ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: This morning I have, together with Her Excellency the Governor-General, visited the staff here at St. Vincent's Hospital. They are heroes. People who were rostered on, but people who were not rostered on were at local restaurants, people who travelled from as far as the Central Coast when they heard that there would be a need. Normally, on a Sunday night there is staff available to staff one operating theatre. There were eight operating at once. On one occasion, 12 minutes between someone arriving at the emergency department here at St. Vincent's and being on the operating table. They saved lives. In a traumatic experience, they responded with professionalism, with compassion and with the best of Australian values. And today was an opportunity for myself and the Governor-General to say thank you on behalf of Australians to the doctors, the surgeons, the nurses, the pathologists, the radiologists, the people who engaged in providing assistance to people in circumstances that were incredibly traumatic. We also spoke with psychologists who work with the staff here to make sure that they're looked after as well, because they went through an experience that they will never forget. This is an incredibly traumatic time for members of the Australian Jewish community. It has also shaken our nation. Our nation will respond. We will hold people to account for what has occurred. We will give whatever powers are necessary to our police forces, to our security and intelligence agencies arising from this act of terror and act of antisemitism that we saw play out on Sunday night. Last night, the Governor-General hosted at Admiralty House a gathering of rabbis and other Jewish community leaders. It was an opportunity for us to pray together, for us to have those personal discussions as well. And I had discussions with family members who have lost relatives and loved ones, people who are devastated by what has occurred. Australia will come through this. Chanukah is a festival of the victory of light over darkness. And last night, together with the Governor-General, Rabbi Ben Elton of the Sydney Synagogue lit the candles to symbolise the victory of light over darkness. We need to, as a nation, come together to unite, to make sure that we celebrate the best of humanity that we have seen here in the nurses and medical professionals who provided that care and support to their fellow Australians. They do it each and every day. But Sunday and ongoing is particularly traumatic. We're also seeing Australians act through measures such as the enormous queues, 50,000 people registering to give blood. And we know that up to 100 donations are required for one surgery. So, this is required. And we encourage people to not just donate today, but in coming weeks as well because of the short lifespan of the donations which are made normally.
JOURNALIST: Normally, tragic events like this unite Australians, but this has driven a wedge into the community. How do you unite a divided Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll continue to look for what unites us. And I've seen that here this morning. We need to learn any lessons that are learned from this, undertake stronger action, undertake any legislative change, undertake any powers, additional powers that are needed across the board, to work with the Jewish community. We want to stamp out and eradicate antisemitism from our society. We want to also stamp out the evil ideology of what would appear to be, from the investigators, an ISIS inspired attack. That has no place, that sort of hatred. What strengthens Australia is our love for each other. And at this time, I'm seeing a lot of evidence of that as well. Love is more powerful than hate. That is what we need to see.
JOURNALIST: These men were prepared to die for their cause. How do you legislate against that? How do you combat that?
PRIME MINISTER: It is difficult and this is something the world is dealing with. It is indeed, as you identify, hard to legislate against such massive hatred. And people who have this perversion of Islam that leads them to support Islamic State and to have a view that somehow there is some reward for them. There is not. They are evil. We need to make sure that we do whatever is within our powers. Now, that means education. It means as well, stamping out, calling out evil when we see it. And we'll continue to do so, not just as a government, but as a nation as well.
JOURNALIST: Fast tracking your response to the Segal report - what priorities are there? What are you prioritising your response?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I met with Jillian Segal again yesterday. I've spoken with her daily. We're continuing to work through a whole range of the measures in the Segal report, of course, on antisemitism. We are already implementing. If there's a need for, as well, to examine - this isn't a set and forget report. This is something that will be an evolving position. Antisemitism has been around for a long period of time. Many nations such as the United States have had special envoys in antisemitism for a long period of time. My government is the first to appoint one. Jillian Segal is doing an extraordinary job. We'll continue to engage with her on an ongoing basis, including any lessons that arise from this atrocity.
JOURNALIST: Can you call out specific priorities in your response?
PRIME MINISTER: We'll call all of the legislative responses required. If we need to do something more about hate speech, for example. We have outlawed hate speech that can lead to violence. If we need to examine them, if there's a need to strengthen them. We're certainly up for whatever is necessary.
JOURNALIST: Incredible acts of heroics during this attack play out. Some ultimately giving the ultimate sacrifice of their life in trying to do that. What does that show about people rising up in these times? Some of them were refugees coming over here and had founded a life in Australia.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I pay tribute to Boris and Sofia Gurman, who, Boris attacked the, one of these terrorists as he got out of the car and that caused Mr. And Mrs. Gurman, have been married for 60 years, to lose their life. To Reuven Morrison, who threw bricks and took action to try and stop this occurring. Also murdered by these terrorists. These are Australian heroes. Just as Ahmed Al Ahmed, who I was able to meet with yesterday, is an Australian hero. Our thoughts are with him today because he is undergoing surgery today on his injuries. Our thoughts are also with the families of funerals that will begin today. I met with Rabbi Eli's family yesterday. They are going through an extraordinarily difficult time. Rabbi Eli was clearly much loved in the community, not just by his family as well. And I think all Australians thoughts and hearts are with those families as they go through farewelling their loved ones.
JOURNALIST: What do you say to victim's family and to Jewish leaders who say your government hasn't done enough to fight antisemitism?
PRIME MINISTER: I say that the battle against antisemitism has been around for a long period of time. We have called out and will continue to call out. We'll work with the community. I had discussions with community leaders last night. We'll do whatever is necessary to work with the community to stamp out the scourge of antisemitism, of which we have seen arise in Australia and around the world since October 7th. But we've also seen antisemitism be around for a long period of time. It's one of the elements that have fed into the perverse extremist ideology that is Islamic State that led to this whole idea of a caliphate and leads to hatred and leads to violence as well. Thank you very much. Thank you.