His victims were: Dawn Singleton, 25, Yixuan Cheng, 27, Faraz Tahir, 30, Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, and Pikria Darchia, 55.
Tonight, on the eve of the first anniversary, Albanese went to the nation in a video message to “pause to remember those whose lives were stolen about what should have been just another Saturday.”
“Stop everything they were and everything they had in front 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, dreams and joys that are the very essence of life.
“While we cry, we think of all who wake up every morning and feel the pain of their loss again.
“Their hearts were irrevocably linked to that day when the world turned and removed normality and we thought of those who live with memories, from store staff to buyers to the first to respond.”
The tragedy was the worst wave of murders of Australia since January 2017, when a man drove his car to a bus crowded in the CBD of Melbourne and killed six people and wounded 27 more.
Albanese said it was a day when “cruelty met courage”, since the buyers rushed to the help of the other, and some even helped the first police officer at the scene inspector Amy Scott, who shot Cauchi dead shortly after arrival.
“In the midst of terror, people were evaluated in a way they had never imagined, but their first instinct was to help each other,” said Prime Minister.
“Offer comfort, compassion and protection for friends and strangers and some even ran towards danger.
“In the hours and days that we followed, we saw a united community in pain, reaffirming to all of us a central truth: that love is bigger than hate.”
Finishing his speech, the prime minister said that the memories of the six murdered people would live and will be remembered.
“The memories of those who did not arrive home a year ago in the love they created and in the hearts they touched,” said Albanese.
“Remember today and every day.”
The NSW Prime Minister, Chris Minns, the Waverly Council and the Scentre Group, which have Westfield, will observe the first anniversary at Bondi Junction tomorrow.
Officials and emergency services representatives will place flowers of flowers in the commemorative exhibition boards that have been installed in Oxford Street Mall.
