Anthony Albanese has called for Australia to face a hard truth in the wake of the Bondi Beach shooting and for the country to act to ensure another terror attack is never carried out on these shores.
Speaking as parliament reconvened weeks early for a condolence motion for the victims of the December 14 attack targeting the Jewish community that killed 15 people, the prime minister said responsibility for action in the aftermath of the shooting lay with him, but was also a task for every Australian.
"In the long days and hard weeks that have followed, so many of us have thought to ourselves and said to each other, 'This doesn't happen here. Not in Australia. It's not the Australian way'," Albanese said.
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"Bondi Beach changed that forever. We must face that unforgiving truth and we must learn from it.
"We must channel our anger into meaningful action to ensure an atrocity such as this can never happen again.
"That responsibility starts with me, as Australia's 31st prime minister. It also belongs to each of us here in this chamber as parliamentarians and is a task for all of us as Australians."
Albanese also acknowledged the anger – much of it directed towards him and his government – following the attack.
"I know there is disbelief and there is anger too. How could there not be?" he said.
"A Holocaust survivor was gunned down in a nation that had given him refuge from the worst of humanity. A 10-year-old girl will never have another birthday.
"Terrorists, inspired by ISIS, murdered our citizens on our soil."
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The eight-point condolence motion moves that parliament, among other things, condemns antisemitism and takes new action to eradicate it, and stands together in national unity to "confront and defeat the worst of hatred and division with the best of the Australian spirit".
That call for action was consistently echoed as other MPs addressed parliament.
"In the aftermath of this tragedy, we must strive to ensure that the memories of those 15 beautiful souls truly becomes a blessing," Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said.
"A blessing that inspires us to build a more cohesive and compassionate Australia. One where we meet this moment of truth and respond with moral courage and moral clarity."
However, there was little sense of bipartisan unity, with the opposition criticising the government's handling of antisemitism and Ley calling for an apology for the delay in calling a royal commission.
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"Increasingly, Jewish Australians are asking the question: where are our leaders?" shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser, who is Jewish, said.
"Today is not about day-to-day politics. It is about the type of country we want and the type of people we are.
"The sad reality is if we don't change, then Bondi won't have changed anything.
"Bondi represents a moment of choice. Will we be staying in the political cul-de-sac that we have been in for over 800 days or will we tackle the sources and causes of antisemitism in this country?
"Will our leaders continue to treat antisemitism and violence against Jewish people as a political problem to manage rather than the moral and cultural problem that it is?
"And will our leaders drag their heels or deal with the issues with priority and zealous determination?"
Several MPs became visibly emotional during their speeches, including high-profile Jewish ex-attorney-general Mark Dreyfus.
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"I have spoken the names of those who were murdered. Each one was a life full of meaning," he said.
"People who were loved, who contributed to their communities, who shared the lives of those around them in quiet, lasting and meaningful ways.
"For every person murdered, their families and friends left behind; a home left quieter, clothes still hanging in wardrobes, photos on walls that will never be updated, children asking when someone is coming home.
"A seat left empty at the table, a laugh no longer heard… their loss is not only an overwhelming private sorrow for families and loved ones, but a wound felt across the nation."
Politicians across the chamber also praised the selflessness of everyday Australians who sprang into action during the shooting to help others, including Ahmed al-Ahmed and Gefen Bitton, who both confronted one of the killers.
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Independent Allegra Spender, whose Wentworth electorate includes Bondi, said the courage of those heroes shows the way forward for the rest of the nation.
"We must not dehumanise one another. We cannot fight hate with hate," she said.
"As Rabbi (Yehoram) Ulman reminded us on the last night of Hanukkah, at the vigil on Bondi Beach: darkness is not defeated by anger or force, darkness is transformed by light.
"People are angry now and rightly so, but in his words, Australia must become a nation where kindness is louder than hate, where decency is stronger than fear.
"This was the most violent attack of hatred in modern Australia. And I do believe that we as a country can emerge more united, more steadfastly committed to our common values and our shared humanity than ever before…
"This is what we owe those we have lost. This is how we honour their blessed memories."
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