The premier wants this ‘ghoulish reminder’ gone. The daughter of a Bondi hero feels differently

Premier Chris Minns says the footbridge used by the Bondi gunmen should be demolished, warning that, if retained, it would be a “ghoulish reminder” of the terror attack or potentially be used by copycat perpetrators.

However, the daughter of one of the 15 people killed in the December 14 attack would prefer the pedestrian bridge remain intact but with a permanent mural to honour the lives lost.

The bridge at the northern end of Bondi will be the subject of a special meeting of Waverley Council on Thursday. The concrete structure was used by the father-and-son gunmen when they killed 15 people and injured dozens more as revellers celebrated the first night of Hanukkah in Archer Park.

Ahead of the council meeting, Minns said his personal view was the crossing should be removed. But he noted it was a decision for council, and he would ultimately be guided by the views of the victims and their families.

“I would just hate it to be a ghoulish reminder or even exploited by reprehensible people in the future,” he said.

“We can’t allow one of the most beautiful places on Earth to be remembered forever and only as a place of horrible terrorism because it’s so much more than that, and it means an enormous amount to the Jewish community.”

A statement released by Waverley Council last month acknowledged the varying views about the future of the footbridge, including retaining the crossing, removing the structure, or adapting it with murals to honour the victims of the attack.

Sheina Gutnick, the daughter of Reuven Morrison, who was shot and killed after he hurled objects at the gunmen, said the footbridge “hasn’t committed any atrocity”.

“It’s just a place … not liable for the vile actions of others,” Gutnick said.

“I think it would be nice to have a mural on there,” she said, suggesting a recreation of a chalk rendering of a menorah that had been drawn on the bridge in the days following the antisemitic attack.

“But it should still hold the purpose that it has, of assisting pedestrians’ access to the beach,” which Gutnick thinks of as “Dad’s beach”.

Gutnick said her friends believe her father’s actions saved their lives by distracting the gunmen as they huddled on the ground, hiding their babies underneath their bodies.

“I think it’s important for us to honour the lives that we lost that day, rather than demolish and destroy,” she said.

Michele Goldman, one of the newly appointed co-ordinators-general to support the Bondi community and chief executive of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, agreed with the premier’s position.

Goldman stood alongside Multicultural NSW chief executive Joseph La Posta as the premier announced the pair had jointly been appointed co-ordinators-general to oversee the recovery from the nation’s worst terrorist attack. Asked for her views, Goldman said she was yet to hold extensive discussions with the community, but she personally believed the bridge should be removed.

“I would probably share the premier’s view. As someone who’s been a local for many years, I feel like our sense of safety has been invaded,” she said.

“For such a beautiful place which represents so many wonderful values to the Australian community … in the long term, we need to ensure that Bondi is restored to what represents this great country.”

Goldman acknowledged concerns about the structural integrity of the footbridge may mean the decision has already been determined.

A structural engineering report to be considered at Thursday’s council meeting concluded the two pedestrian bridges, including one crossing Park Drive at Bondi Park, were deemed to have “reached the end of their useful lives and require replacement within several years”.

Minns was also asked about a draft the federal government bill, under which quoting religious text could be used as a defence to new hate speech laws. He said reading from scriptures should not be a justifiable excuse to vilify, harass or encourage violence.

“Hate speech that’s being used to attack other Australians; it can’t be justified.”

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