Premier Peter Malinauskas explains his SA link to Bondi Junction stabbing victim Ashlee Good

Premier Peter Malinauskas has explained his SA link to a slain mum who was killed at the Bondi Junction stabbing attack.

The partner of a beloved mother killed during the horror Bondi Junction stabbing attack was raised in South Australia, and had brought his family home to Adelaide just months before the senseless killings.

It had been 38-year-old Ashlee Good’s dream to be a mother, according to her social media, with her and partner Dan Flanagan celebrating nine months with their daughter on the day they were attacked.

“Becoming a mum is the most surreal experience. It’s the most incredible, amazing, fun, wonderful and challenging thing,” she wrote on Instagram after the birth of her daughter.

“Some nights it feels like daylight will never come, yet the days go by so fast.

“You have this indescribable love for your child, and at the same time your love for your partner grows too.”

Ashlee Good, 38, died in the Bondi stabbing attacks but saved the life of her baby daughter by handing her over to a stranger.

South Australian leaders have since shared touching messages to all affected by the horror incident.

Premier Peter Malinauskas expressed his shock over the “incomprehensible” attack and detailed his personal links to the tragedy.

Mr Malinauskas said he knew the Flanagan family.

“The toll of these events has hit home in South Australia, affecting the Flanagan family,” Mr Malinauskas said.

“I’ve had the fortune of knowing the Flanagan family over the years. They are beautiful people and good Australians who care about others.”

Mr Malinauskas said he attended Mercedes College with Dan and Liam Flanagan who were “a couple years below” him and “coached them in cricket”.

“It is incomprehensible that such a beautiful family has been so aggressively affected by the events that occurred in Sydney,” he said.

“It is every family’s worst nightmare.”

Paul Flanagan, the media adviser to former SA premier Mike Rann, is the father of Dan Flanagan.

“Paul in particular is one of the most affable people you can meet and his children reflect that,” Mr Malinauskas said.

“From the whole community in South Australia I’d like to pass on our sympathies to those that have lost their lives yesterday in Bondi Junction.”

Police Minister Joe Szakacs described the massacre as a “senseless loss of life, and such awful violence”.

“My thoughts are with those injured, the family of those who have died, and the first responders who have heroically responded,” he said.

Campbelltown Mayor Jill Whittaker echoed the sentiment.

“Our hearts grieve over the terrible events and tragic deaths at Bondi Junction on Saturday,” she said.

“Thinking of all of those affected and grateful to those of courage who looked after others.

“Look after your children as the stories are told on the news.”

Dr Good’s distraught family have paid tribute to a “beautiful mother, daughter, sister, partner and all round outstanding human”.

In an emotional tribute on Sunday morning, relatives thanked the public for the outpouring of grief after Dr Good was killed and her baby injured.

“We appreciate the well wishes and thoughts of members of the Australian public who have expressed an outpouring of love for Ashlee and our baby girl,” the family said.

“We can report that after hours of surgery yesterday our baby is currently doing well. We are so grateful for the expert care and attention of the medical team at Sydney Children’s Hospital.”

The family also thanked the New South Wales Police for their kindness and diligence, and for getting the baby the care she needed.

“To the two men who held and cared for our baby when Ashlee could not – words cannot express our gratitude,” the said.

“We are struggling to come to terms with what has occurred. We would appreciate peace and privacy while we work through this as a family.”

How it happened

On Saturday morning, Dr Good went for a run around Bondi – like she tended to do most days.

But later that afternoon, as she was shopping with her daughter when the unthinkable happened.

Dr Good suffered critical injuries after being attacked by 40-year-old Joel Cauchi – a man not known to her or seemingly any other of the victims of the Bondi Junction stabbing horror that unfolded at about 3.20pm on Saturday.

She and her baby were rushed to hospital, but sadly she died shortly after arriving.

Her baby underwent emergency surgery and her condition has since improved.

In a heroic last act, Dr Good reportedly threw her young child into the arms of two strangers who tried to compress the infants wounds.

How they met

It’s understood Mr Flanagan and Dr Good met at a running event in Sydney, but Mr Flanagan had grown up in South Australia.

Dr Good, an osteopath and the daughter of former AFL player Kerry Good, is originally from Melbourne where ex-AFL footballer Steven Febey has led the tributes for her.

Dr Good and Mr Flanagan shared photos to Instagram over Christmas with Mr Flanagan’s parents in North Adelaide.

The Advertiser understands he attended St Thomas Primary School in Goodwood before finishing his education at Mercedes.