E&OE.
I want to say thank you very much to the President and to all of the community members here that we’ve spoken with today.
This has been a shocking circumstance for every Australian. People who are watching the scenes unfold here really are devastated because most Australians have in their heart, love, not hate. When you look at the devastation that’s been wreaked upon a place of worship, it has no place in our country whatsoever.
This is obviously now a terrorist attack, as has been acknowledged eventually by the Prime Minister, and I want to thank the authorities here in Victoria, as well as the Australian Federal Police and others, who will be working day and night to bring the people to account for this atrocious act.
When you hear of the impact on young children, elderly parents within the community, it truly is an abomination. How do you explain to a seven or eight year old Jewish child that their place of worship is attacked in this way? How do you explain to them that there are armed guards at their school protecting them from a similar attack? I think we all need to come together and make sure that we can call out evil where we see it, and this really is evil.
We need to make sure that the anti-Semitism that has now become commonplace in our society, is repelled at every opportunity, and we need to make sure that as a society, we stand united with the Jewish community and let them know that we do not tolerate any act of anti-Semitism in our country.
That’s the reason for my presence here today. So, thank you.
[ends]