‘Clear lack of leadership’ over antisemitism, Sussan Ley says
The opposition leader says there has been a “failure” to protect Jewish Australians.
She says there is “palpable anger” in the community and a sense of “bewilderment”.
Antisemitism in Australia has been left to fester … We have seen a clear failure to keep Jewish Australians safe. We have seen a clear lack of leadership in keeping Jewish Australians safe. We have a government that sees antisemitism as a problem to be managed, not evil that needs to be eradicated …
We’ve seen synagogues fire-bombed, orchestrated by foreign terrorist states. Every single day for the last two years the lives of Jewish Australians have been made harder by this rising tide of antisemitism.
Ley says she’s spoken to antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal this morning, who has been urging the government to respond to her report.
The prime minister has told Jewish Australians that he will do whatever it takes to deal with antisemitism. He must start today by committing to implementing all of the recommendations in his antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal’s report.
Key events
Penry Buckley
Fellow rabbi pays tribute to friend who was ‘the real deal’
A friend and fellow rabbi has paid tribute to 41-year-old Eli Schlanger, who was the first victim of yesterday’s attack to be named.
Speaking to 2GB a moment ago, Rabbi Dovid Slavin, a friend of the London-born rabbi, said Schlanger was “the real deal”:
I would talk to him regularly, [he was] an inspirational young man full of love, full of compassion, full of sensitivity and an incredible sense of humour, and one who always, always took the difficult but right road to achieve things. He achieved so much in his short life. It’s just so difficult to talk about him in terminology of the past, but we will see him again, and his legacy will live for a long time.
[He was] constantly out there with open arms, welcoming, embracing, and always with a smile – even during the most difficult times in discussions, you would see him in arguments, always with a smile, always with love. It would be very difficult to find somebody … who would have harsh words to say about him. He was loved, respected, admired and looked up to.
Here’s what we know so far about the victims:
Caitlin Cassidy
Blood donors still needed despite surge
Further to the news about the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood website crashing, the service also said:
We’ve seen an overwhelming response from the community, and we’d like to thank everyone who has visited our centres or made an appointment to donate today, and in the days ahead.
The need for more blood donors is ongoing. With the festive season approaching, we’re encouraging people to look at making an appointment over the coming weeks, as blood donations will continue to be needed between now and January 2.
We’d also encourage people to book an appointment where possible, to ensure they’re not waiting too long to donate.
We’re hoping to have the website up and running again very soon, and thank people for their patience. In the interim, people can call 13 14 95 to book an appointment. Or check back again soon to book via lifeblood.com.au or the Lifeblood App.
You can read more about how to help here:
Blood donation website crashes amid surge in donors
Caitlin Cassidy
The Australian Red Cross Lifeblood website is experiencing a temporary outage as it is overwhelmed by Australians attempting to donate blood in the wake of the Bondi terrorist attack.
Earlier this morning, it issued an urgent call for donors from multiple states to support the need in Sydney, with a particular request for O-type individuals.
On social media, Lifeblood said in a statement that it was experiencing “high volumes” on its website which was affecting performance:
We are working to fix a temporary outage on our website and our call centre is experiencing a high volume of calls. We appreciate your patience and thank you for helping us to meet demand.
Islamophobia envoy condemns Bondi attack
Australia’s special envoy to combat Islamophobia, Aftab Malik, has condemned the Bondi attack, saying there is “no justification for this sickening violence or hatred against anyone”. He said:
I stand in solidarity with all victims, families and communities affected by this reprehensible act.
The perpetrators of this senseless violence have a clear purpose: to spread fear, terror, division and mistrust within our communities.
We must not allow them to achieve their intent.
Benita Kolovos
Victorian police say they ‘conducted 180 visits’ last night to reassure Jewish community
Speaking alongside the Victorian premier was the police commissioner, Mike Bush, who told reporters 180 visits were conducted to provide reassurance to Melbourne’s Jewish community in the hours after the Bondi attack.
Police have stressed there is no threat known locally but they understand the fear and concern Jewish people will be feeling at this time. Bush said:
Everyone has the right to go about their life without threat or without fear. Last night, after this atrocity, which caused so much shock and trauma right across Australia [and] right across the globe, we stood up in operation to provide assurance to all Victorians that they were safe. We will continue that operation.
And the feedback I’ve had even this morning is we need to do more of that. Last night, we conducted 180 visits across Melbourne and Victoria, and we will continue to do that as the Jewish community continue to stand strong and celebrate Hanukah, and we will be with you.
He said “tens of thousands” of officers were deployable across Victoria for this work, while he had also offered support to NSW:
We’ve reached out to commissioner Mal Lanyon to offer every piece of support, and we’re supporting him and also the many victims of this horrendous crime. We are also there in support of our two officers also seriously injured.
Penry Buckley
US antisemitism taskforce condemns ‘senseless act of mass violence’
A US congressional taskforce for combating antisemitism has condemned yesterday’s attack and offered its support.
In a statement, Democratic senator Jacky Rosen and Republican senator James Lankford, co-founders and chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, said they were in touch with the Australian embassy and working to provide any assistance. They said:
Our hearts go out to the Australian people as they deal with the aftermath of a horrific attack that targeted Jews on the first night of Hanukah.
This senseless act of mass violence was motivated by a hatred of Jews and is the result of rising antisemitism left unchecked. It underscores the importance of rooting out this evil bigotry from the face of the planet.
We’re committed to continuing the fight against antisemitism wherever and whenever it rears its ugly head. This is a fight that transcends politics or ideology, and we are united behind a shared goal: ensuring Jews in the United States and around the world can practice their faith openly without fear of violence.
Benita Kolovos
Jacinta Allan asks Victorians to light a candle to express support for Jewish community
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has held a press conference after lighting the Hanukah candle at St Kilda Shule this morning, in the heart of Melbourne’s Jewish community. She describes the terror attack in Bondi as “an act of evil that at its heart was being driven by antisemitism”.
Allan says:
It was targeted, and it was designed to strike at the precise moment when the Jewish community was coming together and, indeed, welcoming the wider community, as they so always do, into that celebration of Hanukah, a celebration of light and hope and looking forward with positivity to the year ahead.
It was an act of hatred. It was an act of terrorism. It was an act of antisemitism that goes deeply against everything we stand for here in Victoria.
She urged Victorians to reach out to members of the Jewish community, attend a Hanukah event in the coming days or to light a candle in their own home:
Lighting our own candles in our own home is a very beautiful and simple way that we can express love and support, but also learn and go forward from this evil act of terror.
Ley urges Albanese to act on Jillian Segal’s recommendations
Ley is asked whether the opposition would support changes to tighten gun control laws, but won’t confirm either way.
The opposition leader says the government needs to act immediately, but on gun control says:
Families are waiting by the bedsides of their loved ones across hospitals in Sydney today and my heart breaks for all of them. With that in mind, this is not a subject I am going to discuss today.
Ley says Australia as a whole should have done more over the last two years to protect the Jewish community, and urges Albanese to act on Jillian Segal’s recommendations.
I am going to say that the government has been warned, comprehensively and unequivocally, about the rising tide of antisemitism in this country and, more importantly, what we could and should be doing has not been taken on Jillian’s recommendations and it needs to be.
I do stand ready to support the prime minister but I strongly, strongly urge him to pick this report up and to act immediately to implement its recommendations.
Asked which of the recommendations in the report could have prevented the attack, Ley says antisemitism was “deeply embedded” in the shooting.
Shadow home affairs minister says attack ‘should never have happened’
Shadow minister Julian Leeser and shadow home affairs minister, Jonathon Duniam, are with Ley at the press conference in Sydney.
Leeser, who is a Jewish MP, tells the public to imagine Hanukah by the Sea is like “carols by candlelight”. “[There are] children on rides and people eating sugary food, dancing, music and prayers,” he says.
Duniam says this attack “should never have happened” and that it could have been avoided.
We didn’t have to come to this. Over the last two years there have been countless warning signs to our country, to our leaders, about things that need to be addressed. Reports have been compiled, recommendations provided by the special envoy to antisemitism, and those things haven’t been acted upon.
As an opposition, we will work with the government to provide whatever support is necessary to put in place measures that prevent this sort of thing from ever happening again … It is unacceptable that it has come to this and leadership needs to be shown now. We can’t wait another day.
‘Clear lack of leadership’ over antisemitism, Sussan Ley says
The opposition leader says there has been a “failure” to protect Jewish Australians.
She says there is “palpable anger” in the community and a sense of “bewilderment”.
Antisemitism in Australia has been left to fester … We have seen a clear failure to keep Jewish Australians safe. We have seen a clear lack of leadership in keeping Jewish Australians safe. We have a government that sees antisemitism as a problem to be managed, not evil that needs to be eradicated …
We’ve seen synagogues fire-bombed, orchestrated by foreign terrorist states. Every single day for the last two years the lives of Jewish Australians have been made harder by this rising tide of antisemitism.
Ley says she’s spoken to antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal this morning, who has been urging the government to respond to her report.
The prime minister has told Jewish Australians that he will do whatever it takes to deal with antisemitism. He must start today by committing to implementing all of the recommendations in his antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal’s report.
‘Darkest day since the Port Arthur massacre’ Sussan Ley says
Sussan Ley is speaking to the media in Sydney, and says it is a day that will be “burnt in the nation’s soul”.
The opposition leader says she spoke to Anthony Albanese last night, offering the Coalition’s support in the aftermath of the shooting.
It was the darkest day since the Port Arthur massacre in April 1996. Australians will remember where they were on the day of the Bondi massacre and they will remember the feelings of overwhelming disbelief and shock that they felt. Those who saw the murderous massacre first hand and lost loved ones will be changed forever.
I sought an assurance from the prime minister that I would receive the necessary security briefings from our agencies and police, and I was told that would happen today.
She pays tribute to the first responders and bystanders who stepped into danger and saved lives.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Bondi attack affects political timetable
The Bondi terrorist attack has cast uncertainty over what was expected to be a busy week of announcements in federal politics ahead of the Christmas break.
Guardian Australia has confirmed the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook (Myefo) will go ahead as planned on Wednesday.
But the timing of everything else is up in the air, including the release of a six-month review of the east coast gas market and any potential changes to MPs travel perks in response to the expenses scandal.
The Coalition was this week expected to release the “principles” that will underpin its immigration policy, although that could be delayed after the deadliest mass shooting since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.
The Liberal party also intended to release the findings of an internal review of its horror May federal election defeat prior to Christmas.
More photos from Bondi beach this morning
Members of the public have been laying down flowers at the Bondi pavilion.
Tom McIlroy
Monique Ryan: ‘All Australians have to stand together against antisemitism and hatred’
Independent MP Monique Ryan says she stands firmly with Australia’s Jewish community and rejects antisemitism, violence and all forms of hatred.
Speaking after Sunday’s Bondi shooting, the Kooyong MP thanked police and ambulance crews, as well as nurses and doctors treating the injured.
My deepest condolences are with the families who have lost loved ones, those who have been injured, and all affected by this act of terrorism.
All Australians have to stand together against antisemitism and hatred – always.
Over the coming days, weeks and months, I will work with leaders and members of the Jewish community, police forces as well as local, state, and federal governments, to ensure the safety of all members of our community.
‘We need to understand what happened, how it happened and how we can never let it happen again,’ Allegra Spender says
Wentworth MP Allegra Spender, whose electorate of Wentworth includes Bondi beach, says her entire community is devastated and in mourning.
She said Sunday was “one of the darkest days in Australian history”.
I spoke to people last night who said they’re taking off their mezuzahs, symbols of the Jewish community, on their front doors. They’re taking them off because they feel afraid.
This is how the community feels, and I think it is up to the entire country – absolutely security and police and government – but up all of us to seek over time to restore the faith of the Jewish community about their safety here.
Spender urged Australians to reach out to their Jewish friends and associates to express support and kindness, noting an attack on Jews was an attack on all Australians and the country’s way of life.
She said the government needed to act as well, and that Anthony Albanese should “urgently respond” to antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal’s report.
We need to understand what happened, how it happened, and how we can never let it happen again.
Cabinet to meet to discuss Bondi attack
The federal cabinet will meet this morning and discuss the Bondi Beach terror attack.
The prime minister will also attend a meeting of the national security committee (NSC), ahead of a national cabinet meeting where Anthony Albanese and state and territory premiers will meet.
We’ll bring any more information we get from those meetings to you.
Luca Ittimani
Floral tribute grows outside Bondi Pavilion
Mourners have laid a growing spread of flowers in front of Bondi Pavilion, which remains cordoned off under police watch.
Among the first to lay flowers was the prime minister, who briefly visited the beach earlier this morning. Asked how he felt upon seeing the scene, Anthony Albanese said one word: “horrific”. He stood in silence by the pavilion for a minute, and shook hands with police officers.
Passersby have pitched in to clear the mess of items left behind by beachgoers, gathering loose towels, bags and surfboards and leaving them at the edge of the sand near the pavilion, where the Australian and Aboriginal flags were flying at half-mast. One woman carrying a basket of items wiped away tears as she walked up the beach.
At the same time, growing numbers of swimmers and surfers were stopping by the beach.
Businesses along the closed beachside road were reopening.
Time for national unity, Albanese says when asked about Netanyahu criticism
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Anthony Albanese and the Australian government of putting “fuel on the antisemitism fire” after last night’s terror attack.
Albanese was asked about Netanyahu’s comments during the press conference this morning, and said now was a moment for “national unity”.
This is a moment for Australians to come together. That’s precisely what we’ll be doing.
Luca Ittimani
Continuing from last post
Friedman said his own nieces and nephews were at the festival and ran across the street and sheltered in a stranger’s apartment for six hours.
My wife was speaking to her sister, her sister was actually here with her three kids. They had to leave, they had to run for their lives and escape across the road.
On the way to the beach this morning, he stopped to find his daughter’s shoes at nearby Dover Heights, which she had left behind as she fled last night.
Some of the injured and dead were Friedman’s good friends and he was “still waiting” to learn who else may have been injured that he knew.
I haven’t really checked my phone this morning … I want to be here this morning and put on my tallit and tefillin and offer some prayers. Just to be here, but not quite knowing what to do with all these emotions and feelings … People are coming over. Jewish people, regular Australians, coming over and just giving each other hugs and crying on each other’s shoulders.
We’re just grieving and feeling those emotions. But like we’ve always done, we will gather together and we will come back stronger.
