The horrific terror attack at Bondi on Sunday, December 14, 2025, which brutally ended the lives of 15 innocent people, has plunged Australia into a state of profound grief and shock. The calculated nature of the violence has left an indelible mark on the national psyche, forcing a moment of deep reflection about who we are and who we want to be as a society.
The Rising Tide of Division
In the painful aftermath of such a catastrophe, the initial silence has given way to a multitude of voices. Alongside calls for justice and comfort, a dangerous narrative of division has begun to surface. Some are rushing to blame immigration and calling for the nation to isolate itself, a reaction born of fear but one that fundamentally misrepresents the Australian story.
This impulse to demonise migrants ignores a core truth: Australia is a nation built by migrants and their descendants. To turn against the concept of migration is to deny our own history. Our success as one of the world's most vibrant multicultural societies is written in the more than 300 languages spoken across our communities. Allowing the violence of a few extremists to rewrite this story would compound the tragedy.
Heroes and Victims: The True Face of Our Nation
The facts from that terrible day tell a story far removed from the divisive rhetoric. The hero who bravely wrestled a gun from one of the attackers was a shop owner from Syria—an immigrant. The courageous couple who lost their lives trying to intervene when the assailants first emerged were also immigrants. Many of the other victims fell side-by-side with Australian-born citizens.
The true spirit of Australia in this crisis has been visible not in angry online debates, but at the memorial sites springing up across the country. There, Australians of all ages, races, and faiths have gathered in shared sorrow. A powerful, collective determination to stand in solidarity with the Jewish community has been a profound antidote to hatred.
From Formal Inclusion to Genuine Belonging
Preserving this hard-won unity requires more than just defending our multicultural model; it demands active and personal engagement from all of us. Citizenship ceremonies are a beginning, not the end, of the journey. To truly safeguard our social cohesion against future shocks, we must explore how every Australian can help foster a genuine sense of belonging.
Imagine if local community clubs formally sponsored a new migrant family, providing an instant network of support. What if welcoming a new citizen involved a neighbour's invitation to a first AFL or NRL game, sharing the joy and camaraderie of our national pastimes? These personal connections move us from formal inclusion to a deeper, shared community.
We cannot undo the pain of December 14, but we can choose our response. We can retreat into suspicion, or we can reaffirm the foundational Australian promise of a fair go. The path forward is clear: we are all in this together, and we will only heal together. By choosing unity over division, we honour the victims and protect the inclusive nation they called home.
