Hundreds of people of all faiths and none gathered at the mosque at the Canberra Islamic Centre on Monday night to hold a vigil and prayer meeting for the victims of the terror attack in New Zealand.
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A rabbi, a bishop and an imam spoke as one in condemning the violence in Christchurch.
There are further public events planned in Canberra on Tuesday afternoon. The city's "peace bell" will be rung fifty times. Both the New Zealand High Commissioner and the ACT Chief Minister are to speak.
At Monday night's meeting, Bishop Stephen Pickard, speaking on behalf of the ACT Council of Churches, told the rows of Muslims sitting in before him, "We of the churches of Canberra want to assure you of our love."
Rabbi Shmueli Feldman said, "The Muslim community is on the side of peace."
The Jewish leader said that people and politicians needed to unite against hate directed at Jews and Muslims. "It's not enough to remain silent," he said.
Imam Adama Konda said, "The Hebrews are not our enemies. The Jews are not the enemies. The Christians are not the enemies.
The imam who heads the mosque added that the terrorist had no allegiance but to evil. "They are beasts but they cannot knock us down."
The president of the Canberra Islamic Centre which includes the mosque condemned terrorism of all forms, both from the far-right and from those he said purported to act in the name of Islam. "They don't represent Australian values or Islam," Zafar Ahmad said.
The Hindu Council of Australia also endorsed the message of unity.
Apart from religious leaders, politicians from both the federal parliament and the ACT legislative assembly attended. There were also diplomats, including from the New Zealand High Commission.
And there were ordinary people who simply felt moved to go and show solidarity. Some left flowers at the entrance to the mosque alongside the book of condolences.
One worker with Woden Community Services went to the mosque to say that the children in the "outside school hours" programme which he runs were raising money to send to New Zealand. They had organised a sausage sizzle, said Brian Pearce from Garran.
"This is such a horrible act. No community should have to go through this," he said.
The children in the Garran programme were between five and 12 years old so he said he was taking care to screen them from the detail of the attack in Christchurch.
All the same, they knew about it. An event of such magnitude was unavoidable.
At 5pm on Tuesday, the Canberra Refugee Action Campaign is holding a "rally in solidarity" at Garema Place, including speakers from the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities.
At 6pm, the ANU New Zealand Club and Tumanako Maori Cultural Group are holding a memorial at the Nara Canberra Peace Park, on the western side of Commonwealth Avenue Bridge. New Zealand High Commissioner Annette King and ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr will both speak.
The public is invited to both events.
