Broadcast 15 December 2025, 2:27pm - 2:36pm

Transcript

HOST: ...Is right now at Bondi Pavilion with the Governor-General, Sam Mostyn, who was there as this moment unfolded with this protester. James, give us an insight as to what's occurred. And you have the Governor-General with you now, too?

REPORTER: That's right. Plenty of faces have come down here to pay their respects today. Most recently, Her Excellency, the Governor-General. Thank you so much for joining us. Firstly for you, how important is this moment to come down and pay your respects?

GOVERNOR-GENERAL: This is absolutely vital. This is a community that's in deep grief. There's a sombre feel to everything going on here. As the representative of the Head of State, I have no politics, no policies. I don't have money to be spent. I hold the national character as part of the job. 

Sir Zelman Cowen, one of my predecessors, an extraordinary Governor-General, said that the job of the Governor-General is always to reflect the light and the shade of the country back to the country, always in the interest of lifting people to respond and understand where we are at. We're dealing with the shade today after the catastrophe, the evil events of yesterday that we know are a terrorist event. 

The Governor-General's role is to show up, is to come and offer comfort, but also to call on all Australians that in this time of supporting those that have been most affected, that we have a job to do, and that is to make sure that we pull out of this dark period, the shade, and into light. 

That's what Hanukkah is all about. That's what the Jewish community was here celebrating at this beach. It's a symbol of peace and hope. And so many Jewish people came to this place from refugee and migrant backgrounds to build extraordinary lives that have contributed to our success as a nation. I wouldn't be anywhere else today down here supporting the families, the friends and everyone who is still in shock, terrified by what has happened. 

We just cannot let this ever happen again. And antisemitism is at the root of this. We know that. We know, the community knows that. And it's our job to ensure that we never see this ever happen again. I will be talking about that. I've said from the time I started my role that we need to put care at the centre of everything we do, and we have to put care at every discussion we're having. That's tough without descending into violence. It's with respect. And this one descended into the most disgraceful, evil acts that have left this community, our country.

REPORTER: We are in a pivotal time of social cohesion here in Australia, even to the point when you were laying flowers, your wreath. Moments ago, somebody in the crowd yelled out something that didn't resonate very well in this audience. What did you make of that interaction?

GOVERNOR-GENERAL: Incredibly disrespectful. This is a moment of deep mourning. Protesters are entitled to protest in this country, but not here, not today, not in this moment of recovery and mourning for those that have lost their lives and we may still lose people who are in hospital. So, these are the moments I always say we exercise care and respect for one another. 

We can have differences of opinion. This country has had a history of being able to sort out things without descending into violence and disrespect. We have got to recover those skills. And I think that's what happened here. That was an absolute failure. It was a disgrace. And I know the community here reacted as they should and that the person was removed. And there's time for those discussions somewhere else. It's certainly not here. We are better than that. 

And I'd call on all Australians to think and reflect on their own behaviours, their own thoughts. The members of the Jewish community, they can reach out to all across the country. This is not just affecting Bondi or Sydney, it's happening across our nation and the world is seeing us and will expect us to step up and respond well. But care, kindness, respect, leaning in, wrapping our arms around the Jewish community, saying no to any form of anti Semitism, discrimination, racism, it's. This is not what it means to be Australian. So, that is our task today.

REPORTER: We are an island nation, but we are connected to the rest of the world, particularly through the Commonwealth. And we are seeing these headlines broadcast all over the world, those images. Have you spoken to The King and what has been the reaction from the wider Commonwealth?

GOVERNOR-GENERAL: So, our Office was in discussions very early on, in the early evening last night with The Palace and His Majesty's Office. I hope everyone has seen the message of support that The King has issued early this morning; is uncompromising in its statement about the abhorrence of antisemitism, of the need for us to call this out where we find it. 

He and Queen Camilla have issued the strongest words imaginable, condemning these actions and this atrocity. But he ends with a sense that this country has always managed to lift and dig and work with one another to sort these things out. 

At the end, his statement is so uplifting, with a deep belief that that's who we are, that that's the national character. That's what I believe. That's what I see when I look at the. At the picture of Australia. The light and shade that Sir Zelman spoke about, the light is still extraordinarily strong in this country. Better than most countries in the world where the envy of the world, our democracy, our institutions, civic life are seen as the best in the world. 

We have to do everything we can to preserve that. Antisemitism has no role in that at all. We've got to wrap our arms around each other and work out how, how we are better on this topic and how we can rebuild trust and move through what will be a very difficult healing period, but with light at it. 

And as Hanukkah reminds us, it's that period of light that was being celebrated down here at Bondi beach last night that we need to return to and ensure that's how Australia responds and reacts. I know that many multi faith leaders are saying that tonight all Australians could light a candle in the windows of their homes in absolute solidarity with the Jewish community. I'll be doing that at Admiralty House tonight. We're opening the doors and for condolence books in Canberra and here and we hope to be hosting many of the Jewish community, the leaders, the first responders and the first, the heroes, the heroism we saw.

REPORTER: I wanted to ask you about that. Our friend Ahmed in the darkest of times, right, this one brave man who took down this gun and took the gun from him.

GOVERNOR-GENERAL: We couldn't believe what we were seeing watching it live. It was astonishing. There was the character of our country in that moment. Total selflessness. I have the great honour of often investing Australians with bravery awards.

REPORTER: He's got to be up there.

GOVERNOR-GENERAL: There will be many that come out of this terrible tragedy but seeing it in realtime, people who just have no sense of their own self in that moment and always lean in to protect others. We've seen that through our history with Australians who've always stepped up and yesterday we saw it with that piece of heroism, but we saw it around the ambulances, we're seeing it in the hospitals overnight. People rushing to save lives and to save people. To make sure that in those moments someone was always putting themselves second. 

And I think that's a national characteristic. I think it's one of the things that makes us an incredibly strong nation. So, we should lean very heavily into that. Call out all forms of antisemitism, support the Jewish community, start this rebuild. 

Now we all have a part to play and I believe the role of the Governor-General will be to travel the country and bring these messages as far as I can and celebrate what is truly mighty about this country at our very best. I hope we get to that point again very soon.

REPORTER: Just lastly, there's a lot of people watching on at home who've been watching this coverage since last night. People are hurt, they're angry, they're upset, they're confused. What is your message to the people watching that at home?

GOVERNOR-GENERAL: I think, first of all, don't let disinformation and misinformation ever rule the day. Listen to sources of truth, listen to the information, don't jump, don't circulate things that exacerbate and take us down an even darker path. Think and be curious and ask the questions about what you're hearing. 

Find the part of yourself that's about care and decency and showing up right now and understand the pain and their loss of life, those that will be affected by this for the rest of their lives. 

At the moment, Australians, I think, have to find their better selves, those angels on our shoulders, and dig deep to do everything we can to ensure that we don't play into what could be more division. As Elman said, you can't let that division take you further into the darkness. 

We've got to lift up into the light and to make sure that we are at our very best. That's on every Australian from wherever we've come, whatever our jobs, when, wherever we find ourselves. 

I've seen the best of Australia when I travel. I've seen that I gave the Anzac Day address this year at Anzac Cove 110 years ago. We saw men and some women travel to defend peace for this country and the world. Their moments, we welcome them, and there are modern versions of that that involve our very diverse communities, our First Nations communities, our Jewish community, everyone. 

This is the stuff that we should be celebrating, digging deep into and finding care and respect for each other. A lot of love, you know, not be frightened of that word, love, reaching out. And for those that are doing it tough and are finding this very overwhelming, call the call Lifeline. Call beyondblue. 

If you're feeling good, go and donate blood. I donated plasma last week. I'm the Patron of Lifeblood, so I did my plasma last week, but as soon as I can, I'll be donating again. These are simple acts that everyone can be a hero in at the moment and show that level of kindness and attention to a community that's really, and a country, I think, that is in deep shock and traumatised by what we've seen here. And I hope the sunshine we're seeing today is important of where we can go. And right now, we can't overestimate the amount of work we've all got to do.

REPORTER: Your Excellency, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it.

GOVERNOR-GENERAL: Thanks so much. Thank you.

HOST: Well, there you go, Deb. Some overwhelming messages of positivity coming in. Such a dark time, and people here really holding on to that today.

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