When the first shot rang out and people dropped on the ground my father lifted his head. He shouted at the terrorists, swore at him. Challenged him. How dare you come here! How dare you come to our place. Our people. A woman later told me as she lay over her children, whispering shema certain it was her final moment? The gun was pointed at her and then suddenly the terrorist turned. My father had distracted him. He had pulled him away.

Then came the footage the world saw. My father throwing a brick at an armed terrorist. Not out of recklessness. Out of instinct. Out of a refusal to stand by. More footage followed.

My father grabbing the gun. He knew how to use one, and he was ready to fight. He was shot in the wrist. Then another bullet and then another. He collapsed to the ground. My father said when we leave this world we take nothing with us. But he did it. 11 bullets were found in his body. A silent record but the final minutes of his life.

Minutes filled with courage with clarity and with selflessness. Speaker, I was privileged to hear this tribute from Sheina Gutnik to her father, Reuven Morrison at the Bondi Shloshim at St Kilda Shule, as well as Perle Goldhirsch’s tribute to

Rabbi Eli Schlanger last Monday. And today we honour their memories, with Edith Brutman, Dan Elkayam, Boris and Sofia Gurman, Alexander Kleytman, Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, Peter Meagher, Marika Pogany, Adam Smyth, Boris Tetleroyd, Tania Tretiak, Tibor Weitzen, and Matilda, and the many others who were injured, as well as the first responders and bystanders.

Bondi is of course a long way from Goldstein but the communities are connected by its people. On the Friday before the Bondi attack I went to Central Schule in Caulfield South and we discussed how wonderful it was that everything was seemingly returning to normal and the mood was joyful. At Hanukkah, at the racecourse just before 7pm as I arrived on the 14th of December.

But as the news trickled in, the mood turned. As attendees lived the fear of text going unanswered and phone calls ringing out to loved ones they knew were at the sister event in Sydney. Moreover, we all lived the daunting fear of whether we were safe in the context. And this has become the lived experience for Australians of Jewish heritage.

In the days that followed I contacted many people I saw that night. Some told me family members were safe. Others of friends who had sustained injuries but were stable in hospital and some needed help. But I also had to make phone calls to express condolences to grieving families. While these families were days into processing their loss they were also two years into living a bigger trauma that since the 7th of October 2023, the ancient bigotry of antisemitism is once again out of its cage.

From knowing that once antisemitism is let out there is no quick fix. Only sustained leadership can stop it and once it is out it will also come for you too. The anger comes from the frustration of saying something repeatedly and not feeling heard. One local rabbi exclaimed to me in the days after everyone is saying light through the dark.

But where were they when it was dark over the past two years? Another Goldstein constituent shared: the government is offering more money for bigger walls. But I don't want to live behind bigger walls. I want to live a life without them. While we thank the volunteer Community Service Group or CSG to protect the Jewish community, and we do, they protect the community to schools, synagogues and events.

Australians of Jewish heritage don't want to live to need with them. Another constituent wrote to me. My anger really is not with the Jihadis. They're kind of doing their thing. My anger is that not a single person in our government will talk about the cause of the problem.

Four days after I joined a small number of people at Bondi Pavilion as the sun rose shortly after laying flowers on behalf of the Goldstein community, a woman broke down on my shoulder. As she told her story of a community she loved being torn apart. In the days after the tragedy the Jewish community has spoken of their defiance, and correctly, they've said that the answer must be to be more Jewish. But it also befalls on all of us to show the responsibility to be our best selves for them too. Because Bondi showed the moral clarity and courage that ordinary Australians can show in an instant.

It also shows for all of us so much of what has been lacking that led to this tragedy. When I hear calls for new laws because otherwise our government won't be able to stop antisemitism I worry they underestimate the scale of the challenge. If we could pass a law that ended an ancient bigotry from the human heart we'd all pass it tomorrow.

We need more than a repeat of media cycle political fixes in place of enduring commitment that this moment compels. A Royal Commission is welcome. Some law will help. We know the evil we want to confront. Those who cultivate radicalisation to do harm have no place in this nation. What the community wants from us now is clarity. Calling out of course Islamic extremism that motivated this antisemitic terrorism and to lead because Bondi represents a day when our fraying social fabric was violently torn.

The task of restitching it is long and tightening it an enduring one. As my colleague the Member for Berowra said this morning Bondi will either be the crescendo of a bad chapter in our history or the midpoint of a story that gets worse. Our task is one of honesty, leadership, vigilance and courage and not through our words but our deeds. Only then will we honour the words may their memory be a blessing.