Australia observes national day of mourning for victims of Bondi attack
Canberra: Australians have been asked to light a candle and observe a minute of silence on Thursday night to commemorate the victims of the Bondi Beach shooting attack, which occurred on December 14, targeting people celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah at the iconic beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Thursday marks a national day of mourning declared by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for the 15 fatal victims.
It is the first time that Australia has observed a national day of mourning since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
In a statement, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet said that Australian flags should be flown at half-mast at all government buildings in Australia and overseas and that governments and organisations are encouraged to light up buildings, Xinhua news agency reported.
Australians are invited to observe a minute of silence at 7:01 p.m. local time (0801 GMT) to coincide with the start of the national memorial service at the Sydney Opera House and to leave a candle on their doorstep or window, the statement added.
“Today is an opportunity for us to remember and pay respect to the 15 lives,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Thursday morning.
“It’s an opportunity for us as a nation to wrap our arms around the Jewish community because people were targeted because they were Jewish Australians.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had said that hate speech laws passed by the federal parliament in response to the Bondi Beach terror attack will make Australians safer.
Albanese told reporters that the hate speech laws, which were passed by the parliament on Tuesday night, are the strongest that have ever been in place in Australia.
“We have prioritised national unity and national healing,” he had said.
“We want to make sure that light triumphs over darkness.”
The laws that were proposed in the wake of the attack at Bondi Beach on December 14 give the federal government additional powers to ban groups deemed to spread hate, increase penalties for preachers who advocate or threaten violence and expand powers to deny or revoke visas for people with extremist views.