The peace and joy of a summer's evening at Bondi Beach was shattered on Sunday 14 December. In a senseless act of terror, a horrific antisemitic attack on our Jewish community, fifteen innocent lives were lost and injured dozens more.

On behalf of our inner west community, I extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who were killed. They were simply enjoying the most ordinary and beautiful of things, celebrating their faith, sharing time with loved ones.

They were doing this in the most Australian of places – the beach – a place that is at the core of who we are as Australian's, a place where all people come, from across Sydney, and indeed from across the world, for free, to be carefree and to be together.

They should have been safe. They should have come home.

This atrocious, barbaric act was targeted at on our Jewish community, simply for being themselves and celebrating their faith. This hate has no place in Australia.

Again, on behalf of our inner west community, I say loudly and clearly to the Jewish community; this is your home, you are welcome here and we stand with you as equal and valued members of our society. You, like all Australians, have the right to live openly, safely and freely without fear.

Sunday changed so many lives forever.

The victims were not only loved by their families, but they were also valued members of our community, many volunteers who selflessly gave their time for the care of others.

Their absence will be felt by many, and we honour their lives and the contribution they made to our state.

I know we're also thinking of those recovering from their injuries in our hospitals and those who witnessed the horror of that day. The trauma they carry will not fade quickly, and they have our compassion, our support, and our commitment to help them heal, physically and mentally. You are all in our hearts.

A week on we are still learning of the many stories of extraordinary bravery of so many that Sunday night. Of the NSW Police, of paramedics, surf lifesavers and all the incredible first responders.

We're also deeply grateful to the doctors, nurses and hospital staff who worked tirelessly through the night to save lives, including those off duty locals that came rushing in to help and to the many ordinary everyday Australians who ran towards danger to protect others.

Their courage saved lives. In moments of unimaginable horror, ordinary Australians and frontline responders acted with extraordinary humanity. They remind us of the very best of who we are.

Heroes like Ahmed al-Ahmed. Ahmed crept up on the gunmen. He tackled him and wrestled the gun out of his hand. He was shot twice and kept going. This incredible act of heroism undoubtedly saved lives – and it epitomises the best of our multicultural community.

Heroes like Jessica Rozen who protected and comforted someone else's child from raining gun shots, saving the three-year old's life while getting injured herself.

Heroes like Jackson Dolan, a lifeguard who ran towards the violence with medical equipment from his neighbouring beach and along with other lifeguards used their surfboards as stretchers and their first aid skills to save the wounded.

So many people have done everything they can to help. Like the thousands of Australians who queued to donate blood in the hours after the attack. Your generosity and solidarity are a powerful reminder that, in the face of hate, our community responds with compassion and courage.

This racist attack was an assault not only on Jewish Australians but on all of us and the values we hold dear, of peace, freedom, and community, that have made Australia the most successful multicultural nation on earth. It is our enduring strength.

Now more than ever we need to pull on that strength and put those values into practice.

Be it the small act of kindness of rolling up your sleeve to donate blood like so many have done at our local Marrickville Lifeblood Centre, or reaching out to your neighbours, your Jewish friends and colleagues, to make sure they don't feel alone, we all share a responsibility to make our communities safe.

Critically Speaker, Premier Minns and the NSW Government is acting decisively and doing everything possible to uphold those values. To comprehensively reject hate and eliminate it in all its forms, to dramatically reform our gun laws to make them the strongest in Australia and significantly restrict access to dangerous weapons, to make sure we are all safe and feel safe in this wonderful country.

On behalf of the inner west community and the people of NSW we offer our deepest condolences on the loss of these innocent lives.

We will forever honour these lives lost on that terrible day at Bondi Beach.

We know who we are and what we stand for as a nation.

We will heal and draw on our diversity to bind us together.

We will come through this, into the light, safer and stronger.