MEDIA STATEMENT 15 December 2025
Today we continue to mourn the victims of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack and grieve with their families and the Jewish community in Australia. This was an unconscionable act of antisemitism that should not have happened on our soil.
I also hear the voices of our Jewish community loud and clear: urgent, decisive action must be taken now to protect them and to ensure that such a horrific act never occurs on Australian soil again.
What happened at Bondi was a foreseeable tragedy that the Albanese Government failed to take concrete action to prevent. The warning signs were unmistakable. In the months and years leading up to this attack, the Coalition, Jewish organisations, and our intelligence agencies repeatedly warned the Government of the consequences of allowing antisemitism to fester unchecked. Following the horrors of October 7, 2023, those warnings grew louder. Yet the Government failed to act decisively.
The Director-General of ASIO identified the rise of antisemitism as his number one priority in terms of threats to life in Australia. If it was the top priority for our security agencies, why was it not treated as such by the Albanese Government?
Since the October 7 tragedy, Australians have witnessed routine incidents of antisemitic abuse, vandalism, intimidation, and violence. Marches in major cities, featuring chants such as “From the river to the sea,” “globalise the intifada,” and “death to the IDF”, went unchecked and normalised a culture of antisemitism. It began as early as October 9, 2023, outside the Sydney Opera House and escalated into weekly occurrences in our cities. Jewish Australians repeatedly expressed they do not feel safe to go to school, to work or to their places of worship.
The toleration of this antisemitic hatred helped set the stage for Australia’s deadliest mass-casualty attack since Port Arthur.
According to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, in 2024 alone antisemitic incidents surged by 316 per cent compared to the previous year. In 2025, they remain around three times higher than any year prior to October 7, 2023. These statistics were clear warning signs that the Albanese Government failed to act on.
Yet the Albanese Government showed neither urgency nor moral clarity. Any measures came only after relentless pressure by the Coalition and the Jewish community, and far too late. The Albanese Government was continuously dragged kicking and screaming to initiate the AFP taskforce and introduce stronger laws on hate symbols and incitement to violence. Even now, the Government has yet to respond to or implement the national plan released by its own Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal AO, in July 2025.
Too often, antisemitism has not been called out by the Albanese Government for what it is. The consequences of that moral failure are clear: the burning of the Adass Israel Synagogue, the arson attack on the East Melbourne Synagogue, the firebombing of Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, and countless other incidents, tragically culminating at Bondi.
Compounding this failure, the Albanese Government turned its back on Israel at a moment of profound vulnerability, abandoning it at the United Nations and recognising Palestinian statehood in the aftermath of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. That decision sent a dangerous message: that terrorism and hatred are rewarded, and that Jewish Australians stand alone.
The Albanese Government has failed at every measure since October 7, 2023.
History has proven that antisemitism is the canary in the coalmine of a society’s health. When it is allowed to fester, the damage spreads far beyond the Jewish community. Jewish Australians have contributed immeasurably to this nation. They deserve to worship, learn, and celebrate without fear.
The Albanese Government must act immediately and decisively. Stronger security measures are essential, but they are not enough. What is required is leadership, moral courage, and an unambiguous message: antisemitism has no place in Australia, and it will be confronted wherever it appears.
[ENDS]
Media Contact: Brendan West – 0402 556 646 – Brendan.west@aph.gov.au
