Three years ago, on what should have been a perfectly ordinary day, an Australian man murdered 51 Muslim worshippers in two Christchurch mosques. Into places of sanctuary, reflection and faith, he brought violence, suffering and death.
 
We still grieve the dead. We grieve for those who survived but whose every day is shaped by the absence of those they lost. And we grieve for New Zealanders, whose country was shattered on that most awful of days.
 
Even after three years, we remain shaken by the murderer’s inhumanity and troubled by the origins of his motives. Concerningly, the Islamophobia in Australia report released today shows that we have so much more to do.  
 
In the words of Bilal Rauf from the Australian National Imams Council: “It didn’t occur in a vacuum. Society had allowed that hate to fester, including publicly, until it manifested in a murderous rage.”
 
That is why it is vital that we do not let this date go unmarked. We must stamp out Islamophobia every single day that we are given. 
 
Likewise we must work to address the troubling rise in Australia of all race and religion-based hatred, including anti-Semitism, anti-Hindu and anti-Sikh sentiment.
 
Today, on this most sombre of anniversaries, let our message be clear. 
 
To every member of the Muslim community: we stand with you.
 
To every New Zealander: we stand with you.
 
Hate will never divide us. Hate will never win.
 
We cannot afford to let it.