‘Sombre’ mood falls over Sydney following attacks

A STRABANE man, who has called Australia home for the past 19 years, has spoken of the sombre mood in Sydney following two stabbing incidents in the city in the past week.

John Paul Wallace, who lives in Sydney with his wife Susan and two children, has described the last week as ‘unsettling’.

Tragedy struck on Saturday when 40-year-old Joel Cauchi, from Queensland, stabbed and killed six people, five of whom were women and injured 12 others at the Westfield Shopping centre in Bondi Junction. Cauchi was shot dead by a police officer who attended the scene and it is widely believed he deliberately targeted women, one of whom died protecting her infant child.

On Monday a further attack was perpetrated in the Wakeley suburb when Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, who was saying mass at the time, was attacked by a man on the altar of his church.

John Paul commented, “Fortunately I was nowhere in the vicinity of either attack so wasn’t affected greatly but many friends and family do live where the first attack took place in Bondi Junction in the east of the city. On hearing what happened last Saturday, it’s fair to say that the whole country stood still and turned in to the news. The general feeling on the ground is that this sort of thing doesn’t happen in Sydney, it happens in America or in Europe, but not here – which made the whole tragedy very unsettling for a lot of Sydneyites and it cast a sombre feeling over the entire city.

“The second attack heaped greater concern on an already shaken city due to the divisiveness brought into what is a very multi-cultural part of Sydney. It went as far as inciting a violent mob response who turned on the Australian authorities and emergency services; something which is most definitely not tolerated by Australians. People are understandably saddened and shocked by what’s happened in the past few days and are understandably afraid of any retaliatory effects which may come down the line.”

John Paul says that, despite the two attacks, Sydney hasn’t been put under any kind of lockdown.

Instead, there is a heightened sense of vigilance among some communities and law enforcement in the city. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the violence and said joint counter terrorism taskforce had been established with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

John Paul concluded, “As a family man with two children, my primary concern is for them and every one of my loved ones. However, despite recent events, I can say that Sydney remains an extremely safe city. Incidents like this are concerning but, thankfully, extremely rare and the communities and government work hand-in-hand to maintain security and protection for Australia and all her citizens.”