A lot of the national argument plays out in Sydney. Fifteen people were killed at a Chanukah event at Bondi Beach on 14 December 2025. After the Sydney Morning Herald reported a Melbourne preacher urging followers to take up arms, Pauline Hanson said Bondi should have ended the excuses and asked for federal power to shut extremist mosques. In Haymarket, Chris Bowen used the Curtin Oration to take her on. "You can't claim to be a patriotic Australian when you don't actually like the country we have become," he said. And the Commonwealth's shortlisted six groups for early work on Sydney to Newcastle high-speed rail.