Deputy Principal

An Inclusive Community is so Important

As we went on our summer break last year, we were all ready for a rest. The summer vacation is a time when we can stop, pause, spend time with family and friends in this beautiful country and celebrate Christmas together. On 14 December 2025, Australia changed when innocent lives were lost as Australia’s Jewish Community were targeted in a terrorist attack at Bondi. 

This is something that I still find hard to comprehend. I grew up in Bondi and have walked across that footbridge more times than I can count. I spent years going to Bondi Beach nearly every day. Bondi Beach has always been a meeting point, a place where Australians from diverse backgrounds have always come together and shared communal space.

Before we started our Christmas lunch, I led my family in prayer. As Christians, we believe in the human dignity of everyone and the belief that everyone has the right to their own beliefs. Australia has been built by generations of people who have travelled from all over the world to come to our shores to build a better life for themselves and their families.

It will take us a long time to fully comprehend the impact of this terrorist attack on our own shores. It was hard for my wife and I to talk to our own children who were really trying to understand how this could occur, and why it occured. Last week, I watched the Memorial Service at the Sydney Opera House. It was quite emotional watching it as the memories of that day still seem so surreal. In planning for the memorial, Jewish leaders asked our Premier, Mr Chris Minns, where they should hold the memorial. His response was simple. He said they would hold it at the Opera House, so we will reclaim the Opera House. This really resonated with me. 

We live in a country based on respect. A country where we respect each other regardless of race, religion, sexuality, or gender. I do not want to live in a country that does not tolerate difference. In saying that, I do not want to live in a country that just tolerates difference. I want to live in a country that celebrates differences. A country where being different is valued, a country in which we stand with all races and religions. Watching the memorial, we were reminded that the Jewish community, in the face of adversity have asked us to perform a ‘Mitzvah,’ a good deed. In a time where they have been targeted, they see the good in all of us. 

We cannot be an inclusive community only when it suits us. We are a Christian community, a community that is based on love. During this time of great sorrow for our nation, at SPC we must stand with the Jewish community and support them. We commit to standing against antisemitism; we must stand always with all Australians as a truly inclusive community.

Adrian Byrne

Deputy Principal