Brisbane Lord Mayor visits Bondi terror attack site

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner visited the site of the Bondi terror attack today, paying a personal tribute to the victims and to a community still living with the impact of the December violence.

Schrinner was accompanied by David Ossip, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, and Jason Steinberg, President of the QLD Jewish Board of Deputies. The visit was conducted quietly, with time spent at the site of the attack and nearby memorials.

Schrinner and Steinberg each wrote personal messages on stones, which they placed at the memorial in keeping with Jewish mourning tradition.

The Lord Mayor presented Ossip with a bound volume of condolence messages from Brisbane residents, compiled in the days after the attack and left at Brisbane City Hall.

The visit also included the presentation of a formal letter from Schrinner to Ossip, written on official City of Brisbane letterhead, in which the Lord Mayor expressed his condolences to the Jewish community in Sydney and beyond.

“I was deeply saddened by the horrific terrorist attack at Bondi and the profound impact it has had on individuals, families, and the wider Jewish community both here in Australia and abroad,” Schrinner wrote. “This senseless act of violence has left many grieving and a community in shock.”

The group also visited the nearby bridge from which the two gunmen launched the attack.

During the visit, they met with Neach Koncepolski, chazan of Coogee Synagogue, who has been present at Bondi Beach since shortly after the attack. Koncepolski has been greeting people at the beach and encouraging Jewish visitors to lay tefillin as an expression of faith and continuity.

Schrinner has previously led vigils and public acts of support in Brisbane following the attack. This visit marked his first appearance at the Bondi site itself.