Broadcast 15 December 2025, 5:36pm - 5:52pm

Transcription

EMMA CROWE, HOST: Well, the tragedy at Bondi has made global headlines as the world reacts in shock and sadness. The King was among a long list of leaders and dignitaries who strongly condemned the attack and expressed confidence that Australia can rebuild. Sam Mostyn is Australia's Governor-General, which means, of course, she is the federal representative of the monarch here in Australia. Governor-General, thank you very much for joining us.

GOVERNOR-GENERAL: Thanks so much, Emma, for inviting me.

CROWE: Where were you when you heard this news?

GOVERNOR GENERAL: I was watching. We had just got back to Canberra from Sydney. I travelled back to Canberra, ready for a busy week in Canberra. We turned on the news just as the first moments were coming through, snippets from people's social media, and we didn't leave the television for the next five or six hours, and just completely shocked, devastated. It was harrowing. Everything about it was disturbing and deep, deeply, deeply troubling.

And of course, in my role, I sat there looking at it from a particular vantage point that many of my predecessors have done with other national disasters and knew this was one of the most significant moments in our country's history that would require close attention and deep care, but to watch and learn and then also just to witness, as it was happening live, those acts of heroism that were the counterpoint and counter narrative to what we were seeing, which was pure evil and acts of terror.

I was, of course, waiting to see the point at which things would be confirmed. I'm always of the view you can't go out and start talking about these things unless you know exactly what's happened. And I waited. I put a statement out when I thought I knew enough. We hadn't yet heard from the Police Commissioner that there had been an act of terror. And I'm always very cautious that we don't use those words unless they've been confirmed by authorities. So, I put my comments out when I thought it was appropriate. And then about half an hour later, the act of terror was first used by the Police Commissioner and the Prime Minister and the Premier. And then we got involved in making sure we were back here in Sydney as early as we could this morning to be present and to go to Bondi and to make a statement to the entire Australian community.

Having also spent some time overnight with the Office, working with The Palace and ensuring that The King and Queen knew exactly what had happened. And we then forwarded to Australia and the world through social media the King's message, which I thought was an exceptional and insightful take on Australia, both the evil that had occurred, the antisemitism that he abhors, as we all abhor, and then his encouragement, his belief in us as a nation in the closing remarks, that we'll find a way.

But it's an outstanding note to all Australians, I thought, coming from the head of state, and I was very proud to then today represent the country, going to Bondi and spending time with those who were there in quiet, sombre contemplation.

And then I've been ringing Jewish leaders all day, reaching out to people associated with the ambulance, police services, those who have been affected and lost people's lives, and just being present on behalf of Australians to make sure we are paying deep attention and care for every single moment that we're living through.

CROWE: The Governor-General, Sam Mostyn is here. Your Excellency, so many people are feeling helpless today. What do you think is the way forward for Sydney and indeed for all of Australia?

GOVERNOR-GENERAL: Well, I've been saying a lot in the last 24 hours that one of my predecessors, the former Governor-General Sir Zelman Cowan, said during his term of office, as a, I guess, a lesson for those that would come after, like me, that the job of the Governor-General is to reflect the light and shade of Australia back to the nation, and in doing so, to help teach and encourage the nation to respond in both good times and bad.

So, I think we're in a moment of shade. And so my job is to make sure that we're reflecting that and dealing with that appropriately, with our grief and our care for one another, and to step in and show how we support the community most affected, the Jewish community, and how antisemitism has no place here.

But I think part of my job is to work with the other faith leaders and those around the country who are calling for calm, to not jump to a view that we are now so divided that we can't come back from this. For people to take a moment to reflect on what it is they're feeling, to reach out to those that need us right now.

Jewish community all over the country, but those in Bondi and those were affected by tragic, tragic loss of life than those that are still in hospitals. Reaching out and showing care and love, making sure we're all feeling we've taken good care of ourselves.

So, anyone who's feeling particularly vulnerable to take care and make sure they're reaching out to services that are available. There are simple things that I think are just pure acts of volunteerism that we need right now. Going and donating blood. I'm patron of lifeblood go and just…

CROWE: Do you get to skip the queue as the GG, the six-hour queue?

GOVERNOR GENERAL: No, I never do that and I, in fact I blew my chances for this week because I donated plasma on Thursday night in Canberra, because I do it regularly, so I can't donate for another month or so. But I actually love that whole exercise of sitting with others. The great blood donors of Australia are some of the great heroes that make sure our hospitals are full of the right blood. But people could go down to their blood bank right now, most of them are open until quite late and donate blood or plasma, which is desperately needed. Yes, we focused on getting into the habit of doing.

CROWE: Anyway, our reporter actually at the town hall centre said, yeah, six hours. People were happy to wait. And I was wondering whether everyone still gets a party pie or sausage roll?

GOVERNOR GENERAL: If that many people get caramel milkshakes? You get little party pies, you get Jatz biscuits and cheese. They take very good care of you.

But the other thing that people can do is reflect on how do we get to this place, how do we allow antisemitism to fester, how do we pull ourselves back, how do we teach young people what that is and the history of it?

And in fact, earlier this year I invited into Admiralty House In Sydney, about 25 of the still living Holocaust survivors who first came to Australia are seeking refuge and peace here. They're now between 95 and 103. And I just pulled out of the visitor’s book that they left for me and one talked about, “Thanks so much for inviting us survivors and we beg you to teach details of the Holocaust in Australian schools. Warmest regards, Yvonne and Peter.”

Thanks to Leona. [She said”] “You must tell others our story. You must tell people of what we've done to come to this country and how much we love this country. Thank you for letting us be an opportunity to explain who we are to all Australians.”

I've got pages of these things in the most beautiful handwriting from some of the oldest Jewish community members in Australia.

You know, that's what we've got to keep telling the stories of, is why people came to this country and fled war and persecution, antisemitism and worse, and how much Jewish community has given and always gives to this country. 
And then ask ourselves what role do we each play in calling it when we see it, thinking about how we care for lots of different cultures in this country. We are one of the greatest countries that has brought migrants and refugees to this country successfully over many reasons.

And in fact, one of those was the hero yesterday who saved the lives by jumping on the back of the gunman without thinking a moment for himself. A man who might otherwise be condemned if we allowed ourselves to be divided on race or religion. So, we've got to hold ourselves tight and know what we really stand for.

We need to show deep respect for each other. And I've been saying since I took this office that care would be at the centre of everything I do. And I talk about care in the context of care for each other and care for those that care for others. But I always talk about the need for deep care right now in the way in which we conduct the very difficult and tough issues of our time without anger, rancour or violence, but still debate things with respect and find solutions. It could be a great Australian skill. It was when I was growing up to debate well, to argue well and to respect people you didn't always agree with, rediscovering that skill. But right now, I think we've just got to be kind and gentle with all of those who are in deep trauma.

I think the country is shattered. This is one of the biggest events of this kind to occur in this country and processing it and accepting what has happened and finding a path, as the King has said we will, and fulfilling our strength as a nation. We're involved now in a national project to be better and take care of each other.

CROWE: The Governor-General, Sam Mostyn is here. You were reflecting on multicultural Australia and you meet Australians of all walks of life. You have the privilege of meeting people doing incredible work in their own communities and across Australia more generally. What is your message to people who are erring towards anger or divisiveness, blaming? What's your message for people about how Australia needs to come together now?

GOVERNOR GENERAL: So, the easiest thing for us to do is what has happened in many other parts of the world, which is to allow ourselves to be divided, to draw our sides and fight each other and lose any sense of what does bind us and what a mighty nation we are at our very best.

So, I think we have a collective challenge. I think we do have to go and look at why things got to the point that came to that horrific act yesterday, an absolute vicious act of terror, and then step back through it and say, what is it about us that could actually act to. To prevent. To prevent it ever happening again?

We do need to look at ourselves, the way we conduct our difficult conversations. And I would say I hear this sort of phrase, we're fraying, you know, social decay. And with the stories we tell ourselves through the media and through social media, without thought, tell us a much worse story than I believe is the case now. Of course, it's hard to say that with what happened yesterday, because everyone affected by yesterday would say, well, there it is. But I'd say that is an instance of absolute horror and terror. But it doesn't. That's not what the coastal country feels like to me as I move around. It was a barbaric act, it was a shocking act.

It's not what we see in Australia and what I see other communities who are working so hard too. They're volunteers, they're turning up taking care of each other. They're multi generational, multicultural, all Australians. And when I go to citizenship ceremonies and I see the commitments of people making to Australian values and travel the world and hear people saying that our democracy in our system is the envy of the world, I know we're sitting on something that is precious, that we must hold on to and must commit to and not be blase or casual about. We can't be apathetic about it and we mustn't let misinformation and disinformation drive us into our respective camps and then lose it.

So, do what we're teaching kids to do with the ban on social media. Challenge every bit of information you get, Be curious, investigate it, make sure it is true and honest and not an act of disinformation that's sending you into a particular way of thinking. Be open and curious and ask the questions.

Get to know your communities, Go and volunteer. Go and spend time with the communities that are in your neighbourhoods and ask how you can help and be part of them. Where I see that happening all over the country, remote communities, regional outer suburbs, cities.

There is an extraordinary strength that Australians have because of our history. And that's why I say that deep care that's resonant in our country, we've got to pull it through. And right now we've been given a clear warning about what happens if you allow violence and these kind of responses to difference to take hold. It's not us, it doesn't have to be us. And I'm sure we can.

I really do believe, as The King does, that it's in our national character to come back from this. But we've got to go through healing and do the work. And I know that this country's up for it.

CROWE: It's interesting what you say about your work you do and you meeting real people face to face all around this country. Richard Glover, who used to host this program here on 702 Drive, talked about the difference between kind of online Australia and Face to face Australia and he couldn't believe it. He went on sort of a tour and spoke at libraries about his book and he was in all sorts of towns all around Australia and he met lovely people who disagreed from all different politics and found them all to be delightful, happy to engage, you know, caring about the community. And he couldn't believe the mismatch between what you can start to believe about your fellow Australian and the actual truth.

GOVERNOR GENERAL: That is the ultimate privilege of the Office of Governor-General. I feel it every day. I know how proud I am, but how honoured I am to be able to travel the country and the world. And I always say this job involves a panoramic view of real people at the country and national and international level and then the fine grained view where we go everywhere, all around the country and see for ourselves to face. And I meet the people, I read the letters, the people we invite in of the organisations I'm patron of, honestly, the stories, the people, what they're doing. It's extraordinary how strong we are and how good we are at our very best or even our very mediocre people just doing their best in their communities. I see that every day.

And part of this job, I think General Hurley said, because he lived through Covid and the fires and floods when he was Governor-General, he said, you see the best and worst of Australians, Australians at their best and their worst.

Yesterday we saw Australians summed - a small group at their worst and some at their best, who just jumped in to save others who were appalled. Surf lifesavers, ambos, police, citizens, you know, they're the people I would see down at the beach doing the Float for Life to stop people drowning regularly, or the women who are knitting and sending me poppies to wear that are knitted by them when I go to Anzac Day to give the Anzac Day address, or the things I'm sent by communities in country Australia encourage me to come and look at the great agricultural stories, it's endless.

But you do have to engage with the real world and get off not just online, but the pernicious nature of how information is sent to us and reinforces our views, stops us being curious. And disinformation in particular, that is telling us stuff that is just not true, that fuels existing anger or fear and lets us be our lesser selves. And I just think we're magnificent Australians and yesterday should not be the arc by which we say we're heading or that we're fraying so badly. But it was an example of direct antisemitism. It's felt very, very directly by the Jewish community and those of us that have very strong connection to the Jewish community. So, we must deal with that.

That's about education and understanding that this did not end at the end of the Second World War, that it is continued and we must deal with it well, just as the Holocaust survivors told me when they came here and just in over 100 to say, just don't give up on the education, celebrate everything we've brought and know what a peaceful place we have been and how we were. But we remain the beacon of the world for our democracy and our care.

CROWE: Sam Mostyn, you speak so eloquently. Maybe you should be the Governor-General.

GOVERNOR GENERAL: Oh, I might give that a go. Thank you.

CROWE: Thank you so much for taking some time today.

GOVERNOR-GENERAL: Thank you so much, Emma. And, and to all your listeners. I understand people are shattered, confused or frightened. I do think there is a bigger, stronger narrative to come and we must give ourselves time to grieve, to support one another. People should feel free to reach out to those that haven't for a while to check in on them. You know, you can send notes of support, go and visit the floral shrine over at Bondi Pavilion. Take a few moments of quiet reflection. It's eerily quiet over there at the moment, with sombre reflection. And you can just stand with people in solidarity and. Or in your own community. Just do it. And tonight at 6:43, everyone listening to you could light a candle in their window as an act of support for the Jewish community. There's a call for us all to light candles at 6:43, which will be 24 hours since the massacre commenced yesterday and in the middle of Hanukkah. It's a way of showing light to the world in this terribly dark time. And I think that would be an exceptional moment if all of Sydney had candles in their lights in a couple of hours time as a mark of respect and solidarity.

CROWE: Thank you so much for some time today. Really appreciate it.

GOVERNOR GENERAL: It's a pleasure. Thanks, Emma.

CROWE: That's the Governor-General, Sam Mostyn.

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