Topics: Bondi Beach Terror Attack

MATT SHIRVINGTON: For more on this tragic event, we're joined by Dave Sharma, Liberal senator and former ambassador to Israel. Dave, you speak about community. This is in your backyard that this has happened.

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DAVE SHARMA: Yeah, look, this is Bondi. I mean, it's a, it's a place known to many in the eastern suburbs, but it's a place known, I think, around the world as well. And, this Jewish community celebration I've been to a number of years. It's always a, a joyful, happy, festive occasion, children, playground rides, donuts, music, dancing, singing. And to see it, scarred in such a... with such a brutal and vicious terrorist attack taking the lives of so many innocent people is just, it's deeply shocking, and it's obviously had a profound, impact on the Jewish community. I mean, they have already been living in a state of heightened anxiety and fear, and this is really their worst nightmare that's been... come to pass last night.

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MONIQUE WRIGHT: We've spoken to you on this program, I've heard you speak about this numerous times, about antisemitism and how it needs to be stamped out. It is a problem right around the world. Julian Siegel, who is the special envoy to combat antisemitism has said this morning that it needs to be dealt with like we deal with viruses and just stamped out. Dave Sharma, how do you see that happening?

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DAVE SHARMA: Well, look, I remember, I think, coming on your show the day after the Opera House protests, which were the 9th of October, 2023, when people, were marching, on the Opera House glorifying a terrorist attack. And I think we all saw the warning signs then that, that conflict in the Middle East had a genuine risk of being imported into Australia, we've seen that happen now. Now, I don't pretend to have all the answers now, but what I would say is it has to be the highest priority of the federal and state to do everything they can, whether it's more resources to law enforcement authorities, whether it's changes to the laws, whether it's any number of other political or legal measures to make sure that we never witness such a thing again. Because the most fundamental duty of any government is to keep its citizens safe, and what we have seen overnight is the worst terrorist attack on Australian soil in our history.

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MATT SHIRVINGTON: Dave Sharma, you, you mentioned the Jewish community is in mourning at the moment, and it's going to last for a significant amount of time. How do they recover?

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DAVE SHARMA: Look, I wish I could be optimistic, there, Shirvo, but many of them have been asking privately or amongst family groups or within their community or even openly in the last two years, "Is it still safe for us to live in Australia? Is Australia still the country we thought we knew?" And you'd have to say, I they're all digesting the events of last night and mourning, the loss of family members and community members and still worried about the health and safety of others. When they ask themselves that question now, I mean, the answer is no better. The answer is significantly worse. Now, I hope that we can reassure our Jewish community that Australia's safe for them. I hope we can say the same for any other community in Australia, too. But words alone won't do it. Yes, we need to comfort and console and support the Jewish community now, but we also need to look at what steps we need to take to make sure this never happens again. Because, this has been a failure. I'm not pointing the finger here, but it has been a failure institutionally of Australia to protect its citizens from an attack like this that we have never seen before in Australia.

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MONIQUE WRIGHT: Shouldn't take an event like this to bring about such change, but you're right, Dave Sharma. Things need to change. Thank you so much.

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DAVE SHARMA: Thanks so much.

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[ENDS]

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