Corinne Mulholland (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this condolence motion before the Senate. Today we meet in the dark shadow of a profound moment of national grief and sorrow. We come together to honour the 15 innocent lives that were taken from us in a brutal act of terrorism on 14 December 2025. Today I bring with me the heartfelt condolences of the people of Queensland, and I extend our thoughts and our prayers to the families, the loved ones and Australia's Jewish community. While no form of words will ever take away the pain and suffering you have felt, it is only right that this Senate places on record our shared sorrow, our love for Jewish Australians and our resolve to meet this moment with strength and unity.

We have heard it said before that Australia is indeed the lucky country, and that is why we say:

Australians all let us rejoice,

For we are one and free;

We've golden soil and wealth for toil;

Our home is girt by sea …

Those are the words of our national anthem, and it is fair to say that there is nowhere more iconically Australian than the golden sands and salty air of Bondi Beach. It represents everything that we cherish about our Australian way of life—the red and yellow flags, fish and chips on the beach, children making sandcastles and families having fun. But on that balmy Sunday afternoon, Australian families were doing what they've always done down at the beach. They were enjoying the warm weather, eating a salty chip or two and, for thousands of people at the Chanukah by the Sea event, they were celebrating their culture and their faith. And in an instant, this place of joy, laughter and family fun became a place of terror and unimaginable loss. That day, hundreds of Jewish families gathered peacefully to celebrate Hanukkah, to bring life and love to this world, to affirm their faith and to celebrate hope. Instead, they were murdered while practising their faith.

Jewish Australians have the right to live, to worship, to gather, to celebrate, and they have the fundamental right to do this in peace and safety in our country. Jewish Australians are a proud part of our rich Australian history. They have contributed to every part of our lives as military leaders, political leaders, judicial officials, doctors, medical researchers, journalists, media personnel, thousands of our biggest retailers and gold-medal-winning sportspeople—just to name a few—and they should never be made to feel unsafe in a country they call home. We stand with them, not only in our words but in our resolve to protect their safety and our way of life. This is an obligation that sits on the shoulders of every person in this chamber, to meet this moment with unity and action, not division.

This terrorist attack unfolded not only on the foreshore of Bondi Beach but on millions of mobile phones and television screens across our nation. Australians watched on in horror as these events unfolded in real time, with video footage seemingly live streamed to us on social media from hundreds of vantage points, and from every corner of this country we witnessed the terror, the panic, the violence and the bloodshed that occurred that afternoon. The horrors we watched unfold on shaky mobile phone footage will haunt this nation for decades to come. This is a harrowing moment that no-one in this nation should turn away from; we must confront it head-on.

But in the midst of the absolute terror, we saw some amazing acts of courage and humanity. Festival-goers, beach-goers, passers-by—people with no duty to act—ran towards the sound of open gunfire and screams. They ran towards danger to help their fellow Australians—people they did not know, but they knew they needed their help. They shielded children, they tackled gunmen, they carried the wounded and they rendered first-aid. They were people from all backgrounds and all faiths, new Australians, like one of the heroes of the tragic event, Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Muslim man who reportedly immigrated to this country in 2006 from Syria. He went on to become an Australian citizen, a fruit shop owner and an Aussie hero. In one of the darkest hours, passers-by like Ahmed showed the very best of what it means to be Australian—mateship in times of adversity. Despite the best attempts of those two gunmen to strike fear into our hearts, to drive a wedge into this country, to divide us, the Australian spirit was alive and kicking that day, in the surf lifesavers who sprinted barefoot along the hot pavement towards danger, in the quick-thinking cafe owners and shopkeepers who locked their doors and shielded customers from danger.

We also must recognise our first responders who put their lives on the line, the paramedics, doctors and nurses, who worked around the clock to save lives, the blood bank workers at Red Cross, who managed an overwhelming response of Australians queueing up to donate blood. We thank all of them for their service and we acknowledge the heavy toll that these events have on first responders.

In times like this, we turn to the things that anchor us—our family, our values, our faith. In the Christian faith, we are taught to love thy neighbour—to love thy neighbour not only when it is easy, not only when you agree with them, not only when you worship the same god—always. Just like love, we must know that hate is also a choice. But love alone is not enough to stand against hate. We must take action, and this Senate has that opportunity to take action tomorrow. I implore senators to join with us tomorrow in taking action.