On this solemn day, we commemorate all those who were victims of Nazi persecution in the Holocaust. In times where discrimination and bigotry, especially anti-semitism, is on the rise more than ever, it remains important to never forget the victims, to honour the survivors, and to remember the lessons of the Holocaust.

Jews were the primary victims of the Holocaust, and anti-semitism the primary motivator of the Holocaust. Over 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazi regime - beginning with the legalisation of discrimination and the Nuremberg laws, with the ultimate aim of genocide against the Jewish people. Millions were killed by the Nazi death squads, in concentration camps, on death marches forced upon them, and many more pogroms and mass murders that took place during that era.

Those others targeted by the Nazi regime should also not be forgotten - millions of Slavs, Soviet civilians and, Soviet prisoners of war were systematically killed, alongside smaller in number but no less tragic groups of disabled people, Romani, leftists, and LGBT people.

Us alive today are likely to be the last generation to live beside Holocaust victims. As the Holocaust becomes more and more a thing of the past, we must ensure that its evils are not forgotten. We must ensure that the cruelties of the Nazi regime are remembered, that the testimonies of survivors are passed on, that our children are taught of its history, to make sure that its horrific events are never repeated.

We must all stand together in our condemnation of anti-semitism and all types of bigotry and prejudice, and work to take meaningful steps to reduce hate crimes and the systemic discrimination many minority groups still face in Australia. That is how we honour the victims of the Holocaust today - by working to ensure that it is remembered and never repeated.