

To those who were injured and to those who witnessed scenes that will never leave them, we acknowledge the trauma that terrorism inflicts. It does not end at the scene; it follows people home. It returns in the quiet moments. It changes the way regular, everyday places feel. This parliament must not forget you when the vigils end and the media's attention shifts elsewhere.

We also acknowledge the extraordinary courage and decency shown in the middle of this horror—those unarmed civilians who ran towards danger, our first responders and the everyday Australians who help shield strangers instinctively, without hesitation and without regard for their own lives or personal safety.

This act of radical Islamic terrorism leaves a distinct wound for Australia's Jewish community because it struck at a moment that should have been defined by family, faith and light. Hanukkah is a festival of light. It is festival to celebrate identity, faith and the collective courage of the Jewish people. It should have been a safe, joyful gathering, a community celebration by the sea. Instead, it was turned into a scene of terror and grief.

To the Jewish community in Australia, particularly those in and around Bondi, One Nation stands with you. We see your grief. We recognise the fear that follows an attack like this, and we affirm, without qualification, that Jewish Australians have the right to live openly, safely and proudly in this country without intimidation and without threat. No Australian should have to calculate a risk to their lives or their safety before attending a community event. No parent should have to wonder whether a celebration is safe for their children to attend. This is not acceptable, and it must never become normal.

Today we grieve and we honour 15 victims whose lives were taken. They were not a headline. They were not a statistic. They were people with names, families, histories, hopes and futures that have been stolen. Each of these lives mattered. Each one leaves a space that cannot be filled. We hold each of them in our hearts and we hold their families in our prayers.

Jewish Australians have contributed immeasurably to our national life. You have built businesses, served in medicine and law, enriched culture and scholarship, strengthened civil society and helped shape the Australia that we are proud of. And you have done so while carrying a history that makes the threat of antisemitism especially frightening and especially personal. So let me say this without hesitation: you belong here. Your right to gather, to worship, to celebrate, to live openly and proudly as Jews in Australia is not negotiable. It's not conditional. It's not something granted by the goodwill of others. It is your right as Australians.

Australians of many backgrounds have stood with the Jewish community after this attack, and we acknowledge and respect that solidarity. But we cannot respond to a radical Islamic terrorism with soft language or comfortable evasions. We cannot protect communities if we will not confront the drivers of this violence: radicalisation, indoctrination and the organised spread of an extremist Islamic ideology that claims this violence is righteous—because this was not a random attack; it was terrorism animated by an extremist worldview that treats civilians as legitimate targets and treats Jewish life as something to intimidate and drive from public spaces.

Radical Islamists sought to terrorise a community and send a message of fear. One Nation condemns, without reservation, this violent ideology that preaches extremism, glorifies terror and incites religious violence in our home. We condemn the ideological network that seeks to 'globalise the intifada', celebrate violence and encourage sedition and hostility towards Australians living peacefully in our own country. When violence is tolerated, excused or romanticised, it becomes permission, it becomes recruitment, it becomes actions and, across time, when it isn't named, called out or confronted, it festers until it chooses the terms of engagement.

If you refuse to name the causes of antisemitism and refuse to name the ideology driving it—radical Islamic extremism and radical left-wing agendas—you are not being neutral; you are giving it room to grow. When a group of thugs stands on the steps of the Opera House and chants, 'Gas the Jews,' you must confront it. When firebombs are thrown at synagogues by thugs acting on behalf of a radical Islamic foreign power, we must take action. And, when protesters march in our streets calling for a globalised intifada, we must deal with them. But we have not seen any of this done in a timely fashion by the Albanese Labor government. What we have seen is this government call people who demand action at the time—they called them alarmist; they even called them racist. History is blunt about what happens when warnings about these dangers are treated as alarmist. A threat doesn't become less real because people find it awkward to say out loud. In 1963, Winston Churchill gave a warning about delay in confronting extremism, and it is as relevant today as it was then. The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedience, of delays is coming to its close. In its place, we are entering a period of consequences. And, on 14 December, we saw the consequences of this Labor government's inaction.

So we will stand with the Jewish community. We will stand with you as you mourn, as you rebuild and as you seek reassurance that Australia remains a place where Jewish people can gather freely, worship freely and celebrate freely. We will insist that the government and institutions focus on prevention, identifying Islamic extremist radicalisation early, disrupting networks that promote violence, enforcing our existing laws and ensuring our Border Force, law enforcement and security agencies have the resources and support they need to stop those who hold radical Islamic beliefs from coming to Australia; deport those who share these dangerous, violent beliefs from Australia; and stop future attacks before they occur. And we will speak plainly about the need to confront the Islamist extremist recruitment and incitement that is taking place in our communities and the need to stamp it out, because the safety of our own people matters more than any hurt feelings, cultural tensions or political games that may be going on. So we say today with sorrow but with steel, 'We will confront it, we will disrupt it, we will drive it back and we will not allow extremists to set the boundaries of Australian life.'

To the families who have lost: we cannot remove your grief, but we can honour your loved ones by refusing to forget them, by refusing to excuse what happened and by doing the hard work required to prevent another family from receiving the same awful news. To the Jewish community: you are not alone. You are not expected to carry this quietly. You have allies in this country and you have an open door with One Nation as you navigate the path forward. May God comfort the grieving, heal the injured and strengthen our nation.