A MP has shed tears while remembering the six people who were killed in the Westfield Bondi Junction stabbing attack.
Jade Young, Dawn Singleton, Ashlee Good, Faraz Tahir, Pikria Darchia, and Yixuan Cheng were killed by knifeman Joel Cauchi on April 13, with 12 other people hospitalised, including a nine-month-old baby.
Coogee MP Marjorie O’Neill, whose electorate takes in parts of Bondi Junction, said the horrific event had rocked the local community, which considered the popular shopping centre a “community hub,” a place of “mass employment,” and “rite of passage” for young people.
“There isn’t a day that goes by since April 13 when I haven’t met someone who was there during the incident, who would have normally been there at that time,” she said.
“It could have been any one of us struck down, which is why our community feels so strongly about supporting the victims of this horrific act.”
However, she credited locals with coming together despite the tragedy.
“There is more light than darkness in our community,” she said.
“Amidst the sorrow, moments of light have emerged as our community has come together to remember the lives lost.”
Ms O’Neill was one a number of MPs who shared emotional contributions during the motion, with some family and friends of the victims watching from the public gallery.
Deputy Premier Prue Car paid tribute to hero security guard Faraz Tahir, who “ran towards” danger and helped take bystanders to safety before dying.
Mr Tahir was the only man to be killed in the attack, and had come to Australian through the UN refugee agency, after fleeing persecution from his native Punjab area, which persecutes the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.
“I want his family to know that we are so grateful for the sacrifice that he made. We say he was brave. He was a hero and we acknowledge his bravery,” she said.
“We say to his family and his wider community: We mourn with you, and we mourn the future that he was looking forward to, as we mourn the potential that could have been here for him in this country.”
Police Inspector Amy Scott was lauded by politicians for immediately responding to the incident, and killing the perpetrator, as well as the action of first respondents.
“She was calm, she was decisive, and as a result, she saved lives,” said NSW Premier Chris Minns, who also acknowledged the actions of retail workers, doctors, and paramedics.
Vaucluse MP Kellie Sloan, who electorate also takes in part of the suburb, acknowledged the victims of the attack, and said the community would honour and carry on the memory of their lives.
“There was a mum taking her little girl to buy a birthday present, there was a bride-to-be preparing for her wedding, a young mum shopping with her baby and students celebrating the end of exams,” she said.
“Beautiful hope-filled lives with so much potential, cut so cruelly short.”
She also commended the tight-knit local community for coming together through widespread candlelight vigils, memorial surf club paddleouts, and church services.
NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the tragedy left behind “fiances, siblings, parents, children and grandchildren,” and paid tribute to the affected families.
“Six families two of them international will now have to navigate the months and years and decades ahead without one of their family members present.”