TRANSCRIPT
A moment of silence.... followed by the prime minister reading the names of those who Australia must never forget.
“Boris and Sophia German. Alexander Kleitman. Rabbi Yaakov Levitan. Peter Maher. Reuven Morrison. Marika Pugani. Rabbi Ellie Slanger. Adam Smyth. Boris Tetelroyd. Tanya Tretiak. Tibor Weitzen. Edith Brookman. Dan El Kayam. Matilda.”
The lives of 15 innocent people were cut short on the 14th of December at Bondi Beach, in a senseless terror attack targeting the Jewish community.
In Parliament, families of the victims sat in the public gallery as the country’s leaders spoke about their grief.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the silence now living in families’ homes, and the absence that will never be filled.
"As we pause in silence to remember them, we recognise that for you, an unbearable silence has fallen, the silence of laughter for ever stilled, of footsteps in the hallway that will never come of a voice that will never be heard again, except in memories held in broken hearts, the silence of futures unlived, the silence of a sorrow beyond words, inflicted by an atrocity beyond comprehension."
On the first night of Hanukkah, hundreds of Jewish Australians gathered at Bondi Beach, marking a festival of light, resilience and hope, when they were targeted.
"While the massacre at Bondi Beach was cruel and senseless, it was not random, Jewish Australians were the target. As we offer our love, sympathy and solidarity to everyone bearing the weight of trauma and loss, we make it clear to every Jewish Australian, you are not alone. All Australians stand with you."
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley also spoke, naming those lost and saying no speech can fully reflect the community's pain and sorrow.
She described meeting families in the days after, and the deep grief that is still raw.
She says those who opposed and protested against the war in Gaza, contributed to the antisemitism that she says ultimately led to the Bondi Beach Attack.
''An antisemitic hate fueled the terrorists on December the 14th, but it came out of the shadows in October 2023."
Ms Ley also added.
"For too long, many in our society, especially in positions of authority, have failed to act decisively. It should not have taken the murder of 15 people for us to open our eyes to the dangers of antisemitism in Australia."
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles also spoke, recalling a conversation with Rabbi Marcus Solomon.
"In the days after Bondi, I was speaking with Rabbi Marcus Solomon, who could only see the actions of Ahmad Al Ahmad in the context of the literal workings of God, facing two people with a shockingly distorted worldview. Here was this man, Ahmad Al Ahmad in the name of Islam, a word which means peace, a faith that holds as a tenet that the taking of an innocent life is a terrible sin. Here was a man who risked his own life to protect those around him, irrespective of their religion."
As the nation continues to mourn those killed during the Bondi Beach attack, something else is now being spoken into the national record again and again in Parliament's chambers - unity.
Not the easy kind, not the sentimental kind, but the kind that requires courage.
The courage to protect Jewish Australians from antisemitism clearly, decisively, and without delay.
And the courage to refuse the divisive instinct that follows terror - to let fear widen into suspicion, and to turn neighbours into enemies.
This is what Australia's leaders are demanding.
