Tonight, marks the worst fear of the Australian Jewish community becoming reality.
A peaceful Chanukah gathering at Bondi Beach was attacked. Images emerging tonight are chilling and echo the horrors Australians hoped they would never see here.
This did not come without warning. In Australia, it began on 9 October 2023 at the Sydney Opera House. We then watched a march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge waving terrorist flags and glorifying extremist leaders. Now death has reached Bondi Beach. These are Australian icons. Targeting them is deliberate. This is not random. It is an attack on Australia.
My gratitude is with those first responders today who have had to do a job no-one should have to.
To ordinary Australians, this moment demands clarity. What once seemed distant or uncomfortable can no longer be ignored. Taunts from the Opera House steps, synagogues set alight and now massacres at a celebration form a clear pattern.
This is not the Australia we know and it cannot be the Australia we accept.
Australia responded decisively after Port Arthur in 1996. This moment requires the same action. Words are no longer enough.
An attack on a peaceful Jewish celebration is an attack on our national character and our way of life. Australia must defend both.
As Australian Jews light our Chanukah candles tonight, we do so with the heaviest of hearts. Chag Sameach.