First, institutional reform with genuine enforcement mechanisms. The fact that a terrorist known to authorities for six years could carry out such an attack reveals systemic dysfunction. We need structural changes in how intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and political leaders identify, assess, train, communicate with each other and respond to emerging threats from here and abroad. I have confidence that this will be achieved with the involvement of Dennis Richardson.
Second, cultural leadership beyond legislation. Governments will introduce and strengthen laws criminalising hate speech and hate preachers. These changes are necessary but not sufficient. Laws tell us what we must not do. They do not inspire us about what we should become.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Rabbi Shlomo Kohn on December 10, 2024, after the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea was destroyed by arsonists.
Australia needs its cultural, educational, business, and civic leaders to actively model and defend pluralistic values. We need leaders in schools to explain why diversity makes us stronger. We need them in boardrooms to demonstrate that inclusion is not a compliance exercise but a competitive advantage. We need them in community centres to build bridges between groups that fear each other.
This cannot be outsourced to government. It requires all of us who believe in Australian values to speak up, loudly and often. To say it’s not OK for Jewish artists to be doxed. It’s not OK for a senior scientist at a prestigious hospital to peddle a conspiracy theory that antisemitic attacks in Melbourne and Sydney were false-flag operations by the Mossad, or that the “Zionist lobby” influenced ASIO and the government to blame Iran for these attacks. This is unacceptable behaviour from those who enjoy privileged and respected leadership positions.
Third, transparency and trust-building. We need regular, transparent reporting on the implementation of the royal commission’s recommendations as well as immediate implementation of the report by the special envoy on antisemitism Jillian Segal. Once trust has been shattered, it can only be rebuilt slowly and through demonstrated commitment over time.
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There will be hard political choices ahead. We need a more robust response to dealing with those who don’t share our Australian values or who bring ancient hatreds and violence from other places. Immigration is a wonderful thing so long as those who wish to enjoy all of Australia’s freedoms and benefits also sign up to our values and our shared responsibilities.
Fourth, recognition that this threatens everyone. Antisemitism is not solely a Jewish problem, just as attacks on Muslims, Christians, Hindus or any other community are not isolated concerns. When hatred targets one group based on identity, it threatens the entire social fabric that protects us all.
Finally, education as prevention. We need comprehensive education programs about the Holocaust, the history and contemporary manifestation of antisemitism, and the responsibilities of citizenship
in a diverse democracy.
Young Australians must understand that the freedoms they enjoy were hard-won and remain fragile. Tolerance is not passive acceptance but active engagement with difference. Democracy requires not just voters but citizens.
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Australia now faces a defining choice. We can treat Bondi as an aberration, a terrible event requiring a brief flurry of activity before returning to business as usual. Or we can recognise it as a moment demanding renewed commitment to Australia’s true values.
The test of our leadership, and indeed of our national character, is not whether we establish inquiries. It is whether we have the courage to implement their findings and confront uncomfortable truths about how we arrived at this point.
Australians everywhere have spoken loudly in the past few weeks. The Jewish community has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of empathy and support from so many other Aussies. Business leaders, sporting heroes, the legal profession and millions of Australians who don’t typically engage with politics have spoken up in support of a royal commission as a pathway to a better future.
This is why I remain optimistic about Australia. A hitherto silent majority of good people have now spoken. Now is the time for us to act collectively. The Western world is watching us.
The question is whether our society has the will to carry it through. Fifteen people are dead because we lacked the conviction to act on clear warnings. The royal commission will tell us what went wrong and set a direction for immediate change.
The rest is up to us. It is up to every Australian who believes in the values of tolerance and mutual respect to speak up, to act, and to hold our leaders accountable for protecting those values.
We will know we have succeeded when we no longer need armed guards outside our Jewish schools, synagogues and institutions. The time for sleepwalking is over.
Steven Lowy is the former co-chief executive of Westfield Corporation.
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