Two years ago, the world was forever changed as one of the most horrific terrorist attacks in modern history was perpetrated against the people of Israel.
The violence unleashed by Hamas was deliberate and merciless.
October 7 was a brutal reminder of the depths of human cruelty, and of the evil that flourishes when hatred is armed.
On this day two years ago a clear blue October sky was punctured by rockets from Gaza as festival goers at the Nova Music Festival welcomed the sunrise.
The celebration and unity of that moment would be torn apart as Hamas gunmen breached the border and cut off escape routes. Gunmen encircled the festival and fired, killing over 360 people.
By sunset, 1,200 people had been murdered, the greatest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust.
Among them was Australian citizen Galit Carbone, whose brother Danny Majzner is with us today.
We honour her memory, and the memory of every life taken on that dark day.
For everyone here today, October 7 was not a distant tragedy. It was deeply personal.
And while for many Australians this was a distant story for you, for your friends and for your families this was not just a nightmare, it was reality.
And it pains me to say that nightmare has cast a long shadow that has touched your lives every day since.
Because the pain of October 7 has been compounded by a rise in fear and hostility here at home.
To our great shame, it pains me to say to our Jewish community has been failed time and time again.
Australia has allowed hatred to take root here, we have allowed it to spill out onto our streets and into our communities, onto our beaches and into our schools.
As homes still smoldered in Israel, here in Australia protesters hijacked a vigil at the Sydney Opera House.
As Jewish Australians sought to find solace in their moment of grief they were confronted by hate.
In the years since, the tide of antisemitism has risen across Australia.
We see it in the armed guards that stand at Jewish childcare centres and we have seen it in the Jewish businesses that have been boycotted and harassed and in the synagogues and businesses that have been firebombed.
We see it in the hateful graffiti sprayed in Fitzroy just this week on October 7 of all days.
To our great shame there are people today in this country seeking to hold protests this week.
So as we mark October 7 we must grieve, yes, but we must also recommit ourselves to taking action to stamp out antisemitism, and to affirm our support for our Jewish community.
Today we must stand together, united as Australians, to say that hate has no place in our country.
October 7 was a day of horror. But today is also a day of hope.
The United States-brokered peace plan offers hope — the beginning of hostages returning home and the first steps toward lasting peace.
We must cling to that hope today as it sits alongside grief.
To every Jewish Australian: you are not alone.
To Israel, to survivors, to the Jewish people everywhere: you are not alone.
Our Jewish-Australian community is amazing and it will forever be to our national shame that the Government has let you down so badly.
An Australia I lead will never, ever, ever treat you the way this Government has over the past two years.
We stand with you in grief, in solidarity, and in the unbreakable hope that life will triumph over terror.
Am Yisrael Chai. The people of Israel live.