Tuesday, 3 February 2026

 Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Regional Development) (12:05): I move:

That this house:

(1)   tenders Victoria’s heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the 15 innocent people murdered at Bondi Beach on 14 December 2025;

(2)   condemns the atrocity which stole their lives, an act of terrorism deliberately targeted at Australia’s Jewish community gathering to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah;

(3)   unequivocally condemns the evil of antisemitism and vows stronger action to prevent extremism and keep our state safe, strong, proud and united;

(4)   honours the courage, composure and quick action of all the police officers, first responders, healthcare workers and everyday people whose dedication and skill saved lives;

(5)   acknowledges the trauma of the men, women and children injured physically and psychologically, including those who witnessed the horror; and

(6)   affirms the fundamental right of every Jewish Victorian to live, work, worship and learn in peace and safety, to participate fully and freely in the civic life of our state, and to gather in community without fear or hindrance, proud of who they are, and proud of the profound contributions Jewish Victorians have made to the life and success of our state.

I would like to commence as the government’s first speaker on the motion. On 14 December what should have been a joyful, light-filled celebration on the first night of Hanukkah at Bondi quickly turned to terror-filled atrocity. Families and relatives coming together on the beach during summer, a timeless Australian tradition, should have been able to celebrate in peace and, more importantly, to go home together. Instead 15 precious lives were lost, needlessly killed under the banner of hate and antisemitism. One of those precious lives I would like to pay tribute to is hero and Melbourne grandfather Reuven Morrison, for choosing to protect his loved ones by distracting the gunman and paying the ultimate price for his sacrifice. Reuven, like all those murdered on that fateful day, will never be forgotten. The courage and heroism on display is a strong reminder to me that the horrors of the day were and are aberrations and not at all reflective of Australian values, a shared understanding that hatred never triumphs and that ‘never again’ means exactly that – never again.

As we continue this journey of healing I would like to reaffirm that Jewish Victorians belong here. You have the right to practise your faith freely without fear. This government will continue to protect your ability to freely participate in society, as we have committed to do for all Victorians, because the fabric of social cohesion and multiculturalism in our great state is just so, so precious, and it is incumbent upon every single one of us here in Parliament and outside to cherish this, to guard it jealously against those seeking to divide and stoke hatred amongst us. It is not the Victorian way; it is not the Australian way. As my good friend rabbi Gabi Kaltmann reminded me last week, Hanukkah is ultimately the victory of light over darkness. I think it is a timeless message and, frankly, one that resonates with all walks of life. To our Jewish Victorians: we grieve with you, we will heal with you and we will honour those lost in Bondi. We stand with you shoulder to shoulder, because an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us, knowing that the strength of our community is found in the everyday interactions we have with one another – listening, learning, openness and understanding – and I wholeheartedly believe that light will always triumph over darkness.

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:09): I am pleased – but saddened too – to join in this motion today. I thank the Leader of the Government for bringing this motion to the chamber. It points to the loss at Bondi, the terrible loss of life at Bondi, on 14 December – the 15 innocent people murdered at Bondi Beach. It condemns the atrocity. It condemns the evil of antisemitism. It honours the courage and composure of those who acted quickly – and who can forget those who actually tackled the gunmen in the scene at the time. It acknowledges the trauma of the men and women injured physically and psychologically, and it affirms the fundamental right of the Jewish community in Victoria to live safely.

I think it is important to put on record the names of those 15 Bondi victims: Rabbi Eli Schlanger, Dan Elkayam, Alexander Kleytman, Boris and Sofia Gurman, Peter Meagher, Reuven Morrison, Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, Tibor Weitzen, Marika Pogany, Edith Brutman, Boris Tetleroyd, Adam Smyth, Tania Tretiak and 10-year-old Matilda. All of us remember those images of Matilda. All of us remember the images of individuals who were killed in this incident and, I might add, those that were injured as well. It is appropriate that we acknowledge this. My electorate, Ms Crozier’s electorate and others in this chamber whose electorate is Southern Metro know it has a very significant Jewish community. On that night I was having dinner, a Christmas dinner, but with a very close Jewish friend. We began well; we had beautiful food and a celebration with a family that I have known for 30 or 35 years – a long, long time – and then the news came through. We were transfixed by the television as those terrible images came through. The response of – I will not say the name – my Jewish friend was, ‘This is Australia. This should not be happening here in our country.’ And I think he was right.

I do think it is also right that the response was not strong enough after 7 October. I do think it is correct that the state government and the federal government were not clear and strong enough in their response from that period forward. I do think that there was too much tolerance of antisemitism through that period. There were questions we asked in this chamber about universities, questions we asked in this chamber about the bombing of the synagogue – the Adass synagogue – questions we asked in this chamber about the writings on walls in educational institutions and elsewhere, and questions we asked in this chamber about a range of antisemitic incidents. Josh Burns’s office being burnt was shocking. I raised that at the time in the chamber because I, like many others, was very concerned. I do not think the government did enough. I do not think the government responded strongly enough.

I think we as a community have to be clear that we will not tolerate this clear antisemitism, because it has licensed what occurred. The terrible, terrible incident that occurred is something that cannot be put away now easily. It cannot be just swept aside. It is something that has had an effect on the Australian community. It has had a shocking effect on the Jewish community. In my electorate the community is very shocked by what has happened. Many pointed out that these things could happen, but it is still very different when an incident of this type happens. There is a lesson here for us. We do have to be clear. Government cannot – and indeed the opposition or anyone else cannot – allow the slightest tolerance for this antisemitism that has tried to take root in our community. I have to point at the rallies and say the rallies were part of licensing this view that antisemitism could be tolerated or had some legitimacy. I do not believe it has any legitimacy, and I believe that we need the strongest possible response on this. So I do thank the Leader of the Government for bringing this important motion. As I say, I was shocked on that night and remain shocked, as do so many people in my region.

 Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (12:15): I rise to offer my support for the condolence motion for the 15 innocent people murdered at Bondi Beach on 14 December 2025 and acknowledge a hurt that I do not think my words can adequately hold. That day was meant to be one of celebration for the Australian Jewish community as a festival of light, Hanukkah, began. Instead it was a day of profound hurt and hateful violence, where people were murdered simply for practising their faith, celebrating in a place and in a way that is all too relatable for so many of us: summer at the beachside with friends and family. The shattering of the sense of peace and joy is something I felt on that day, and I know so many others did too. I want to offer my deepest condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the victims. I cannot fathom the pain you must be feeling and the grief that must have consumed the last two months. Nothing can ease the pain of losing someone you love through such senseless violence. My thoughts are with those who survived and who witnessed what happened. I know the trauma will stay with you and that your lives have been changed forever. To the first responders, the healthcare workers and the civilians who ran towards chaos and terror and did everything they could to save lives and stop further harm, we are eternally grateful. They showed the best of what humanity has to offer.

I also want to note that while condolence motions are really important to acknowledge the pain and pay tribute to those we lost, words are simply not enough. Moments like these test who we are as a people. How we respond matters. This means taking the time to respond thoroughly and thoughtfully, being open to sitting with each other in the pain and uncertainty and being prepared to make space for difficult and nuanced conversations. We must ensure that the legacy of this tragedy is not more fear or hate but a resolve to build a society where such violence has no place. Hate thrives in division, so we must come together to prevent anything like this ever happening again. We owe it to those who were killed and to those who continue to live with the consequences of the day.

We must confront and end antisemitism and all forms of hate. We must address the conditions that allow violent extremism to grow. Increasingly, people in our communities are being attacked verbally and physically because of their ethnicity, because they choose to dress in accordance with their faith, because they are First Nations, because they are gathering to practise their faith, and those who are perpetrating this violence and hatred are doing so with increasing boldness and impunity, and people are frightened. It should not take the devastation of the Bondi massacre to shake us out of complacency. We cannot accept the conditions that have allowed this fear to flourish or, worse, become normalised. Safety of all people in Australia cannot be conditional on who they are or what they believe in. Today is an opportunity to grieve together, to stand with communities who are hurting and to remember those whose lives were taken too soon. We stand in solidarity with Jewish members of our community and offer our deepest sympathies to those who are hurting.

Hate and violence, like that which happened at Bondi, are not welcome in Australia. It is not who we are, and we must do everything possible to build an Australia where people can live, gather and worship without fear. Vale to those who lost their lives, who should have been safe to celebrate their faith. To the loved ones, who will hurt long after this motion has passed, I cannot begin to understand what you are going through, but we promise to honour them by continuing to fight hatred and division in all its forms.

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:19): On 14 December last year our nation was rocked by the sickening antisemitic terrorist attack on Bondi Beach. Members of Sydney’s Jewish community had gathered on the first night of Hanukkah to come together in the celebration of their faith. It was supposed to be a special time of peace, of family and of love. Instead they were faced with a nightmare, and 15 innocent people were murdered and so many more injured and traumatised: rabbis, mothers, daughters, Jewish and non-Jewish, people from all walks of life – Australians.

We have all read the accounts that when the first shots rang out, people looked up expecting fireworks. It did not take long for realisation to set in: the worst fears of the Jewish community had been realised. Jewish Australians gathered on Bondi Beach were targeted by a cruel and hateful act of terrorist violence. It was an attack that deliberately violated everything that we hold dear in this country: the freedom to celebrate culture and practise faith peacefully, free from fear. It was these values that led to remarkable acts of heroism by ordinary Australians – police officers, lifesavers, passers-by – from all backgrounds and all walks of life. It was these values that were exemplified in the days and weeks following the attack, as multicultural and multifaith communities came together in support of our Jewish community, to reject hate and condemn violence and to pay their deepest respects to those killed, injured and impacted. It is this support that reflects the very best of our multicultural community here in Victoria, a symbol of unity and kindness despite the terror and the fear of the attack on 14 December.

We continue to stand united in our grief. My heart is broken for the victims, their families and friends. To those in our Jewish community who are in pain, who are angry and who are justifiably scared, we stand united against hate, against division, against antisemitism and against all acts of terror. In the days and weeks following this attack, I stood with the Premier in outlining our clear priorities: to wrap Victoria’s arms around our Jewish community to help them to feel safe and to feel supported; to combat antisemitism and hate through our laws, through education and through community support; and to reaffirm that Jewish Victorians have the fundamental right to live, work, learn and worship in Victoria safely and proudly.

We must do more, and we will do more. We will do it for every Australian who was murdered in this attack. We will do it for every Jewish Victorian who deserves to live their life free from intimidation, harassment and fear, and we will do it for every Victorian, no matter their background, religion or political beliefs, because everyone deserves to be protected from hate. Today it is the right thing, together in this chamber across the political divide, to recognise and to pay our deepest respects and condolences to all those who were killed, injured and impacted by this hateful act of violence.

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:23): I rise to also support the government’s motion on the horrific attack that occurred in Bondi on 14 December 2025. I, like the vast majority of Australians, was absolutely shocked and horrified by what occurred at what was supposed to be a peaceful and joyful Hanukkah festival for the Jewish community. At the time I said I felt that the attack and the murder of 15 innocent people had changed our country forever. It was the deadliest terrorist attack Australia has ever experienced, and it was the biggest loss of Jewish life following the 7 October terrorist attack on Jewish lives in 2023.

I have to reflect on the words and leadership of former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who said, ‘You have failed us’. He was referring to leaders in this country and the lack of action that Mr Davis alluded to since 7 October. Far too many members of the Jewish community, not only in our electorate of Southern Metropolitan Region but right around this state and right around this country, have felt failed by the lack of leadership to stamp out antisemitism. To have seen what unfolded on that night of 14 December – it is something I have spoken to the Jewish community at length about. People have spoken to me. I have been there with them. They feel let down.

I think Josh Frydenberg showed leadership when he was asking for a royal commission. He had been asking, he had done documentaries and he had been spelling it out for many, many months – in fact years – and it finally took so much pressure from leaders right around this country to force a royal commission. While we cannot bring back the lives that were lost on that dreadful, fateful evening, we owe it to those people. We owe it to them to stamp out this hate and division. These people deserve the utmost respect from every level of government. All of us have an obligation and duty. As the minister said, hate and division have no place in this – they do not.

I want to put on record that my thoughts are with those who lost their family members and those who sustained horrific injuries. And I want to also acknowledge the bravery of those who did the most remarkable things in the most horrific of circumstances and who put themselves in danger to protect the lives of others. We have seen the vision of people who were trying to protect the lives of innocent Australians. They should be commended for what they did. They should be recognised for the actions that they bravely took.

I place on record again my condolences to all those that have been affected by this horrific terrorist attack that should never, ever have occurred.

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (12:27): Most of us will always remember what we were doing on the evening of 14 December 2025. I was driving home with my partner when his phone rang. It was one of his staff who grew up in Sydney’s Jewish community. She said, ‘There are shots being fired right now at Bondi Beach, and it’s right near the Hanukkah event.’ She was receiving messages in real time from people at the scene who were hiding, scared for their lives. He was frantic. I told him that he was overreacting and that I was sure it was nothing, but he knew better. As someone who loves a Jewish person and has quietly observed their world over the past two years, I should have known better too.

Antisemitism is one thing to understand conceptually, often viewed through the lens of the Holocaust, as this ancient, almost mythical hatred that the world left behind last century. For many, the scale of suffering inflicted upon Jewish people was so immense that it feels completely inconceivable that it could ever repeat. Only through being with Josh did I begin to truly understand the way that antisemitism simply just mutates, the way that it adapts, the way that it hides behind conspiracy theories, the way in which it transcends across all parts of the political spectrum and the way it becomes normalised in both the public discourse and the views that people hold in private. Living below the surface, it slowly erodes our social fabric, perpetuating a dehumanisation of Jewish people, sending a message that racism and violence against them is somehow justified. I see it in his daily reality, in his messages, in his emails and in comments made directly to me, and I see the way that it is denied and the way that it is justified – even when his office was set alight and horns, an old antisemitic trope, were drawn onto a picture of his head. His experience is certainly not unique, but it is one that is perhaps more visible because Josh is of course also the federal member for Macnamara, the electorate with the largest Jewish population in Victoria and the second-largest in Australia.

For Josh, like for so many Jewish people, his community is his family. It is his home. For almost two years I have watched as he has carried the weight of responsibility to fix a growing problem while also being personally impacted by it himself. There is no clearer example of this clashing of the political and the personal than the first phone call Josh made when we were notified of the attack. It was not to a colleague, it was not to the Prime Minister’s office, it was to his mum, who was about to take his seven-year-old daughter to the Melbourne event. In that terrifying moment it was to make sure that his own family was going to be safe.

But it is not just his story that I know; it is also those of my Jewish friends. With patience and with kindness many have shared with me the real and genuine fear that they have held over the last few years. They have shared with me their stories of hiding their identity, of feeling they no longer belong in the places they once loved: their workplaces, their sporting clubs, their schools, their friendship groups. The response from wider society has demonstrated the lack of understanding of antisemitism in this country. After all, Australia is different – Jews are safe here. And to be honest, this was a view that I once shared too. But even when we have recognised the rise of antisemitism, there has been a fear of calling it out. I know that because I have experienced that fear too – a fear of also being ostracised and isolated by association, a fear of the assumption from others that somehow by supporting our Jewish community at home we are condoning the actions of a foreign government. I fear that by acknowledging the suffering of one community we are denying the suffering of another.

But I have learned that we can and we should be able to hold two truths at the same time, because when antisemitism goes unrecognised and unchallenged it escalates, and when it escalates people die – like 10-year-old Matilda, who loved animals and who will always be remembered for her beautiful smile, perhaps best encapsulated in a photo of her with a dolphin painted on her face; like Boris and Sofia Gurman, who heroically confronted one of the shooters in a final act of bravery; like Dan Elkayam, a French engineer who loved playing soccer and celebrating his Jewish faith; like Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was remembered as one of the purest people by those who knew him; like Tania Tretiak, who devoted her life to helping others as a community assistant worker; like Edith Brutman, who served as vice-president of an advocacy organisation where she worked to confront prejudice and discrimination through education; and like Reuven Morrison, who moved to Australia believing it would be one of the safest places in the world. These are just some of the stories of the 15 people killed that day. May their memories be a blessing.

Amidst all of the heartbreak we also heard tales of heroism – like Jessica Rozen, a pregnant woman who used her body to shield a stranger’s child during the massacre; like Jackson Doolan, a lifeguard who ran towards danger carrying critical medical supplies; like 14-year-old Chaya Dadon, who was shot in the leg after she rushed from a bench she had been hiding under to protect two children younger than her from the gunfire; and of course like Ahmed al-Ahmed, who disarmed one of the shooters and in doing so saved countless lives.

In the days following the attack I watched once again as Josh showed leadership and compassion. He visited Bondi on the Wednesday of that week, and just two days later our daughter Lilah Poppy came into the world, two and a half weeks early. As people across the country lit candles for Bondi, she became our own light in the darkness. When we announced her arrival, Josh said.

Our country has given me the most wonderful gifts, and I am determined to raise my daughters to be proud of their Jewish heritage and to express it openly in Australia.

That is something that I am determined for too. I hope for a future where Lilah and every Jewish person is safe to be who they are – a future where my daughter can attend Hanukkah celebrations and I can think of the fun that she will have, not the danger that she could be in – and in the aftermath of Bondi we must all reflect on our collective responsibility to make that a reality.

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:34): I rise to add my words of condolence, grief, anguish and determination to the contributions that have been made around this Parliament and indeed around parliaments across Australia and the world. Darkness came to Bondi on 14 December, and it took the worst of all possible forms.

Jews were all of a sudden unable to feel safe at a time of celebration, a time when the symbolic importance of light triumphing over darkness could not have been further from the reality that was being experienced. On that day we watched around Australia and around the world with horror, in disbelief at what was unfolding. We could not quite believe what was appearing before us in a country where we pride ourselves on multicultural inclusion, on the importance of Australia being better for the many voices, languages, histories, cultures and experiences of the people who we are proud to call Australians. We watched as darkness enveloped Bondi. We saw at the same time light triumph over darkness time and time and time again, where people put themselves in danger, shielding others, supporting strangers, making sure that people had what little succour could be offered to them in a time of greatest distress and anguish. We saw these very acts of human kindness and compassion that reinforced that light remains present.

As in the days and weeks that followed, in the months and years to come we need to make sure that we hold fast to that light in the actions that we take as governments, in the words that we use actively and proactively to make sure that Jews are supported not to make themselves small; that they are welcomed, included and celebrated; that matters of faith and culture are embraced; and indeed that nobody has at the heart of a decision to participate in an event, a festival or a celebration any kind of fear about whether they will be able to make it home safely after that has concluded.

The stories should be told and should continue to be told from here not just about what happened in that darkness, not just about what happened in the presence of light in those darkest of times, but about what happens from here in that healing, in those smallest acts that made sure that people had every bit of what little comfort and succour could be provided in the course of what occurred on 14 December. My words will be added to the canon of words in this Parliament and around Australia and the world of our horror, our dismay and our anguish. But our words also need to translate into determination to make sure that where we go from here acknowledges that pain, that loss and that devastation but also recommits to the triumph of light over darkness. My condolences to everybody who continues to reel from what has occurred, and my determination alongside those in this Parliament, those with a voice, is to make sure that we do everything possible to make and keep members of our Jewish community safe, celebrated and included.

 Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:38): I rise on behalf of the Nationals to add my voice to honour the memory of the 15 innocent people murdered at the Bondi Beach shooting on 14 December last year. The gunmen launched into innocent victims, people there to enjoy each other’s company, to celebrate Hanukkah, to be in the moment, to share with friends and family and to be both Jewish and in Australia. It was an act of antisemitism and hatred that we cannot tolerate, should not tolerate. We must seek out those that wish to do these things and act upon them with the greatest of will and the deepest of action. There is a Bible saying that I think many people will know, and I am sure if I delved into the Jewish religion and other religions there would be similar ones: greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friend. I think we saw that in spades on that day.

We saw that with 10-year-old Matilda Britvan’s mother, who was separated from her at the time of the shooting. When the shooting began Matilda’s mother laid over the top of another child and protected her. She saw horrific things and she protected that child with her own physical body. She would have given her life for that child. We have heard – and I thank the members in this house for sharing their insights – of many, many others, and we saw them and we watched them on the television over and over again. The bravery and the dedication – whether they be just individual people there on the day or whether they be police officers or first responders, paramedics and the like, they ran toward that danger, and that is hugely significant in the character that I believe is Australian. We thank all of those medics and the various doctors and nurses et cetera that cared for those who went to hospital. We think of the police officers who are recovering from that time.

As I said, antisemitism has no place. I want to just think about us as a nation. I attended and celebrated many citizenship ceremonies, as many of us did, over the last month. You welcome our multicultural community into Australia and you say, ‘Welcome. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for becoming Australians. Thank you for bringing your talents and your gifts to our nation.’ We think about Australia. We have one of the longest continuous Indigenous cultures. We have one of the oldest democratic institutions in the world. We have one of the most multicultural societies, and we are, I believe, very much a peace-loving nation.

Life is a long journey. We need to be reading and learning about all cultures and religions, and one person that I have read on is Sir John Monash. At the time at the end of the First World War he was a national hero. He was a national hero not because he went to war and what he did or the war per se but because of how he operated. He was ingenious and strategic in his wisdom and his courage, but he also cared about the individual, and when he came back he continued to care about the individual and did many great things in our country. One of his statements, and he spoke often of it, was that the best hope for Australia is at the ballot box and good education – this Jewish Victorian. Those words compel us to look to those democratic values that we all hold dear, to look to leadership both at the very top and all the way down in society.

I believe what we saw at Bondi was that Australian spirit. It was courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice, and we must hold onto that spirit now. We have to reaffirm every day that Jewish Australians – Jewish Victorians – have an unmistakable, unshakable right to live like I do as a seventh generation Australian: to practise their religion, to live their lives, to worship, to learn, to work and to be safe. Finally, may the memories of those 15 lives that were taken forever reside in the hearts of us and of their loved ones as a blessing. May their families feel not only our compassion today but our actions well into the future – not just words, but actions from leaders. May we honour the sacrifice and stand against hatred. I thank this house for the opportunity to reflect.

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:44): Jewish people have a saying for times of tragedy, ‘May their memory be a blessing’. It gives us a small insight into Jewish resilience and how they find light in the darkest of circumstances. I did not personally know the victims of Bondi, except for the stories and video from that terrible day in December, and yet their memory can be a blessing. Recently I met with my friend Dr Isaac Balbin, who helped me see it this way when he told me he would like politicians to talk less about being sad and more about the acts of courage on that day. There was nobody braver than Isaac’s cousin Reuven Morrison. You probably remember him as the guy who distracted the gunmen by throwing a piece of brick at one of them. But if you look at the footage before this, you can see him standing unarmed and staring down the gunmen for several seconds.

What is a terrorist who cannot cause terror? They are a failure, and several other things that I probably could not say here. But not to worry: Isaac tells me that Reuven told them these things that I would like to say, and he undoubtedly said them even better. He had a razor-sharp wit, and witnesses say that one of the last things the gunmen ever heard was not a religious incantation but a withering hail of creative insults from a 61-year-old Jewish man. At this point the terrorists must have wondered who was really under fire. Now, that memory is a blessing. Reuven was shot, but he kept advancing. He eventually took 11 bullets before he was stopped. But it is clear that he was in control. He decided very early on to take those bullets so that others would not have to. He forced the gunmen to do exactly what he wanted. Terrorists have one job, and that is to scare you, and Reuven made them fail.

Of course this was just one of several acts of bravery on that day. The courage of Ahmed Al Ahmed is rightly world famous. Let us not also forget 69-year-old Boris and 61-year-old Sofia Gurman. They were the first people on the scene. They recognised evil immediately, and they were having none of it. These memories should not just be a blessing; they should also be a lesson for us.

There is a stark contrast between the courage we saw at Bondi and the political response. Our political class has been afraid to talk about the problem of Islamic extremism. Antisemitism festers behind a cloak held up by useful idiots across the political spectrum, but this event clearly demonstrated the acute danger arising from jihadists, who have been perpetrators of the worst terrorist incidents for years. Instead of naming the problem, we get an endless stream of deflections and platitudes. The most overused phrase surely is that there is no place for antisemitism. This must sound ridiculous to Jewish people, who see places for antisemitism all around them.

According to the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, there were 552 antisemitic incidents reported in Victoria last year, including 42 assaults, 80 incidents at synagogues and 39 incidents targeting schools and children. Not only is there a place for antisemitism in Victoria, there is a time and place. That place is the State Library Victoria at noon every Sunday, where antisemites and people who claim to just be their friends meet for a protest. We are meant to believe it is just a coincidence that the only world conflict they care about is the one that antisemites care about.

Enough with the platitudes. If we believe there is no place for antisemitism, we could start by calling out the people who openly support Hamas on the streets of the CBD in this city. We should ask why these people are supporting a foreign terror group and who is influencing and funding them. And if we really think there is no place for antisemitism in Victoria, we should demand a migration program that diligently selects people according to compatibility with Australian values, the kind of values that are already spelt out in our citizenship pledge. It is absurd that this needs to be said, but a migration program that imports people who want to kill us is a failed migration program. The politicians and bureaucrats who have overseen this made Australia a place for antisemitism.

I do not know why people are afraid to even name the problem. Maybe they are worried about the political consequences or there might be negative comments on social media, or maybe they are afraid a friend might call them a ‘phobia’ or call them a name. Compare that to the courage of Reuven Morrison. He showed us how we defeat terrorism: you recognise it, you stare back at it and you refuse to be afraid. He showed us that terrorism is pointless when you refuse to be terrified. Political courage is nothing by comparison. May Reuven’s memory and the memories of all those that died at Bondi on Hannukah always be a blessing.

 Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Water) (12:49): I rise to support the condolence motion moved by the government Leader of the House Jaclyn Symes, and I extend my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives as a result of the 14 December Bondi terror attack. While this violence occurred beyond our state borders, its impact has been felt deeply here in Victoria and again as recently as last night with the Four Corners program, part 1, on the Bondi attack. Victoria is home, as we have heard from others today, to one of the largest and most vibrant Jewish communities in the nation. The ripple effect of hatred and violence does not recognise state boundaries. No community anywhere in Australia should ever feel targeted, unsafe or unwelcome because of their faith, identity or heritage, and we affirm that antisemitism has no place in our state; nor do hatred, extremism or violence in any form. We condemn antisemitism and all forms of racism, and we will continue to work to stamp it out.

This was an act of calculated and planned violence targeting the Jewish community at an event celebrating one of Judaism’s most important days. It was dark and it was horrific, and we know that we saw true heroism shining through. I pay tribute to the first responders who risked their lives to run towards danger – police, paramedics and other emergency health services, including lifeguards, who stopped the attackers and saved so many lives – and to the doctors and nurses who saved lives and tended to the wounded. I also pay tribute to and acknowledge the many community members who stepped in and intervened to protect other people at great risks to themselves. Ahmed Al Ahmed, born in Syria, saved countless lives when he disarmed one of the attackers. He showed immense courage and bravery, nearly losing his own life to save others. When asked about his decision to intervene, he said, ‘My soul asked me to do that.’ Last week, on 26 January, he became the first ever recipient of the City of Canterbury Bankstown’s Key to the City award, an award recognising his selflessness and bravery. I think we are all moved by his heroism and the heroism of others who all risked or lost their lives to protect others on that day.

This is the strength of our multicultural Australia. We have a diverse, proud and strong society, and when tragedy strikes, we do band together. An attack on one community is an attack on the values that bind us together. An attack on one community anywhere in Australia is a challenge to the values we uphold everywhere. We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community in New South Wales, in Victoria and right across this nation. We reaffirm Victoria’s commitment to religious freedom, multiculturalism and mutual respect. Victoria’s strength is its diversity. May the memory of those who lost their lives be honoured with compassion, dignity and resolve.

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (12:53): I thank the Leader of the Government for bringing forward this motion. It is hard to think of a more Australian occurrence than a religious community gathering together at one of the most iconic beaches in Australia on a warm summer’s day. There were children playing, there was face painting and there were family and friends having a good time together as they worshipped. I think I would be on pretty safe ground saying that many of us as members of Parliament have been to similar types of events with lots of different multicultural communities, which makes it so difficult to believe what occurred and makes what occurred so unfathomable. We consider the beach the most Australian of places – the sunburnt summers and the relaxed idyll that is the centre of our national identity.

We are a country where the right to worship freely has never been contested and where Australians of all faiths contribute to our strong and prosperous society. It is for these reasons that the terrorist attack on the Jewish community in Sydney on 14 December, as they celebrated Hanukkah, shook Australia to its core. Fifteen lives were lost, and I want to take a moment to say their names: Matilda, Edith Brutman, Dan Elkayam, Boris and Sofia Gurman, Alexander Kleytman, Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, Peter Meagher, Reuven Morrison, Marika Pogany, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, Adam Smyth, Boris Tetleroyd, Tania Tretiak, Tibor Weitzen. Each of these lives lost is a tragedy. As a parent of three young children and as a grandson of migrants to this country, I particularly shed a tear for the loss of 10-year-old Matilda, whose parents, Michael Britvan and Valentyna Poltavchenko, named her that because, to quote Michael, ‘Matilda was the most Australian name that could ever exist’. There is no doubt that they loved this country. They loved this country so much and loved the community that they were in and that they were part of. We remember Matilda and each of the victims of this attack and their families.

The following day I joined opposition leader Jess Wilson, David Southwick and many other colleagues at the Caulfield Hebrew Congregation to meet with community leaders. Victoria has a significant Jewish community, as does Sydney, but relative to other communities it is not a huge community. It is more like, as I think Ms Purcell said, a family. It is a community where everyone knows each other, so even though this event happened in Sydney, it has deeply affected the Jewish community in this state. Jewish Australians are our neighbours, our friends, our colleagues and our family. Their religious celebrations deserve respect. They should be free to worship and not have to hide their faith while doing so. Since the First Fleet, Jewish Australians have been an integral part of Australia’s society. Our first Australian-born Governor-General, Sir Isaac Isaacs, and our greatest citizen soldier, General Sir John Monash, are among tens of thousands of Jewish Australians who have built and served this country.

Our focus should rightly be on the victims and survivors of this attack, but I do want to reflect on the cause. Antisemitism is the world’s oldest hatred. It is an inexplicable, insidious, rotten hatred which poisons societies and minds alike. It is a cruel hatred because it is based on one’s birth, not one’s actions, and it is immune to any logic or argument. It has no place in this country. These tragedies do not exist in a bubble. They happen with acceptance of hatred and in some cases encouragement of hateful ideology. I come from a position in the northern suburbs where there is a very large multicultural community of overwhelmingly fantastic citizens and proud patriots of Australia. But as members of Parliament it is our duty to know where the line is. We in the opposition continue to await details of the government’s announced social cohesion pledge and think that would be a good thing.

The following are comments preached by a sheik in the northern suburbs to congregations and broadcast online where I think that social cohesion has been breached. This is not me saying this:

Oh Allah, cast terror into the hearts of the Zionists and shake the ground beneath their feet.

Oh Allah, take away from them the blessings of security, scatter their gatherings, and tear apart their unity.

And:

… I’ve always believed that … Zionists are not normal … They are bloodsucking human beings…They’re scavengers. They are not humans, I swear by Allah.

We certainly on the opposition side do not believe that organisations whose leaders have expressed such hatred should be worthy of taxpayer funds, as has happened under this government. We certainly do not believe these kinds of individuals should be given relevance or endorsements by way of multiple ministerial visits and multiple government MP visits, as has happened in recent years under this government.

Hatred like this should never, ever be tolerated. Tragedies like this do not happen out of nowhere. They begin with hateful bile like this. The Liberals and Nationals know where the line is, and you will never see us associating with so-called leaders who have spewed such hatred and, I would say, incitement about our Jewish community here in this state. If we do not know where the line is and we do not take a stand and call it out for what it is, because it might be politically inconvenient, we are not serving our duty as elected leaders and we will end up with more Bondis.

Human instinct is to run from danger, to protect oneself and one’s family in the face of unspeakable tragedy. But what we saw was the best of humanity responding. To Ahmed al-Ahmed, Yanky Super, Gefen Bitton and the many brave first responders, I want to say thank you. Hanukkah is a happy occasion, the Festival of Lights, where a miracle is said to be the oil which lasted for eight nights and allowed the menorah to stay lit. The light of the menorah has sustained the Jewish people for thousands of years and it will sustain them for thousands more, even in the face of the terror and tragedy that was forced upon them on 14 December. Our country was changed forever by this event, but we will not be defined by it. We will continue to be a country and a state where people can worship freely and safely. We will stay vigilant against antisemitism, and above all, we will remember the victims of Bondi.

 Jeff BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (13:02): I want to make sure that it is clear that this is from me, not from my party. On 14 December 2025 I was watching TV. We were celebrating the first night of Hanukkah, lighting the first candle. I am a goy, but I am part of the Jewish community just by virtue of marrying a Jew. When it started my first reaction was, ‘Oh no, here it goes.’ The initial death toll – and I use the word ‘only’ in context – was only one or two. But it kept on going and it kept on going. At this stage my daughter, who was five at the time, we put her to bed, because we knew this was getting bigger and bigger and bigger and we did not need her to see this. The downside to it was my mother-in-law, who is a Holocaust baby, was watching it with us. She was born in Poland in 1943, and she knows antisemitism. It is Jew hatred. I really do not like the term ‘antisemitism’, because I think it was just said before that it is one of the oldest hatreds. You can call it antisemitism, anti-Zionism, whatever you want – it is the hatred of Jews. It had raised its ugly head in Australia in – the word ‘spectacular’ is not right – a spectacular fashion.

But this did not happen in a vacuum. This has been happening time and time again. I have had to sit here every sitting week and listen to antisemitism sprout from my left. That is why I say – and that is as far as I am getting into the politics – that this does not happen in a vacuum. The Jewish people of Australia have been feeling this for a long, long time. The Jewish people of Australia even have I think it is the CSG, the community security group. What other religion needs guards? What other religion needs guards with guns outside a school?

This shows that we still have a long way to go as a country. We saw the worst of Australia, and I am not talking about migrants and I am surely not talking about Muslims, because I talked to Muslims after that and they are as hurt as anyone else. One of the terrorists was born in Australia.

This is not about that. This is about evil intent. But it is also about the people who ran towards the danger. We had a Syrian Muslim get shot helping people. We had Jewish people who took 11 bullets to stop other people getting shot. We had police running towards the danger, not knowing what it was. We had civilians running towards the danger not knowing what was going on except that it was danger. This is a watershed moment for Australia and for Victoria.

When I look at where we are going as a country, in a lot of ways I just do not feel it is great. The political fallout from this incident was, in a word, disgusting. The blame-shifting was next level, Olympic level, and yet no-one’s still trying to get to the bottom of the problems. We will see what comes up. We will see what comes with the royal commission. I have seen enough royal commissions in my time to know not to be holding my breath while waiting for a reasonable result. That is up to the royal commission to sort out.

I am going to finish with two things. I remember looking at the picture of Matilda and thinking ‘That could be my daughter’. And why? Because she is Jewish; she was born that way. It is incumbent upon us to remember that we are meant to protect our kids, and a lot of people clearly gave their lives to try to help and protect people. But we cannot allow this to continue. The Jews use a phrase that we have mentioned before: never again. Well, ‘never again’ is right now. What that means now is that if we are not careful, the world will slide into something a lot worse. I will do my utmost, as the proud father of a Jewish girl and the proud husband of a Jewish wife, to do my best to make sure that does not happen. As I said, this is my personal reflection on this, not my political reflection, but this did not happen in a vacuum. May their memories be a blessing.

 Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (13:07): I rise today to give my contribution to this condolence motion and with that pay tribute and my deepest condolences to the victims and communities that have been affected by this attack. Dates in history are usually just markers of time, but occasionally they become scars. Sunday 14 December is now such a date. It will forever remain in our nation’s memory not just as a day of loss and sorrow but as a day when the very best of us was tested by the very worst of us. To understand what was taken, we must remember what that day was meant to be. It was the first day of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. It was a festival of renewal, reminding us that even in the darkest times hope can be rekindled.

Hundreds of people gathered by the sea at one of our national icons, Bondi Beach, a place of gathering and joy during what should have been a time of celebration and renewal. It became the backdrop for an act of unfathomable violence and hate. It was not a random tragedy. It was an evil act of antisemitism and terror. It was an act designed to turn a festival of light into a day of darkness. It targeted Jewish Australians and it struck at the very heart of our national character and values. Fifteen innocent lives were stolen that day and so many more were changed forever. I will read out their names because they deserve to be heard many times: Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, Boris and Sofia Gurman, Edith Brutman, Dan Elkayam, Alex Kleytman, Peter Meagher, Reuven Morrison, Marika Pogany, Adam Smyth, Boris Tetleroyd, Tania Tretiak, Tibor Weitzen and young Matilda, all of whom were murdered, and hundreds more were targeted because of their faith.

What struck me was that only a few days earlier, on Human Rights Day, I was at the anti-hate summit. I was joined by Jewish community leaders, by faith leaders and by advocates for peace from across our society. We sat together to reaffirm that hate has no place here, that division has no place here and that antisemitism has no place here or anywhere.

To have that challenged so brutally and so soon afterwards is a source of profound anguish not just for our Jewish community but for all of us. But we must not forget that amidst the chaos and the violence, and in that moment of darkness, light revealed itself. We saw it in the first responders who ran towards the danger. We saw it in the paramedics, the nurses and the doctors who worked through the night and the following days to save every life they could. We saw it in the surf lifesavers who immediately turned their attention to providing first aid on the beach. We saw it in the thousands of people right across the country who lined up to donate blood. And we saw it in individual acts of extraordinary heroism. Where there was the worst of evil and hatred there was also the best of courage and unity. It is that unity that is the only way through this. Terror seeks to drive a wedge between communities – between us – but we must prove that our bond is stronger than their hate. Looking out for one another and being together, not fragmented, is the only way that hate can never win.

To the families and the loved ones of the 15 people whose lives who were so cruelly taken, we mourn with you. To everyone who has been touched by what happened on that awful day, we grieve with you. We cannot take away your pain, but we promise you that you will not carry it alone. To the Jewish community of Victoria and Australia, we stand with you against this darkness and against the evils of antisemitism today, tomorrow and always. I commend the motion and thank you for the opportunity to speak to it.

 Moira DEEMING (Western Metropolitan) (13:12): I also rise to commend this motion, and I thank the government for putting it to the house. I especially want to start by commending Ms Purcell for her words, which truly struck and resonated with me. I too have over the past few years been coming to grips with the fact that the horrors of the Holocaust are not something that just were so bad they would never be repeated. The fact is that there is a massive antisemitism – Jew-hating – problem in Australia. It must have been there under the surface. It must have been there for a long time. For a lot of us it was a moment of shock when we realised just how bad and just how widespread it was after 7 October. Seeing people brazenly do Nazi salutes on the steps of Parliament, people wave around Hamas flags and people call for the genocide of Jews and seeing the government really only rage against one of those two types of antisemitism was absolutely devastating.

I would like to commend Mr Limbrick for his words and for the beautiful way that he honoured the victims. I would like to reiterate the words of my colleague Mr Mulholland that taxpayer funds should not be going to people who call for direct violence and who support terrorism.

Like all of you, that was a day that I will never forget. I actually was talking on my phone and watching it on X – the whole thing. Isn’t it a horrible period of time when you can watch something like that live? But I could not tear my eyes away. In fact we were both pretty miserable because we thought, ‘This is going to be another horrendous tragedy where people don’t react properly – where the governments just try and whitewash it, they try and ignore the real problem.’ Sadly, in many cases that was true. We have been watching for the last few years the absolute failure of hate speech laws – not being applied when they should have been and being applied selectively. But there are no wars in Australia. We are not going to have jihad in Australia. We are not going to have people wage their foreign wars on Australian soil.

Jewish people, along with every single person in this country, should be safe. We should not be turning guns on each other in Australia. Our police should not be outgunned. Watching those people pinned down, defenceless on open ground, shielding each other with their bodies, was one of the most horrific scenes imaginable, and it happened not in a history book, not in another country, but in Australia.

I also would like to say what an honour it has been to be involved with the Jewish community recently and to see the beautiful way that they deal with this grief that is entwined with their entire history. Here at Parliament House we had a beautiful bipartisan remembrance event emceed by Peta Credlin. Those of us who were there might remember the beautiful singing that they blessed all of us with. They did not respond with hate. They did not lash out. They did reject the offer of more funding for security, because they, like the rest of us, would like to see the laws and the police that we already have used to do something about this disgraceful vilification and incitement to violence against our citizens.

 Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (13:16): I rise today to speak on the condolence motion for the Bondi terrorist attack. On behalf of One Nation Victoria, I express my sincerest condolences to the families of those lost and to the Australian Jewish community, and I want them to know that we stand with them. On 14 December 2025 Australia changed forever. Fifteen innocent people were gunned down in a horrific act of terror. Forty innocent people, including children, were seriously injured in this attack. The Chanukah by the Sea festival was deliberately targeted. Jewish people celebrating one of their most sacred times were targeted simply for their beliefs. At home with my children I watched this atrocity unfold before my very eyes. Seeing that our beautiful country had come to this, my heart broke for the families, for the friends, for the communities, for the country I love. The hatred on display on 14 December was despicable and intolerable.

But I was reminded of a line spoken by someone much wiser than I: look for the helpers. That is where you find the very best of Australian values – the images of the Bondi lifesaver running barefoot towards danger with medical equipment; the pregnant mum who covered a lost little girl with her own body to shield her from the flying bullets; Ahmed al-Ahmed, who tackled and disarmed one of the gunmen with no regard for his own safety; and the police officers and paramedics who ran towards danger in order to save many more lives. In this time of darkness these brave souls were the light we needed.

 Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (13:18): I rise to lend my voice to this motion of condolence and to add to this reflection of the cherished memories of those who were murdered at Bondi on 14 December. To Rabbi Eli Schlanger; Rabbi Yaakov Levitan; Alex Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor; Peter Meagher; Boris and Sofia Gurman; Edith Brutman; Dan Elkayam; Reuven Morrison; Marika Pogany; Adam Smyth; Boris Tetleroyd; Tania Tretiak; Tibor Weitzen; and Matilda, may your memories be a blessing. They gathered at Bondi to celebrate, to express their culture at that most sacred of Australian places, the beach, to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah, a gathering that symbolises community, joy and cultural tradition. It was interrupted by hatred, interrupted by terror, interrupted by antisemitism and interrupted by death – all targeted at the Jewish community by vile people who tried to tear down what our country holds dear: love, respect and tolerance.

It was a dark moment at a time when we were trying to bring light to darkness, but we saw, on that night and in the days following, acts of courage and heroism that saved lives. We saw profound grief. We saw a shattering of many of the things that as a nation we hold dear. I want to extend my thanks to everyone who has showed compassion, everyone who has showed love, particularly to those who either ran to the scene or were there to participate in the celebrations and put their bodies on the line, who gave their lives to save others; to the first responders who turned up and did what they could to stop the carnage; to those who helped save more lives by treating the injured and the wounded; and to those assisting those still recovering from what occurred not yet two months ago.

The Jewish community here in Melbourne is so intimately connected to the Jewish community in Sydney – like one. In the days that followed 14 December I spoke with members of the community, community leaders, constituents and friends, who all spoke of who they knew, of whom they had been speaking to who was there that night, what it had meant to them, the way that those events shattered their sense of security – shattered the sense for so many that Australia had become a place of sanctuary, particularly after the Holocaust, with Melbourne being home to the largest per capita number of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel – what it meant to be here and the consequences of the shattering of that sense of sanctuary and security that the events at Bondi on 14 December meant. There have been some particular reflections for Alex Kleytman, who had survived the horror of World War II only to have his own life taken by a horrendous act of terror on a beach in a country that had provided him sanctuary for so many years.

We have now I think, as leaders of our community, both a task to understand what motivated and caused the events that led to this act of terror and a responsibility to come together and figure out how we can take collective action so that the causes of that harm and the mechanisms that were used to enact it cannot happen again. There will be time, I hope, for this place to debate the measures that we think are further necessary. I do not think now is the time for us to engage in that, but it will come. I hope that on those occasions the words that have echoed around the chamber today reverberate through the ears of those of us who get to cast a vote on the things that we all have to do collectively to make sure that our community is safer.

In conclusion I say to my dear friends in the Jewish community: you belong here, your culture belongs here. It is not just that you have got a right to express who you are, but I want to see you express who you are. I want to join with you. I want to sit in those synagogues and hear them filled with joyous singing and prayer.

I want to smell the sweet smells of those honey cakes at Rosh Hashana, to join you breaking challah at Shabbat. And next year, on the first night of Hanukkah, I want to join you in lighting a candle to bring light to this darkness. At the state vigil held recently, the dean of the Anglican Church, the diocese, quoted the words from St Francis that ‘All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle’. I think that what the Jewish community has showed and what we collectively have showed as Australians is that acts of terror will not extinguish that light, and we will remember those who died that day and honour their memories in the future.

 Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (13:26): I rise to express my deep sorrow at the tragic loss of life in this recent attack at Bondi, and I extend my deepest condolences to the Jewish community, to the families who have lost loved ones and to the many that have been injured as a result. We send our blessings to all of them. On 14 December Chanukah by the Sea was being celebrated at Sydney’s Bondi Beach. It was going to involve over a thousand attendees. Hanukkah, a festival of miracle and hope; Hanukkah, a festival that celebrates light over darkness; Hanukkah, a festival that celebrates the freedom to worship God.

I am very privileged to have studied with, worked with and befriended many members of the Jewish community over the years at school, at work and in life. I have enjoyed Passover in the home of Jewish friends. I have been to synagogue and enjoyed the Purim celebration. I have always been struck both at school and at work and throughout my life by the hard work, the talent, the resilience, the love and the dedication to family, faith and community that my friends in the Jewish community share with all of us in Australia. It is such a profound tragedy to have seen Jewish lives lost in this nation in such a terrorist attack.

With three years only in Parliament, from the very beginning I was hearing from the Jewish community about their fear of an attack, their fear about the anti-Jewish sentiments that were being spoken in universities, on streets and in schools. They spoke about their fear about the behaviour of others and the words that were being used. They explained that when people say certain comments in different protests, they are actually talking about the complete annihilation of a land of Jewish people. It is simply incomprehensible to have known and to continue to know survivors from the Holocaust and their descendants and to think that they came here to be safe and to enjoy life in this country, only to find that through negligence, through oversight and through ignorance, people have allowed us to get to this situation where we have a tragedy such as this on the shores of one of Australia’s most famous beaches.

The effect of this devastating massacre has been felt not just by all of us but by all Australians. People in Australia being massacred for celebrating their faith and culture, being massacred because of who they are as a race of people or being massacred because they are also standing and enjoying that celebration with this community – it should never happen. It must never happen again.

I also want to thank all the courageous Australians – those that were shielding people from bullets, those who went in to be proactive in trying to stop what was happening and those who were emergency service workers and special individuals. So many people showed great bravery that day. In their bravery in the midst of that, in spite of the darkness that was taking place at the start of Hanukkah, these people showed that light can overcome darkness. They showed that you can have a miracle and hope in the most evil of times.

We have to learn lessons from the past. It is there for every Australian to learn from. The Holocaust is no secret. It is taught in schools, and so it should be. As we stand in solidarity in Parliament, may we remember the importance of the responsibility that we have to keep Victorians safe from religious, cultural and racial persecution and free from violent extremism, so that we can see light genuinely overcome darkness and all Victorians and Australians may remain safe.

 John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (13:32): I rise to offer my condolences to the people of Bondi, to Australia’s Jewish community and to all those affected by December’s terror attack, particularly the loved ones of the victims. What happened on that evening of 14 December 2025 shocked people across Australia. Here in Melbourne, far from where the bullets were flying, the Jewish community were not just terrified for their own friends and family in danger in Sydney, they were also terrified of a similar attack that might happen here as well. The sense of terror that was felt throughout the Jewish community and throughout the whole of Australian society has not completely subsided. Today in February the raw emotional impact which that event had on the national psyche has not gone away, and I suspect it will carry with us for a long time to come. That is because 15 people were gunned down in the worst terror attack on Australian soil in our history; 15 people at a Hanukkah festival at a time when young and old came out to celebrate an ancient holiday by the sea; 15 people at a time which was supposed to symbolise the victory of light over darkness; 15 people, each death is its own individual tragedy, from 10-year-old Matilda, whose parents gave her the name because it reminded them of Australia, to Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was a pillar of Sydney’s Jewish community and Chabad movement, who was remembered for his endless capacity for empathy, compassion and service to others, and to Alexander Kleytman, the 87-year-old Holocaust survivor who died while attempting to shield his wife from the bullets. We should all find it deeply unsettling that a man who witnessed and survived the horrors of the Holocaust at the start of his life all those decades ago would, decades on, have the same violent and deadly antisemitism chase him all the way across the world to Australia.

It is significant because it is important that all Australians remember that antisemitism did not face its final defeat in 1945, nor did it lie dormant and quiet until December last year. The Jewish community knew that antisemitism was alive and posing a direct threat to their way of life long before December 2025. On 6 December 2024 in the early hours of the morning the Adass Israel Synagogue was burnt down in an attack which was found to be sponsored by the government of Iran. The message that perpetrators sought to leave was the same that the shooters in Bondi sought to leave: that they want Jewish people to live in fear, to feel they do not belong, to feel that Australia will no longer be the place of safety, security and peace which it has been for decades.

Many members of the Jewish community fled violence, persecution and genocide to come to Australia. Australia has the highest number of Holocaust survivors per capita outside Israel. Terrorists want to shatter that very idea of Australia as being a safe haven for Jewish people and for any other group of people who want to come here as refugees. That is the test which has come before our country. We will maintain our status as a safe haven, a place where people can leave behind the worst of what history has inflicted upon the human race, the worst of what man made, to come to live in a society which is peaceful, safe, secure and stable, a society in which coexistence, multiculturalism and religious freedom are taken as highly regarded virtues of the nation instead of being toxic impurities and scapegoat fodder. Protecting that vision and reality of Australia must come from a new national mission. We must protect it, we can protect it and we will protect it.

We here in this chamber are taking a few moments out of our sitting day to dedicate our thoughts and our words to the victims of the Bondi attack and their families, but the true dedication will not take place within these walls of this Parliament House. It takes place in the response we saw in the broader Australian society, from which we know that we are locked in a struggle against hate and extremism; in the strength shown by the Jewish community in the days and weeks following the attack; in the heroism of Ahmed Al Ahmed; and in the unity and solidarity which came from every sector of the Australian society, from members of every faith. It is that strength, that heroism and that unity which is how we will win against the hate and how a nation may thus deliver itself from the evil which we witnessed on 14 December.

 Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (13:37): 14 December 2025 was the saddest day in our nation in my lifetime. The Bondi terror attack demands courageous scrutiny and unapologetic reform. This is not a time for words. It is not a time for deflection. It is a time for real leadership. It is time for us to get real. Experts warned that Bondi did not happen in a vacuum. It followed two years of textbook antisemitic escalation, textbook antisemitism that led to the murder of Tibor, Tania, Boris, Adam, Rabbi Eli – who I had the pleasure of meeting – Marika, Reuven, Peter, Rabbi Yaakov, Alexander, Boris and Sofia, Dan, Edith and the face that we all have in our minds, little Matilda.

The day after the biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, which was October 7, should have been a time when people came together and unified. It should have been a time when we all stood together and said no to hate. But instead we witnessed chants of ‘Gas the Jews’ outside the Sydney Opera House on the day after October 7, then weekly rallies across our capital cities that called for intifada and the annihilation of Israel. Far from condemning this, many senior figures either turned a blind eye or, even worse, joined in. We heard people saying that antisemitism had absolutely no place in the state of Victoria – they are the words we heard – but what we actually saw was antisemitism given a stage, a platform and sometimes a megaphone every single Sunday afternoon in this state. I believe that we saw antisemitism become a politically correct form of hatred, a socially acceptable form of hatred, which was then called political expression. I cannot imagine the frustration that Jewish Australians must have felt when they saw groups with extremist links remain operating unscrutinised; Hizb ut-Tahrir’s call for the destruction of the State of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic caliphate but the government drag its feet to proscribe them as a terror organisation; or what is worse, the government’s failure to adopt the full recommendations of the special envoy to combat antisemitism.

After the largest terror attack in the world targeting Jews since October 7 happening here on our shores in Australia, for the nation that claims to be the most successful multicultural nation on earth there must be a reckoning.

The reality is Australia was the furthest place from Europe when they were experiencing the biggest uprise of antisemitism in the 1940s. People fled here because it was the place furthest away from the hate that they were experiencing. Yet it was here, on 14 December, that a Holocaust survivor was murdered in cold blood on a day at the beach.

There has to be stronger leadership, not just nationally but here in the state of Victoria – the state of Victoria that is now the capital of protests in the world, the state where hatred has been spewed and it has been called political expression, the state where people like Mohamed Mohideen, who praised Hamas after 7 October and praised the Islamic regime after they were murdering their own citizens, was allowed to keep his place on the Victorian Multicultural Commission board. Not only that, this man, after praising Hamas and their actions, was praised at the Premier’s multicultural dinner.

I want to tell the story of what happened recently when I was at an event with Mohamed Mohideen. I went to leave, and he came to me and started to talk about how apparently the Liberals, the Nationals and the Labor Party were causing Islamophobia. I listened to him rant and rave for quite a while until I had had enough, and I said, ‘The Liberal Party, Mohamed, is not causing Islamophobia. The National Party is not.’ And I hated to give you guys a free kick, but I said, ‘The Labor Party is not causing Islamophobia.’ I said, ‘You are, because you are failing to draw a line between good, peace-loving Muslims that are here to contribute to this society and groups like Hamas and the Iranian regime.’ We have to draw a division between those two types of people, because they are completely different. If we do not take leadership and we do not draw a line between those two groups, let me tell you, there will be hate and there will be destruction in this city. Now, I bring that up because, I tell you what, on the inside of every human heart there is a line – we know that terrorism is wrong. We saw that with the Muslim man who tackled that gunman. We saw that with him. We saw that with the lifeguards that ran towards danger. We saw that with the woman who lay her body over somebody else’s child to protect him. And we saw that in the Jewish man who threw a brick at one of those terrorists but sadly lost his life.

So we have to stop playing games, I believe, and we need to call out hatred wherever we see it, because there has to be a coming together. It does not matter what race, religion, ethnicity or any of those points of difference you have or you are. We have to call out hatred when we see it. Terrorism crossed into our territory on 14 December, and it must be called out. We must stand together against it, and we must stand together for unity in this state.

I just want to pay tribute to the amazing people whose families are absolutely shattered today because of the loss of their loved ones: Tibor, Tania, Boris, Adam, Rabbi Eli, Marika, Reuven, Peter, Rabbi Yaakov, Alexander, Boris and Sofia, Dan, Edith and Matilda. We pray that your memory will be a blessing.

 Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (13:44): It is with a heavy heart that I rise to add my voice to the condolence motion before us today. It is still incomprehensible to think that a peaceful event celebrating Hanukkah on an Australian beach was so cruelly and maliciously targeted just a few weeks ago. Hundreds of people had gathered in peace, in goodwill and in harmony, in much the same way as countless other Australians do each and every day, to observe their faith and to connect with community. On what should have been an ordinary, joyous day, 15 innocent people lost their lives, 39 were seriously injured and hundreds upon hundreds were traumatised.

This attack has torn at the heart of Australia.

It has been mentioned a few times, but one of the things that has haunted me most in the aftermath of these attacks has been a reflection on the Holocaust. After the evil atrocities inflicted upon the Jewish people, Australia did become home to the largest number of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel – Melbourne, as we all know, in particular, but Sydney with large numbers too. They came here because it was distant from Europe, and they came here because it was safe. It is a fact which makes this attack all the more shocking. In particular it makes the loss of Alex Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor, that bit more painful. This country has been a safe place for Jewish people, especially those who fled the Holocaust. It was not on 14 December. It can, and it must, be again.

Too many Jewish Australians are feeling unsafe. I am grateful to those who have felt comfortable to share their experiences with me, both in my professional and my personal life, in the aftermath of the attack, from the stories of people whose friends and relatives were involved and caught up in the attack to the story of family friends who but for the fate of circumstance would have been on the beach in Bondi that evening.

Antisemitism is an ancient hatred, one that discounts a person’s humanity and diminishes us all by its presence. As elected representatives we all have a responsibility to call out this and every case of racial and religious hatred when we see it. I want to commend the efforts of all communities across our nation who have come together in support of Jewish Australians and the heroes who committed outstanding acts of bravery to save the lives of others. I acknowledge the need for all of us to do whatever more we can do to support our Jewish Australians.

On the first night of Hanukkah a moment of light was snatched by darkness, but the light will always return. Australia is a place where Jews belong. Let us all combine to show them that, and let the memories of those 15 lives forever be a blessing.

 Nick McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (13:47): I am grateful for the opportunity to offer my community’s condolences for the 15 victims, including young Matilda, who lost their lives on 14 December. I also want to take the opportunity to thank all of those civilians, police and other emergency services, including the lifesavers, both the clubbies and the career lifesavers. They came from two clubs: North Bondi and Bondi Surf Bathers Life Saving Club. That was one of my old clubs when I lived in Sydney for a short while between my political losses. They were perhaps the first I thought of, because I am most familiar with that club and that club is centred directly in front of where this act of unspeakable cowardice and evil occurred. Perhaps in our own minds that night we might have thought, as Mr Bourman alluded, that maybe this would be one or two fatalities at worst. Perhaps we hoped that. Sadly, it became unspeakably worse than that, and to a magnitude that I think none of us expected for a moment.

I also offer my community’s thoughts at this time to all of those people who at certain points in our history and more recent history in Australia have gone through other acts of terrorism. I need not remind those present here of the Bali bombing, where we lost 88 Australians, the Lindt cafe, and MH17 to name another. For those people affected by those acts of terrorism, this must also be an occasion where they are horribly reminded of the evil that mankind can do to themselves and to each other.

I also want to make special mention of Reuven Morrison, as has been done today, as he is a grandfather from Melbourne.

[The Legislative Council report is being published progressively.]