Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to express my sincerest condolences to the families and friends of the five Australians who have gone all too soon, tragically killed in the Garuda plane crash on 7 March in Indonesia: Morgan Mellish, Elizabeth O’Neill, Mark Scott, Brice Steele and Allison Sudradjat. I also offer my thoughts, prayers and encouragement to those who have suffered severe injuries in the crash, including Defence Force personnel, the many civilians from different parts of the world—particularly the Indonesian people on board—and especially the Fairfax journalist, Cynthia Banham.

Prior to my current roles as Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and the Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, I had the honour and good fortune to be the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs for a year and a half. I speak today, as his former parliamentary secretary, about the dealings that I had during that time with some of the Australians who have lost their lives or were injured. I travelled to Indonesia twice and had the privilege of working directly and closely with Allison Sudradjat. In June 2005 I led an eight-member parliamentary delegation to Jakarta and to Aceh, in northern Sumatra, to inspect the devastation caused by the Boxing Day tsunami and to discuss with officials, led by and greatly supported by Allison, Australia’s aid effort to help Indonesia recover from the tragedy.

I remember marvelling at Allison’s fluency in the Indonesian language. She translated for me in our meetings with senior officials in Aceh and accompanied us to our meetings with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and also Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda. Despite the enormity of the recovery process, the very deep sense of personal connectedness with hardship and grief that so many were feeling, the direct-hand experience of the immense devastation in the region and the strain that it placed on Australian officials, particularly AusAID officials, Allison was simply outstanding in the way she responded to the disaster not only as an AusAID official and an aid worker but as a remarkably compassionate human being who was valued and respected, and who moved very freely and easily and in a welcoming way amongst the Indonesian communities she was working with.

In a vastly different working environment from Aceh, I again had the honour of working closely with Allison during another trip to Indonesia. Together, in August 2005, we put forward the Australian view at the ministerial meeting in Jakarta to discuss the Asia-Pacific region’s approach to the millennium development goals. Again, Allison, with great ease and professionalism, provided exceptional advice and support not only as a diplomat but as a very experienced and highly regarded aid policy adviser, with grounded practical experience that meant so much to that process. Although she was there with me representing our country, she was clearly incredibly committed to the outcomes that we were all aiming to achieve for communities in the region, to build better futures for their children and to share and develop some of the prosperity that everyone was reaching for.

Perhaps Allison’s work is best described in her AusAID testimony. She was a distinguished diplomat, one of Australia’s most capable and dedicated aid workers. She was able to meet the demands of responding to some of the region’s worst disasters, as well as understanding the complexities of trying to support improvements in governance, health and education services for the desperately poor people of the Asia-Pacific region. It was a privilege to meet Allison. She was a remarkable human being and it was an honour to experience firsthand the way she had devoted her life and her skills and, above all, her seemingly boundless and genuine compassion to those in need.

My heartfelt condolences are with Allison’s family and the friends of Allison for the great sadness and sense of loss they must now be feeling. Indeed, her tragic passing as a committed aid worker and a person of great compassion is a loss for the entire region. However, with all the different cultures, religions and backgrounds that she helped both here at home and abroad we can truly say that the world is a better place because of her life.

I also convey my admiration to the team at AusAID. Bruce Davis’s terrific obituary captured Allison and her work, Annemarie O’Keefe’s dignified account of the great loss that Allison represented was a fitting tribute to her. AusAID brings so much support to others in their darkest times. It is now our turn to bring some sunshine to AusAID and their people, because they are hurting and they have lost a wonderful member of their team.

I would also like to pay my respects to Liz O’Neill and express my condolences to her family and her friends. The loss of Liz O’Neill as a wife, a mother, a friend and an outstanding government official is very tragic. Again, in my previous role as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, I had the privilege of receiving public affairs support from Liz on my trips to Indonesia and benefiting from her insights. Although the working relationship between my office and Liz was brief, her assistance was exceptional. I am aware of the great number of tributes she, as the spokesperson in Jakarta, has deservingly received as her work is remembered by the Australian embassy there, and also for the Order of Australia that she earned so commendably for her tireless efforts after the Bali bombs and for what a wonderful person she was.

My thoughts are also with Cynthia Banham. We have heard much about Cynthia. I had the good fortune of working with Cynthia, and I have been interviewed by her on a number of occasions in my current and previous roles. It is a true testament to her courage and tenacity that she survived this tragedy, and my thoughts are very much with her and her partner Michael Harvey, whom I also know well. To their family and friends: a new kind of marathon faces this delightful couple and those dear to them, and we wish them all the very best. May the support of her loved ones and her strength and determination continue to help nourish Cynthia’s recovery.

As a result of this tragedy, these committed Australian embassy officials who were carrying out their role of supporting the democratic process are very much in our thoughts. They may not have been well known but they were enormous in the lives of those who were dear to them. They will be dearly remembered for their commitment to developing the understanding between our two countries and for doing what they believed in. They were proud and dedicated Australians. They were everyday individuals of Indonesia. They were very important to many people. Our thoughts are with them after this terrible tragedy.

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