The end of public grief, and some small, meaningful acts of rebellion: a photo essay

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Written by Catherin J Pascal Dunk
Photo of children's play equipment area at Bondi Beach NSW. A sign on the fence reads: This is the site of a horrific tragedy. Please be respectful as you move through this space. For safety reasons, Waverley Council will be removing all memorial tributes.
It isn’t safe to show your grief, people. Just do it how the state tells you to. Where and when they deem it convenient. “It’s for your own safety that we are now controlling every aspect of your lives more closely than ever, okay?”
View of children's playground at Bondi Beach New South Wales Australia. Sign on the fence reads: "Out of respect for our community, Waverley Council have made the decision to temporarily close the playground while we undertake urgent maintenance works. We apologise for any inconvenience." There is a crocheted yellow flower attached to the yellow fence immediately above the blue sign.
Um, should they ever re-open it? “Come on kids, let’s go play on the site where one of your mates was killed in cold blood!” I don’t think so.
Picture shows a tall metal public menorah in Bondi Beach park New South Wales Australia. There are 8 LED candle type lights, unlit. At the base of the menorah there are a couple of flowers wrapped in plastic and bunched in an orange holder, and there are many small stones placed around the base of the menorah. There is also an unattended pouch or bag partially visible behind the base. An unplugged power cord is wound around the base.
A small public display of grief/remembrance, which will, one assumes, be removed daily? Or is this bit exempt?
Graphic designed signs in a shop window, reading "BONDI" (the O is a heart) and "LOVE LIVES HERE" (the O is a sun). The photographer is reflected in the window glass. There are other people waiting to cross the road behind her, and a car driving along the road.
Does it? The community has certainly come together in response to the tragedy. So have the constant low-flying police helicopters, foot and car patrols, blaring sirens and car chases, predominantly pulling over sun-hatted ladies heading down to the beach.
3 flag poles in front of Bondi Beach and the Bondi Surf Lifesaving Club building (not shown). The leftmost two flagpoles feature 3 commercial/advertising flags each. The rightmost flagpole has a cross bar. The main flag is the Australian flag, blue with the British union jack in the corner and the southern cross stars (difficult to see from the photo). The two lower flags on the cross bar are the red, black and yellow Indigenous or Koori flag, and the Torres Strait Islander flag, which is blue, green and white. 2 of the commercial flags, advertising Shaw Partners lawyers, are higher vertically than both of the First Nations Flags, though lower than the so-called Australian flag
Why aren’t these flags being flown at half mast, when there was such a recent tragedy here? Why are the Indigenous flags flown lower than the imperialist colonial flag? And LOWER EVEN than two of the flags promoting corporate interests and on the same level as two other corporate flags. This horrific display outside Bondi Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC) suggests:

1. Disrespect for the victims of the very recent gun massacre here.

2. Unforgivable disrespect of First Nations Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This land was NEVER CEDED. It was stolen. The genocide started not very far from here in 1788 continues unabated and is in fact escalating.1

3. Blatant claims of corporate ownership on this public land.

Shame, Bondi SLSC. Shame. And Waverley Council for allowing it.
A folded up metal temporary fence, which has a bunch of flowers stuck in one of the loops. There is a small crocheted heart in aqua and purple attached to the fence as well. There are trees, grass and sandy dirt in the picture.
Small acts of resistance and public grief.
Bondi jail for children, with small yarnbomb.
How long until Bondi is once again a private beach? Perhaps it is, already, judging by the commercial flags and the other advertising. And the heavy-handed state surveillance.
Bondi street advertising 30 December 2025. If we are to mourn publicly, it must be in a way approved by the state — and preferably, also corporate-sponsored.
  1. NSW Aboriginal deaths in custody were higher during 2025 than for many MANY years preceding that. Aboriginal children are still being forcibly removed today, at great rates, then cycled into the prison system at unconscionable rates. The Stolen Generation is NOT a thing of the past to look back on regretfully. It continues and it is NOT OK. Please read the work of Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts. ↩︎

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  1. Pingback: Escalation of state control in Gadigal/Sydney (so-called) Australia – Growing the future: ways forward, together

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