Tony Abbott speaks at rally marking one year since Hamas attacks on Israel

Former prime minister Tony Abbott speaks at the Never Again is Now Rally on October 7, 2024 outside Parliament House.

Transcript

00:00Here today, one year on from the October 7 atrocity, this is a very sad occasion.

00:10We remember the suffering of the kinsfolk, of those who have died.

00:18We remember and we grieve for the hostages still being brutalised. This is a tragic day

00:29but it's also in a way a brave day because while we grieve for the dead and we mourn

00:36for those who mourn, we also admire the courage, the resilience, the never say die spirit

00:46and that yearn to triumph which exists in the Israeli people and the Israeli government.

00:52October the 7th, the worst catastrophe to befall Jewish people since the Holocaust.

01:03A day of infamy where the killers did not just kill but they exalted in their killing.

01:13Even the Nazis tried to hide what they did but these murderers revelled and exalted

01:21and posted it on social media. That's why it is absolutely right that these murderers

01:30and the organisations which put them to it should be utterly destroyed.

01:37Yes and that's exactly what the Israeli government has been doing every day since then and sure

01:48we lament the civilian casualties and we admire the way that Israel has been so incredibly

01:56fastidious in trying to avoid them and we admire the extraordinarily clever and successful way

02:06in which the Israeli military and government have fought back.