The mother of a woman killed in a stabbing massacre at a Sydney shopping centre wants more than talk and condolences as her daughter is farewelled.
Hundreds gathered to honour Jade Young at a memorial service in Sydney’s Botanic Gardens on Tuesday.
Mourners were asked to wear colour in memory of the “dearly loved and irreplaceable” mother-of-two.
The 47-year-old architect was among six victims in the mass killing at Westfield Bondi Junction on April 13.
Her mother Elizabeth said she was heart-fractured, angry and exhausted, although she thanked well-wishers from around Australia for their condolences.
“But I want more,” she told those gathered for the memorial.
“I want more than five minutes of disingenuous anodyne words from politicians, I want more than the three days of news coverage before something else made the headlines.
“I want politicians – both federal and state – to address gaps in mental health care to make it a safer world for our girls and all Australians.
“I will not let this terrible attack on my precious daughter simply become short term fodder for politicians or the media.”
Four other women: Ashlee Good, 38, Dawn Singleton, 25, Pikria Darchia, 55, and Yixuan Cheng, 27 were killed in the attack, along with security guard Faraz Tahir, 30.
Four people remain in hospital.
Police inspector Amy Scott ended the shopping-centre rampage when she fatally shot 40-year-old Queensland man Joel Cauchi.
His family later described his decades-long battle with mental illness and said he was frustrated about not having a girlfriend.
The make-up of the victims and footage showing Cauchi appearing to target women has prompted calls for further action to address gendered violence.
Premier Chris Minns previously told a beachside vigil for the victims the attacker’s precise motives might never be known, but that every woman deserved to feel safe in her community.
“We will not be a state where a woman is forced to change their behaviour because of the feelings, or anger, of other people,” he said on Sunday.
Ms Young’s memorial came after about 100 paddleboarders and surfboard riders poured into the surf in a tribute to the victims, forming a heart in the ocean off Bondi Beach to remember the six lives lost.
Organiser Vicky Austin said 12 local clubs came together to say goodbye at the ocean, a focal point for the community.
“Everyone’s feeling the after effects of Bondi Junction and it was just a way for us as a community to come together in solidarity in the ocean we all love,” she said.
“We play, we compete, and we come here for solace and I think it’s our way to say goodbye to those that we have lost.
“It’s solidarity and mateship and what we’re all about.”
Mr Tahir, the security guard killed during his first shift at Westfield Bondi Junction, will be laid to rest on Friday at a mosque in Marsden Park in Sydney’s northwest.
