His victims were: 25-year-old Dawn Singleton, 27-year-old Yixuan Cheng, 30-year-old Faraz Tahir, 38-year-old Ashlee Good, 47-year-old Jade Young and 55-year-old Pikria Darchia.
Tonight, on the eve of the first anniversary, Albanese addressed the nation in a video message to “pause to remember those whose lives were stolen on what should have been just another Saturday”.
“Hold on to all they were and all they had ahead of them. This should not be an anniversary,” he said.
“They should still be here – with their families, their friends and in their communities, with all their hopes and dreams and joys that are the very essence of life.
“As we grieve them, we think of everyone who wakes each morning and feels the pain of their loss anew.
“Their hearts irrevocably tied to that day when the world was upended and normality was taken from them and we think of those who live with the memories, from the shop staff to the shoppers to the first responders.”
The tragedy was Australia’s worst killing spree since January 2017, when a man drove his car into a busy street in Melbourne’s CBD and killed six people and injured 27 more.
Albanese said it was a day that “cruelty was met with courage”, as shoppers rushed to each other’s aid, with some even assisting the first police officer on scene Inspector Amy Scott, who shot Cauchi dead shortly after arrival.
“Amid the terror, people were tested in ways they had never imagined, yet their first instinct was to help each other,” the PM said.
“To offer comfort, compassion and protection to friend and stranger alike and some even ran towards the danger.
“In the hours and days that followed, we saw a community united in grief, reaffirming for all of us a core truth: that love is greater than hate.”
Finishing off his address, the Prime Minister said the memories of the six people killed would live on and they will be remembered.
”The memories of those who didn’t come home one year ago live on in the love they created, and in the hearts that they touched,” Albanese said.
“Remember them today and every single day.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns, the Waverly Council and the Scentre Group, who own Westfield, will observe the first anniversary at Bondi Junction tomorrow.
Officials and emergency services representatives will lay floral bouquets at the commemorative display boards that have been installed at Oxford Street Mall.
