Children’s Author Probed After Posts Condemning Grief for Jews Killed at Bondi Beach

Police are investigating Australian children’s author Matt Chun’s online content after he denied the existence of anti-Semitism and condemned any expression of grief for the 15 people killed in the Bondi terrorist attack.

In a Substack article titled “We Don’t Mourn Fascists,” Chun criticised both the political left and right for expressing sadness over the event, accusing them of falling for what he described as a Zionist anti-Semitic narrative.

“Progressive organisations and community leaders hurriedly produced an avalanche of formal public statements, rushing to co-sign the Zionist rhetoric of ‘rising anti-Semitism,’ ‘terrorism,’ and ‘social cohesion,’” he wrote.

“The shooting was immediately condemned as an anti-Semitic hate crime, a framing shared by major Australian Palestine solidarity groups, ‘anti-Zionist’ collectives, and Benjamin Netanyahu.”

Chun also questioned the role of Chabad, the organiser of the Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach, alleging it was a network of centres and institutions that facilitated “the ongoing Zionist and Euro-American imperialist holocaust of Palestine.”

“The Chabad of Bondi holds regular events to advance settler-colonisation in Palestine amidst the ongoing extermination of Gaza,” he wrote.

Chun, whose legal name is Matthew Jones, has penned several popular children’s books and has been the recipient of multiple taxpayer-funded grants and awards, including a $42,452 contribution from Creative Australia to help him produce a children’s picture book.

During the 2024 doxxing (sharing of private details) incident where activists publicly released the contacts of 600 Jewish Australian creatives and academics, Chun blogged his intention to share information on members who “impact the creative arts and publishing.”

Some Jewish Australians, including children, claimed to have been the subject of threats after the leak.

In response, the Australian government passed the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024, which criminalised the practice.

Author Calls Australia and Israel ‘Fascist’

At the same time, Chun took aim at both Australia and Israel, calling the two countries “foundationally and inherently fascist.”

“These lands have been pillaged, poisoned, desecrated, and set ablaze by colonisers,” he said.

“There was a time before Israel, America, Australia—and there will be a time after.”

Meanwhile, New South Wales (NSW) Police confirmed its investigations in a statement to The Epoch Times.

“NSW Police are aware of the publications, they are currently under review,” it said.

New laws introduced in NSW in 2025 make it an offence to incite racial hatred and anti-Semitism, where if found guilty, an individual could face two years’ imprisonment or fines of up to $11,000 (US$7,400).

In a social media statement, the Australian Jewish Association condemned Chun’s op-ed about the Bondi massacre.

“What’s worse—the fact that this is a children’s author talking about a shooting in which one of the victims was a 10-year-old Jewish girl, or the fact that your taxes have been used to fund him?” they said.

“Matt Chun received the taxpayer-funded $42,452 Creative Australia Grant in May 2023 for his picture book Policing in Australia.

“He also won a Children’s Literature Fellowship, the Developing Illustrator Award at the Australian Picture Book Illustrator Awards, and has been shortlisted for multiple other awards.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to Chun for comment.