Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

President, senators, 14 December 2025 is a date that will live on in our collective memory. It will live on in the memory of 15 innocent people, in the 15 lives so horrifically stolen at Bondi—15 Australians and others who should still be with us, with their families, with their communities, with full lives of hope and love ahead of them. We remember them all, and we hold their families and loved ones in our hearts.

We remember Matilda, just 10 years old, who should be enjoying her school holidays and the sunshine but who has been stolen from all who loved her far, far too soon.

We remember Sofia and Boris Gurman, who came to Sydney from the Soviet Union. Married for 34 years, they saw the impending danger and they ran towards it—an astonishing act of selflessness, remarkable courage in the face of terror.

We remember Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who gave over 18 years of service to his community and was a key organiser of the Chanukah by the Sea event. At his funeral, Rabbi Aron Moss of Sydney's Nefesh community said of Rabbi Schlanger:

In his life and in his death, he towered above as one of the highest and holiest souls.

We remember Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, who was, at the time of the attack, helping his community do good deeds, mitzvahs. The two rabbis, Rabbi Schlanger and Rabbi Levitan, worked together for years. Their wives have been best friends since high school.

We remember Edith Brutman, who served with distinction as vice-president of the New South Wales branch of the international Jewish organisation B'nai B'rith. In the words of her family, she 'chose humanity every day'. They said:

She met prejudice with principle, and division with service.

We remember Boris Tetleroyd, who attended the event with his son Yaakov, who also sustained serious injuries. Boris is remembered as a gentle man and a gifted musician.

We remember Adam Smyth, a loving husband, father of four and passionate fan of Liverpool in the English Premier League. He was memorialised by his family with Liverpool's slogan, 'You'll never walk alone.'

We remember Marika Pogany, who came to Australia in 1968 from what was then Czechoslovakia. COA, where Marika volunteered, delivering kosher meals to seniors, will not forget her selflessness. She was someone who 'asked for nothing and gave everything'.

We remember Dan Elkayam, a scuba diver who loved the outdoors. Born and raised in France, he was just beginning to build a life in Australia—a life cut short so cruelly.

We remember Peter Meagher, a respected member of the NSW Police Force for 34 years and photographer for the Chanukah by the Sea event—his family's big brother, teacher and protector.

We remember Tibor Weitzen, who his granddaughter Leor said 'only saw the best in people'. He died a hero, making the ultimate sacrifice to shield others from gunfire.

We remember Reuven Morrison, who emigrated from the Soviet Union as a teenager in the 1970s and made Bondi his home. Armed with only a brick, he confronted a gunman with immeasurable courage.

We remember Tania Tretiak, adored by her family, who attended Hanukkah with her. She emigrated to Australia from Russia in 1992.

And we remember Alexander Kleytman, who survived the horrors of the Holocaust. He wrote two books to tell the story of Jewish heroes in the Soviet Union during and after the Second World War. In the words of his daughter, Sabina, 'He died doing what he loved most: protecting my mother and standing up and being a proud Jew.' He joins the ranks of those heroes whose lives he documented.

Fifteen names, 15 lives, 15 voices silenced, 15 absences which will be forever felt—they were innocent victims of the worst terrorist attack on Australian soil, along with 41 injured. It was a targeted, antisemitic terrorist attack inspired by extremist ideology, ISIS ideology, that devastated a Chanukah by the Sea celebration at Bondi Beach and devastated an entire community and an entire nation. On a day that Jewish Australians came together to celebrate all that Hanukkah stands for—hope and the victory of light over darkness—a community came together in joy and prayer on the first night of Hanukkah on what should have been a gathering of family and faith, a festival of life, and it became a massacre.

Australia stands with everyone affected; with the loved ones of those who were killed, whose lives have been shattered; with those still recovering from injury, whose healing will take time and whose trauma will endure; with the police, paramedics and emergency services who did not hesitate; and with the everyday Australians who showed so much courage in the face of terror. And we stand with the Jewish Australian community. We know that the attackers at Bondi targeted Australian Jews because of who they are, and we know they were inspired by hateful, violent, intolerant and extreme ideology that has no place in our country. We will not give terrorists what they seek, which is a divided nation. We will not allow them to shake our confidence in each other, to tear at what binds us or to turn Australian against Australian. Our patriotism demands that we do not let them. While Australia's Jewish community is experiencing unbearable hurt in a way that only they can comprehend, I say: please know you are not alone in your grief. The nation shares it with you and stands with you. We will not leave you to shoulder the burden of eliminating antisemitism alone.

I have said once and I say again: an attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on all of us. It is an attack on all Australians. It is an attack on the Australia we know and the Australia we cherish, where all are free to practise their faith, to follow their traditions and to live free from antisemitism, from prejudice and from discrimination; the Australia that lives up to that ideal of our country as a safe haven; and the Australia that offered refuge to thousands of Jews fleeing Nazi Germany.

Around 7,000 Jewish refugees arrived in Australia between 1933 and 1939, having escaped Germany, Austria and Poland before the outbreak of the war, and they were joined by thousands more who came after the war. They came here to be safe. They came here to rebuild and to raise children and grandchildren in peace. They created thriving communities, enriching our nation with contributions across society, writing the story of the vibrant multicultural Australia of today. I will never forget the words of Holocaust survivors that I heard last year at the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp and extermination centre. Alongside the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Ms Segal, and Mark Dreyfus MP KC, I heard powerful stories of where unchecked antisemitism, hatred and prejudice can lead.

So let me be clear. There is no place for this hate, for this violence, for terrorism in Australia. There is no place for antisemitism. We must all confront antisemitism and extremism in all its forms, wherever it hides and whatever weapons it wields. We affirm that Jewish Australians should walk proudly in a nation where they belong, a nation that honours and celebrates their extraordinary contribution and a nation that sees antisemitism and extremism as antithetical to who we are and what it means to be Australian.

For many years, I have spoken about what it means to be Australian—about a nation united by respect for each other's humanity and each other's right to live in peace. Our memory of 14 December cannot only be the horrors inflicted by the terrorists; our memory should also include the courage of everyday Australians who ran towards the danger: Ahmed al-Ahmed, who disarmed one of the attackers and will forever be an Australian hero; the brave first responders who, that day, saved countless lives; lifeguards, who rushed barefoot across the sand of Australia's most famous beach to do what they could do to help; and the Australians who rushed to donate blood in record numbers, who attended vigils and memorials in solidarity or who lit candles at home in quiet remembrance. This is the Australia I know. This is the Australia that can never be taken from us—a country that refuses to reproduce foreign conflicts or re-enliven ancient hatreds, one which recognises diversity does not mean division but strengthens us, one where difference is not weaponised but is respected and a country that rejects all hatred and all prejudice in all its forms.

The emotional tributes from those who knew and loved those whose lives were stolen that day in Bondi stay with us, including their courage. There were so many whose first thought was not only to protect those they loved but to protect those they had never met—countless stories of bravery and of sacrifice. There is one theme in the tributes that particularly stayed with me: compassion. So many of the victims were known in their community, in their family, in their lives, for their kindness, for their gentleness and for their compassion. That compassion was reflected by the rabbi of the Newtown Synagogue, Rabbi Feldman, a close friend of Rabbi Schlanger, who was killed at Bondi. He responded to the horrors of that day not with hatred, not with anger, though that would have been completely understandable. Rabbi Feldman responded by calling on all Australians to demonstrate that compassion, saying:

The only way to stamp out darkness is with light. Hatred, bigotry, evil, that is darkness. The Australian people need to combat that with the lights.

The theme from the national day of mourning this Thursday, as chosen by the Chabad community in Bondi, will be 'Light will win, a gathering of unity and remembrance'. Light will win.

Rabbi Feldman's message echoes that of Andrew Steiner OAM, a Holocaust survivor from my hometown of Adelaide. He has dedicated his life to education about the Holocaust. He says, 'Compassion has no limitation.' Compassion bridges the space between ourselves and others, a space in which fear and mistrust—as we have so tragically seen—hatred and prejudice can all too easily take root. Compassion brings us closer together and reminds us of our common humanity. It can unite us. That is the Australia we must defend. That is the Australia we must protect. May the memory of those 15 innocent souls remind us of what is at stake. May their memory be a blessing.