Bondi Condolence Motion

Ms BURNET (Clark) - Honourable Speaker, I thank the Premier for bringing this condolence motion to the House. I also recognise those who have joined us in the Chamber and who are listening at home. It was an act of treachery when on Sunday, 14 December 2025, a father and his son opened fire on a peaceful gathering for a religious festival, Chanukah by the Sea at Bondi. They killed 15 men, women and children and wounded countless more festival-goers, innocent bystanders and first responders. My thoughts are with those who lost loved ones, friends, members of their community, including Rabbi Schlanger and Rabbi Levitan. When the brave Ahmed El Ahmed, whose fearless intervention reduced the heinous terrorists' toll, and those other first responders who were injured or who were there.

My thoughts are with local Bondi residents and Sydneysiders more generally. As a nation, we are united in mourning. We are still grieving months later, and this emotion, still very raw, has been on display here today.

This was an assault that occurred at a peaceful gathering in an iconic place. Bondi: Quintessentially Australian. It was therefore fitting that those heroes and first responders were welcomed onto the SCG at the start of the Sydney Test. Terrorists do not win. Their names will be not named today. This was the case for the man who murdered worshippers at the Christchurch mosque in March 2019, whose name New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern never uttered.

Bondi on 14 December 2025 was an act of violence concentrated at one place against Jews practising their faith; a calculated act of terror that stains our country. I do remember joining Rabbi Gordon and members of the Chabad and Jewish community some years ago at the Chanukah celebrations at Mawson Pavilion.

This is something that our nation will never forget. It is redolent of Port Arthur in 1996, for those Tasmanians and tourists still bearing the scars, both physiological and mental. It is very difficult to heal from such violence. To help me understand, I have met with and spoken to various members of the Jewish community here in Hobart since the Bondi attack. It was important to reach out to them. They have told me that the response from the Tasmanian community, the outpouring of support, the laying of flowers at the Argyle Street Synagogue and the offerings of condolences, have been very much appreciated.

They report few acts of anti-Semitism targeted at them as individuals. Some are concerned that pro-Palestinian rallies or media commentary are anti-Semitic, that any criticism of Israel is an attack for them as Jews. Others understand that there is a genocide in Gaza and that Israel does not represent their view. For me, it was important to reach out to these community members to offer my support, my condolences, and to help me understand some members of the Hebrew congregation's positions, to understand that there is a diversity of views.

I do not even begin to know what the community has really experienced, and those generations of trauma, but I offer my condolences to those who have lost loved ones who have been touched by this targeted violence. I know that there are other members of our community who have also been affected by repercussions after the actions of the gunman on 14 December at Bondi who were not Jewish. Not only did I speak with members of the Jewish community, but I thought it was also important to speak to other leaders and everyday members who make up our Tasmanian community: Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Palawa, gay, queer and transgender, to gain an understanding of the world for them after Bondi at a time of global conflict and growing intolerance in Australia.

Let us acknowledge that only a month after the Bondi attack, a man tried to detonate an explosion at a rally in Perth in what is now acknowledged as a terrorist attack, motivated by racist ideology targeting Aboriginal people. I acknowledge Western Australia's Premier Roger Cook's strong position on condemning this act of violence against the Aboriginal community.

For some of our community in Tasmania, they feel afraid, that hate is growing, that to wear religious or traditional dress, to be different in any way, they in turn become a target.

Out of a violent, abhorrent act can and must come some good. We have a responsibility to ensure that good does happen out of such a tragic event such as Bondi. Tolerance and multiculturalism needs to be nurtured through thick and thin of events as they unfold. This motion of the Premier's that I endorse unequivocally condemns the evil of anti-Semitism and vows strong action to prevent extremism and keep our state safe, resilient and united.

I acknowledge the hate-speech laws passed last passed last year by the Tasmanian parliament and acknowledged the Attorney-General for bringing those laws to the parliament. They have placed Tasmania ahead of the game, in some respects. You cannot legislate or impose tolerance and social cohesion. Law reform is not a panacea for extremism, but it is important. Harsher punishments aren't a panacea for extremism. Tolerance and understanding needs to be taught, and it needs to be modelled, and it needs to extend to all communities and all religious beliefs.

Indeed, that is what has been told to me, by people of Jewish faith, secular people, and people of Indian descent, who say to me, through education tolerance can grow. It is something that Mr Bayley and I raised in 2024 with the Minister for Education about having more anti-racism training in schools and now more than ever we need action on this.

As Dr Woodruff has so eloquently said, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are two sides of the same coin. One of our great national successes has been to build a tolerant and effective multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multicultural nation, one that has as part it, the world's longest surviving culture.

But multiculturalism requires constant vigilance, and it requires listening to our communities. The Jewish community have long been warning of the rise of anti-Semitism. Have we heeded that? The Jewish community have so many questions; Australians have so many questions, that I am hoping will be answered by the royal commission which has already commenced.

We can't leave all the work to the royal commission. We need to look inwards to try to understand where this extreme is coming from. What we are seeing is an increasing number of people feeling aggrieved, fuelled by a belief that we no longer live in a fair society where everyone has equal opportunities. That they are being left behind by the rising tide of wealth that is not lifting all boats.

We are seeing that anger and frustration misdirected towards migrants and minorities like the Jewish population. Misdirected anger and frustration that is being amplified by social media, driven by algorithms that rewards extremity. Around the world and in Australia we are seeing in real time where this can lead, and it is frightening. This rise in extremism is not just the fault of social media. It is also a product of an economic system that is fuelling unrest and a great and growing divide between the haves and the have nots. We have seen these patterns before and unless we are able to learn from the mistakes of history, we are doomed to repeat them.

What can we do as a parliament to respond to this? I also attended the Iftar evening with Ms Haddad, which was sensational, and those speeches, as you refer to them, were so right for the time, right for the moment. I urge us all to celebrate our religious and cultural diversity.

I acknowledge all our migrant communities. More than 15 per cent of Tasmania's population was born overseas. We now practise many religions and speak many languages. We are a pluralistic state and society. There are now more than 10,000 Hindus and 5000 Muslims in Tasmania. Almost 10 per cent of our population speaks a non-English language, 8129 at last count Mandarin speakers, 7248 Nepali speakers, and to the 500 or so people who openly practise their Judaism in Tasmania, including those here today and listening, thank you for making Tasmania your home. You are welcome here.

Tasmanians should celebrate the richness of our diverse stories, cultures, beliefs and practises. Our state is richer for them all. Remember, too, if it weren't for our migrant population, our population and our economy would be in decline, and, lastly, I say to my fellow MPs that we need to be conscious that the community is watching us as leaders, as we represent them in this place and out in the community. Let us redouble efforts to look for what unites us to seek our common ground. Where we disagree, we need to disagree agreeably, respectfully, because if we can't do that, what message are we sending our community in these difficult times?

Members - Hear, hear.