Australia’s heart is broken today. 

What should have been a joyous moment for the Jewish community, celebrating the festival of Chanukah with friends and family, has been shattered by an evil attack on innocent people.

Make no mistake, this is one of the darkest days in the history of our state. With victims aged between ten and eighty-seven, generations of Jewish Australians have been killed for the simple fact they were Jewish.  

We should be absolutely clear about what occurred at Bondi Beach on Sunday night. This was a terrorist attack, planned and executed in cold blood, designed to terrorise and isolate the Jewish people of Sydney.

But in the face of such hatred, Australians have responded with unity, compassion and an unshakeable commitment to stand with the Jewish community.

In the last forty-eight hours, we have seen an outpouring of love directed towards our Jewish friends and neighbours in New South Wales. And in the days and months ahead, we will continue to wrap our arms around the Jewish community and help them through this incredibly distressing time.

We are still at the beginning of a complex investigation. We don’t have all the answers yet.

But we have learned some crucial pieces of information about the character of this wonderful city and our beautiful state.

The first one is the flood of support and affection being directed towards our Jewish community. The number of people expressing their love has overwhelmed the evil few with hate in their hearts.

Secondly, we have witnessed the enormous responsibility and danger faced by the New South Wales Police and emergency services as a routine part of their job. They do it without faltering. They didn't falter. We need them. 

And thirdly, we have seen exceptional acts of personal courage from individuals in our community. And it's worth remembering that in all of this evil, in all of this sadness, there are still wonderful Australians that are prepared to risk their lives to help a complete stranger.

I can assure you that this outrage will be met with the massive police and public order response it deserves. This is not a time for sympathetic words. It’s a time for strong laws and overwhelming police enforcement. Both are on the way.

Australia has always prided itself on being different to the places from which Jewish people have fled throughout history. We have been a safe haven. A country where Jewish people could live their lives in peace. Where they could express their identity proudly, openly, in a place like Bondi Beach. 

This cowardly terrorist attack was a direct assault on that principle. And as a result, it was a direct assault on the Australian way of life. I can promise you we will be doing everything in our power, with every resource at our disposal, to destroy the cancer of antisemitism and ensure the safety of Jewish people in this country.