SYDNEY—By candlelight in Sydney, hundreds of strangers wept for a man most had never met.
Charlie Kirk’s death may have been an American tragedy, but to those gathered, it was also a stark reminder that locally Australians need to reject bitterness, embrace dialogue, and bridge divisions.
The 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA was shot in the neck while speaking to a crowd of around 3,000 at Utah Valley University during his American Comeback Tour. The incident took place on Sept. 10 local time.
Kirk is survived by his wife, Erika, and their two children. Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Utah, has been arrested and charged.
Turning Point Australia Head Says He Was Devastated
Joel Jammal, the national director of Turning Point Australia, a local affiliate inspired by the U.S. movement, said he was devastated by the news.
“That man could have been president,” Jammal told The Epoch Times on Sept. 12. “He was a talent. He also had a strategic mind for chess. He knew how to set up an organisation, and he was the face of it, to be the spearhead.“
Kirk revolutionised the way that people engage with politics, according to Jammal.
“Previously, it was an old person’s game. Understandably, as you get older, you tend to think about your children’s future and the grandkids’ future. But Charlie revolutionised that by going to the heart, the factory of the bad ideas, and challenging it there,” he said.
‘Not Letting Western Democracy Go Down Gurgler’: Mundine
Prominent Indigenous conservative leader and businessman Warren Mundine also attended.
“A 31-year-old kid. He’s got kids under five. What sort of human being does this? What sort of human being kills another human being like that? His kids are going to grow up without a dad. His wife hasn’t got a husband now … It’s just horrible to think about it,” he told The Epoch Times.
Mundine said it was time for those with conservative-leaning beliefs to mobilise.
“We’re going to stand up for the democratic rights, freedom of speech, religious freedom … We’re not going to let the Western democracy go down the gurgler,” he said.
‘This Planet Needs to Heal’: Former Pilot
Former Qantas pilot Graham Hood and a critic of Australia’s strong COVID-19 response, previously shared a stage with Kirk in Phoenix.
“Evil has just made the biggest mistake of its life, because that shot that took out Charlie Kirk has ensured that his message is going to go from one corner of the planet to the other,” he told The Epoch Times.
Hood said he cried upon hearing the news, and said Australians were locked in a battle between good and evil.
“Our country is going down the gurgler because there’s a God shaped hole in it that we’ve filled with communism, with fascism and with a whole bunch of other ‘isms’ that just haven’t worked,” Hood said in a speech at the vigil.
“Forget about red and blue, forget about Labor and Liberal, forget about conservative and whatever. This country needs to heal. This planet needs to heal.”
Councillor John Larter from Snowy Valleys Council said Kirk’s death could be a real ’turning point’ for Australia.
“I know that’s a bit of a cliche, because he was from Turning Point USA, but it’s going to be one of those moments in history that’s going to cause a lot of pain for a long time,” he told The Epoch Times.
“The legacy that he’s left us is that he’s been able to touch the youth, the younger people … We’re hopefully going to see a point moving forward where humanity will return.”
‘Australia Resonates With His Conviction’
Data scientist Paul Yacobellis says Australians resonated with Kirk’s conviction in God, family, and country.
“That’s universal. [It] doesn’t matter what country you live in. Truth and common sense is going to resonate with people all over the world,” he told The Epoch Times.
“There is a strong desire to know God. There’s a strong desire and need to be with family and to love your country, of whatever country you live in. I believe that’s here in Australia.”
Journalist Hopes for Return to Civil Discourse
Alison, a journalist who chose to withhold her surname, said she was “not conservative at all,” but joined the vigil in support of free speech and dialogue with people with different opinions.
“Civic discourse is the engine of democracy, the engine of our Western civilisation. As soon as you take away the ability to have civil discourse with people who dramatically disagree with you, you have violence,” she said.
Alison says Kirk is relevant because “the same nation-destroying movements are attacking us that are attacking America.”
“We need to bring back civic discourse, so the very thing that Charlie stood for is what we have to remember and stand for as well,” she said.
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