It woke, however, to the worst news.

Two hostages killed, others injured, a policeman hit in the face by shotgun pellets and the gunman dead after police stormed the cafe in Martin Place about 2am.

Fifty-year-old Man Haron Monis entered the cafe on Monday morning, taking hostages.

It touched all Australians for many reasons: most have been to Sydney, perhaps Martin Place or even that cafe.

Perhaps the greater reasons it stopped people across the country was the rarity of such incidents, and the terrible luck of those involved, which makes people feel it could have easily been them.

Now it has ended the blame game will begin. The government had, after all, arrested other extremists who planned to carry out a public beheading in the same area.

Questions will be asked about why the government did not prevent Man Haron Monis - who was known to police and who was on bail for accessory to murder - from doing what he did.

It is a lose-lose situation for governments. Say too much or say too little and you're criticised.

Already one column has done exactly that: lambasting politicians of all persuasions, including the Prime Minister, for commenting on the matter. That reporter would surely know it would have been his colleagues demanding to know what those pollies thought that elicited a response.

Australia faces a very serious challenge about how it deals with the aftermath of a lone gunman who was seemingly motivated by the politics of religion.

One good thing to come out of this horrible, horrible situation is the "I'll ride with you" hash tag, for people reaching out to Muslims who fear they could be the subject of reprisals.