From Canberra to the World: Christmas Messages of Grief, Hope and Unity for Multicultural Australia
Australia’s political leaders and international diplomats based here have used their 2025 Christmas messages to speak directly to a country still grieving after the Bondi terror attack, while reaching out to multicultural communities whose hearts straddle Australia and homelands in conflict.
In his national address, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said this Christmas was a moment to “mourn those whose lives were taken and those whose lives were forever altered” by the December 14 attack in Bondi, describing the season as a time to honour the bravery that “shone so brightly through the darkness”. He urged Australians to come together in kindness and generosity, wishing “a Christmas of peace, safety and love a Christmas where we stand together, united.”
Federal Opposition Leader Sussan Ley struck a similarly sombre tone, calling 2025 “a time of deep sorrow and reflection” and insisting that hatred and extremism, including antisemitism, have no place in Australia. She said the test for the nation was whether it would hold fast to values of decency, courage and standing together “especially when it is hard”.
Across Australia’s capitals, premiers and state opposition leaders echoed those themes in their own Christmas videos and social media posts, combining family photos with calls for peace, respect and gratitude for emergency services, health staff and others working through the holiday period. Church leaders also spoke of “light” overcoming “darkness”, with major denominations emphasising comfort for the grieving and hope for communities affected by fires, floods and conflict in 2025.
At the same time, diplomats and foreign leaders have reached out to diaspora communities from their posts in Canberra, Sydney and beyond. Greece’s ambassador to Australia, Stavros Venizelos, issued warm wishes to the Greek community, praising Greek Australians as a vital “connecting link” that promotes national identity abroad and thanking them for preserving language, faith and traditions in their adopted home. Cyprus’s High Commissioner, Antonis Sammoutis, spoke of renewing the ancient Christmas prayer for “peace on earth”, expressing hope that 2026 will be more peaceful for Cypriots and for the wider world.
Portuguese Australians received a dedicated Christmas message from the Consul General of Portugal in Sydney, who extended best wishes to families across the country and reflected on a busy year of consular support and community events. In Rome and Kyiv, Pope Leo and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used their Christmas Eve messages to call for a just peace in Ukraine and to salute the resilience of people who continue to celebrate traditions despite years of war, words that also resonate with Ukrainian families in Australia.
For multicultural communities from Greece to Portugal, Ukraine and beyond, these greetings acknowledge that Christmas in Australia is often lived-in two-time zones at once celebrating here while worrying about loved ones overseas. Together, the voices from Canberra, state capitals and foreign missions sketch a Christmas 2025 defined not only by grief and global uncertainty, but by a renewed commitment to unity, compassion and the everyday courage of communities determined to stand together.
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