THE FRONT DORE: The October 7 anniversary speech Anthony Albanese should have delivered today

It’s inevitable over the passage of time for our understanding of the magnitude and the sheer horror experienced by the people of Israel on this day 12 months ago to fade.

Confronted by such a profound event, it’s often not within us, those fortunate enough to live in the relative safety and security of Australia, to understand the personal pain of families — the mothers praying for their children, the fathers desperate to protect their flock — up against the unexpected, pure savagery that ravaged their lives that day, October 7.

In many ways, it is too big, too harrowing, too utterly barbaric for any of us to wrap our heads around, then, and now.

It is impossible for most of us to comprehend the suffering, in the days after that attack, of a proud and resilient, peaceful, nation; nor is it easy to contemplate the existential precipice upon which the people of Israel — a geographically tiny country — live, surrounded, as it is, by the madness of fanatics, obsessed by ancient hatreds and driven by a warped, backward interpretation of civilisation.

It is true, shamefully, that our, the Australian Government’s response has been manifestly inadequate in the months since that attack on Israel, a country we are blessed to call a friend, whose connections run deep through the veins of Australian life, whose people have and continue to contribute beyond anyone’s imagination to every aspect of our lives, from cultural and scientific to commerce, education and medicine.

Over the past year, we have not always stood beside Israel as we should have against our mutual enemies; the terrorists, the radicals, the extremists, the psychotic savages intent on overrunning the ancient lands of Israel, and dragging the rest of the western world back to the dark ages.

Our character tested, our morality confused, our solidarity has wavered.

War is a bloody and awful thing.

And we have too often averted our eyes from the reality of the battle Israel is waging against a brutal enemy; a war on multiple fronts that it should not have been left to fight alone. Our Government has failed to find the strength to combat the insidious creep that has clouded the heads of so many decent, yet corrupted Australians.

We have let them down, we have let Israel down and we have failed to adequately and appropriately advocate for the Palestinian people, and for others in the Middle East living under uncivilised regimes or monstered by barbaric militia in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran. To name a few.

Too many Australian lives have been lost since 2001 for us to pretend the same myopic insanity of Islamist terror is not at the heart of Israel’s current predicament. It is short-sighted, arrogant and indolent for us to pretend all of the civilised nations of the world, including ours, should not be invested in Israel’s fight.

The bombings in Bali, the London bus and train massacres, the thwarted mass murders planned for several Australian cities. The hijacking and bombing of a plane, by radicalised Sydneysiders, a homegrown terrorist act, only prevented, ironically, by the intervention of Israel. None of this is ancient history.

I admit, through our intransigence, our inability to speak plainly and forcefully in support of Israel, and because of our indecent haste to criticise its leadership, we have allowed too many good Australians to become indoctrinated, influenced by a persuasive, but entirely illogical and idiotic ideology.

In doing so, we have also lost respect, and any influence we may have had over Israel, to help guide, support and advise its leaders in any meaningful way, as good friends should.

We have too often been emboldened by fashion and misguided in our priorities.

The world has traded on a promise to “Never Again” allow the people of Jewish faith to be abandoned, as they were last century, with the most despicable consequences.

Never Again.

These are easy words to mouth.

There are no ifs, buts or maybes. Never let it happen again. Never. Not ever.

Yet too many of us Western leaders have strayed. We have allowed this solemn promise to be broken. Again.

October 7 is a day of infamy. Indiscriminate, inexplicable carnage, orchestrated by evil, cynical minds, and carried out by simple, brainwashed souls, soldiers built from birth to conduct campaigns of terror.

I stand here today, 12 months on, to declare, finally, belatedly, our wholehearted support for Israel, its people, its historic majesty and its ambitious future. We are a fair-dinkum friend, and proudly so.

I also remind every citizen of Australia what we — as a decent, democratic, prosperous and peaceful, spirited nation — hold certain values that we shall never abandon: freedom, respect, tolerance, compassion and fairness.

We also believe those values are worth fighting for. And, as we have in the past, we will again.

Thank you.

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That’s what he should have said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese chose another message, in a meagre 248-word statement riddled with cliches, glib lines and bureaucratic, some might say heartless, words of sympathy.

While surely issued with good intentions, it yet again failed to deliver a sense of strength and solidarity.

It, of course, as the Albanese Government has become expert at, concluded with generic, dog-whistling language, clearly designed to not cause offence to those electorally significant Australians who overwhelmingly believe Israel should not exist.

Rather than focus on the victims of an atrocity like none we have seen in our time, on the anniversary of that massacre, Albanese chose to broaden his embrace beyond the Jewish diaspora, a disillusioned people suffering an ugly wave of institutional hatred in Australia and in other apparently civil societies, to give comfort to “people of any faith”.

And of course buried in this apparently solemn message of support for Israel, was a warning to Israel to stop fighting those who want to destroy you, because “every innocent life matters”.

Any other day.

But again, as protesters prepare to march in his streets on this sad day to give voice to their ancient, venal hatreds, Albanese, our prime minister, missed the mark. Another important moment lost.

You be the judge. This is his statement, in full:

On the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks, we pause to reflect on the horrific terrorist atrocity that reverberated around the globe.

October 7 is a day that carries terrible pain. Over 1200 Jews died — more than on any single day since the Holocaust.

We unequivocally condemn Hamas’ actions on that day.

Innocent lives taken at a music festival. Women, men and children killed in their homes. Brutality that was inflicted with cold calculation.

Today, we also think of the hostages whose lives remain suspended in the fear and isolation of captivity. For their loved ones, this past year must have felt like an eternity — the agony of waiting and not knowing, or of having the terrible truth confirmed.

Since the atrocities of October 7, Jewish Australians have felt the cold shadows of anti-Semitism reaching into the present day — and as a nation we say never again.

We unequivocally condemn all prejudice and hatred. There is no place in Australia for discrimination against people of any faith.

As we mourn and reflect, we also re-affirm a fundamental principle of our shared humanity: every innocent life matters.

We recognise the distress the conflict has caused here in Australia.

Sorrow knows no boundaries and recognises no differences.

The number of civilians who have lost their lives is a devastating tragedy.

Today, we reflect on the truth of our shared humanity, of the hope that peace is possible, and the belief that it belongs to all people.