When I woke up this morning, news started to come in that there was a siege in Sydney. There was commentary that it was linked to terrorists, and one of my first thoughts was a Muslim backlash.

I left, and went about my business. When I returned, well, what happened I didn’t expect.

Australians had decided to turn something negative, into something positive.

Above the #sydneysiege that was trending on Twitter was the hashtag #illridewithyou, about Australians willing to go to/from work etc with Muslims who feared abuse and attacks because of the siege.

I have read over the years about intolerance in Australia, especially when it comes to immigration. So, I wasn’t really expecting anything positive to come out of this. But, Australians decided to take direct control of the situation and dictate the outcome of this themselves.

The people spoke, the people won.

I’ve visited Australia before; Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and elsewhere, and have always thought about going back. But, what has taken place with “I’ll Ride With You” has definitely made my mind up. I’ll be visiting sooner, rather than later.

There is a lot of turmoil in the world at the moment to do with race and religion, but Australia has just played a blinder and many including my country could learn a lot from it. I’ve never been more proud of a nation, and how it took on the bad guys and won.

Australia has shown, how tolerance is done. Out of bad, can come good.

Many seek to divide a community, but Australia has shown unity.

Thinking of all those affected.

Take care, Max x.