I’ve been thinking a lot about the Bondi event.

It’s tragic and for some in our GTG community this wasn’t distant news, friends and family were there or live in the same suburb. That matters.

When events like this happen, public debate often rushes to familiar talking points. Australia already has strict gun laws and the government reacting emotionally with surface-level policies rarely addresses deeper issues.

This is personal for me. I wouldn’t be here if my mum hadn’t immigrated from Europe 30 years ago. I wouldn’t be married to my wife if she hadn’t migrated from Africa 20 years ago.

Immigration has enriched my life, but it also needs to be paired with strong processes, proper screening and effective integration - not just headline driven policy or raw numbers like it has been for too long,

What worries me most is the government is so focused on optics and control (social media ban / gov + home owner loans) all while avoiding harder, slower conversations about isolation, cost of living, mental health capacity and the incentives shaping our actual society day in day out.

Violent retaliation is never the answer. Tragedies deserve empathy first and actual resolution second. Not reactive politics like Albo is proposing.