Foreign Minister Penny Wong has expressed sorrow over the Bondi terror attack and conceded more could have been done before Australia’s worst mass shooting in three decades.
Asked if she would apologise to the Jewish community, Wong said she was “desperately sorry for what has occurred in our country and what the Jewish community have experienced”.
“Sorrow isn’t political, sorrow is felt when we go to our places of worship, when we light a candle for those lost and for those grieving, when we hold our children close,” she told her hometown newspaper The Advertiser in Adelaide.
“These are moments where I think all of us have grieved.”
She stated she would head to Bondi “at the appropriate time” and had not been present at any of the victims’ funerals, noting that funerals are “deeply personal occasions, typically led by families.”
“I respect what families want and I respect their grief, which is overwhelming,” she said.
Antisemitism was “unacceptable and … the government has acted”, Wong said.
“Of course, always in politics and in life you always regret what more could have been done. I think we’ve made that clear. We acted but we have to do more and we are.”
Asked if Australia should tighten immigration, Wong said Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke had announced the strengthening of visa cancellation and visa refusal powers.
“I think that’s the right thing to do,” she said.
The apology comes after Wong was accused by Opposition leader Sussan Ley of failing to attend Bondi memorials or funerals, saying she had “not seen Penny Wong shed a single tear”.
Describing Ley’s criticism as “quite appalling,” Energy Minister Chris Bowen asserted that it was more a reflection on Ley’s character than on Wong’s actions.
Wong strongly denounced the firebombing of a rabbi’s car in Melbourne on Christmas Day, calling it an “unthinkable attack,” especially as it occurred while “the Australian Jewish community mourns in the aftermath of the tragic events at Bondi.”
Ten people remain in Sydney hospitals recovering from injuries sustained in the 14 December attack.
Four remain in a critical condition, while the other six are stable, NSW Health said on Saturday.
The firebombing of a rabbi’s car in Melbourne on Christmas Day was an “unspeakable attack” and Wong said she condemned it, “particularly when the Australian Jewish community is mourning after the horrific events of Bondi”.
It comes as Victoria Police continue to search for a person of interest over the attack on a car bearing a Hanukkah sign in Melbourne.
On Friday, they released a picture of 47-year-old John Argento, who also goes by John Seckold.
