MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Mr THISTLETHWAITE (Kingsford Smith—Assistant Minister for Immigration and Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade) (15:49): This is an anniversary we wish we didn't have to commemorate. The deplorable actions of Hamas on 7 October 2023 saw 1,200 innocent Israeli lives lost and hundreds of people taken hostage. Today we commemorate and pay tribute to those innocent victims of the actions of Hamas, and we offer support to their families on what is, no doubt, a very difficult anniversary.
This was the time when modern Israel lost its freedom and its innocence. I'm proud to represent the Kingsford Smith community, which has a very strong and growing Jewish population. I know that many of them had relatives who were killed on October 7 or were taken hostage.
To the local Jewish community: I want you to know that today we are thinking of you and we offer you and your families our support, and we thank you for your courage. Again, we condemn the actions of Hamas and, again, we call for the immediate release of the hostages that are still being held. Over the past two years we've seen some shocking acts of antisemitism across Australia in the wake of October 7.
Some of them occurred in my electorate. There was the deplorable firebombing of a kindergarten next door to a synagogue. That childcare centre remains closed to this day.
The Mount Sinai school next door had shocking antisemitic language spray-painted in large letters on brick walls. People have been harassed and vilified walking down the street. And even today we've unfortunately seen some shocking and insensitive graffiti.
This is completely unacceptable. Every Australian has the right to feel safe in their home, in their workplace and in their community. I once again strongly condemn these antisemitic attacks that have occurred.
In our area we acted promptly, in partnership with our local Jewish community, to protect them through the establishment of a local operation shelter group. I brought together elected representatives, the local area commander for the local police force, the local crime commander, representatives of the shuls, the rabbis and the presidents, and our local Jewish schools.
We have worked together to keep the community safe. Thankfully, we've seen a reduction in those antisemitic attacks, but we will not stop until it is completely eliminated. October 7 opened an horrific chapter in world history.
The world now has an opportunity to close that chapter. Australians want an end to this decades-long conflict. They want to see the hostages released; they want to see an immediate ceasefire; they want Hamas disarmed and out of Gaza; and they want free and unimpeded aid for Palestinians who are suffering.
They want to see a democratically elected government in Gaza, and they want to see two states living in peace side by side. When the Prime Minister spoke at the United Nations General Assembly last week, he mentioned that Australia was the first nation to support, in 1947, the establishment of the State of Israel. That's something that, as a nation, we are very proud of.
But the Prime Minister also pointed out that support was on two conditions: on the condition that there is an independent state of Israel and on the condition that there is a state of Palestine. That means two states living side by side in peace. That means two states with citizens of both living peacefully in a recognised country, where their children can learn and thrive, where their parents can work and provide, where democratic governments can provide services and keep the populations of those countries safe and where those citizens finally can live in their homelands in peace.
We have an opportunity, as a world, to work together on achieving this; let's not fail to grasp this opportunity. Let's make sure that we bring a lasting peace to the Middle East, with two states, two groups of citizens, living in peace, and that we never have to commemorate another October 7 attack in this place or anywhere else in the world ever again.