EDITORIAL: Josh Frydenberg’s Bondi speech shows us what leadership looks like
Great tragedy has the power to unite, or to divide.
Shared national grief can remind us of our commonalities, or it can deepen existing societal fissures.
On which side the coin lands is influenced by the signals we receive from those in positions of authority.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.In times of crisis, we need our leaders to display compassion, to lead our collective mourning, and to assure us that solutions will be sought.
Three days after our most profound national tragedy in three decades, Australia stands on a knife edge.
Anthony Albanese has said many of the right words, denouncing strongly the attack which has left 15 innocent people dead and an indelible stain on our nation’s soul.
Again on Wednesday, the Prime Minister pledged to “stamp out and eradicate anti-Semitism”, as he has promised many times in the days since Sunday’s massacre.
But his words have no power behind them. How can they, when the Jewish community has heard similar platitudes so many times in the past two years in response to their desperate warnings that hatred was being allowed to take hold?
His promises were empty then and they sound empty now.
There is no doubting that Mr Albanese’s grief at what has unfolded at Bondi Beach is genuine. But in this moment of great national need, we need more than that. We need accountability and we need to feel reassured that there is a pathway out of catastrophe. We need leaders to lead.
On Wednesday, we finally received that.
The next few days are crucial. Our initial shock at the horror of Sunday’s bloodbath is wearing off, giving way to anger. We stand at a critical juncture.
Not from the Prime Minister, but from former treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
Mr Frydenberg’s impromptu address, given at the Bondi Pavilion, where just days ago bodies lay bleeding, was extraordinary. His grief was raw, and so was his fury.
He spoke from his heart, but he also laid out the facts.
How Australia had failed to keep its promise to Jews that they would be safe on our shores. How that community was gaslit by authorities who played down their earnestly-held fears that something terrible was brewing.
And he laid out what was at stake: the survival of Australia’s Jewish community, and our nation’s soul.
Crucially, he came armed not just with platitudes about eliminating anti-Semitism, but with a plan. Shut down the “factories of hate” masquerading as mosques. Outlaw extremists groups which are radicalising young Australian men. Prosecute those who incite violence, end the daily “protests” which are actually just parades of hatred, educate Australians about the history of anti-Semitism and stop shying away from the commonsense immigration reforms, the need for which is so obviously apparent. Act on anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal’s report and immediately call a royal commission into this tragedy.
The next few days are crucial. Our initial shock at the horror of Sunday’s bloodbath is wearing off, giving way to anger. We stand at a critical juncture. Mr Albanese has so far been found wanting, but there is still time for him to prove that he is a leader capable of guiding the nation past division, to unity.
