This is the time Australia needs strong leadership
Never before have Australians felt so overwhelmed by anger, division and fear as they watch the country they love descend into chaos.
No longer are we the successful multicultural nation we once were but, instead, a conglomeration of warring factions under weak government leadership driven by ideology rather than commitment to protecting all Australians.
There was shock at the horrific Bondi Junction Westfield massacre in which a knife-wielding man murdered six people and seriously injured many more, including a baby.
But within days the country was rocked by a second brutal knife attack.
This time a 16-year-old, suspected of having been radicalised, allegedly stabbed an Assyrian Christian Bishop at a Sydney church.
Upon news of the terror attack, hundreds descended on the church demanding mob justice, forcing paramedics to shelter while rioters destroyed cars and property and seriously injured several police.
Then during the week, youths armed with machetes and knives were involved in a bloody melee at a Melbourne shopping centre, causing families to flee for their lives.
And there was yet another incident, in which five youths aged 14 to 17, armed with machetes, were arrested after a series of burglaries and a highspeed police pursuit of a stolen car.
As one radio commentator lamented: “Can we just wake up to a normal day.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese,
following the church terror stabbing said: “Australia is a peace-loving nation and it is time to unite, not divide citizens of this country.”
It was a weak and pathetic response to a situation that demanded powerful condemnation of all forms of religious hatred and should have been relayed, not from notes, but from the heart.
With the Bondi Westfield massacre, Mr Albanese all but offered French citizen Damien Guerot (dubbed “bollard man”) Australian residency for his bravery fending off the attacker, telling the media Mr Guerot could “stay in the country as long as he liked”.
All while wounded security guard
Muhammad Taha (also on a temporary visa), who survived the attack which killed his colleague, was told he could stay too only after public pressure. Was he not a hero too? It was a foolish and inappropriate statement for the PM to make.
There is no doubt Australia needs strong leadership to dig us out of the war within.
Hate laws must be enforced and applied to all, without fear or favour, especially in regard to radical imams who openly call for jihad and the killing of Jews.
We need to stop immigration from countries that support prejudice and religion-based violence.
We need to ensure our judicial system actually works to protect victims and the community instead of the perpetrator.
Security guards need to be equipped with batons and pepper spray and fully trained in their use.
And mental health institutions should be reopened to provide live-in treatment and accommodation for the mentally unwell instead of them being shoving on to the streets.
And the government needs to stop pandering to a Muslim community that only calls for peace after an “event”. We need a government to represent all Australians, not just a select few.