Bob McMullan (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Federal/State Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I rise, like everyone else who has participated in this debate, to of course support the motion moved by the Prime Minister. I have two capacities in which I wish to do that. To some extent that amalgamates the speeches made by the two previous speakers, because I do it as a member representing the ACT and as the shadow minister for international development assistance. When I come to those remarks, I will refer specifically to Allison Sudradjat, about whom the minister and former parliamentary secretary made such compelling remarks.

This incident struck Canberra very hard. Of course, everybody in Australia was struck by it. It was dramatic; it was sad; it was tragic; and all Australians were affected. But this struck Canberra very hard for two reasons. One is that all the five people either came from Canberra or had very strong connections with Canberra—and I will speak of that in a moment—and the other aspect is that everybody in Canberra knows somebody who does what they were doing. Everybody in Canberra could put themselves in the place of that person or their family. Everybody knows somebody in the media, in the police, in the Public Service or in the Defence Force—in the case of the people who were injured but fortunately not killed—who go to work on behalf of the nation, who travel overseas. I have members of my family who have travelled to Indonesia in the service of the public, not in any dramatic way, in the high-profile way that we as members of parliament might, but as part of Australia’s relationship with Indonesia. I have very dear friends, one of whose family has been living in Indonesia for several months, who have just returned on behalf of the Australian government in different agencies. But I do not know anybody in this community who does not know somebody who does what Mark, Brice, Liz, Morgan and Allison did, even if they do not know those individuals. So that made it particularly telling and compelling. People come here to serve their country in the Public Service, in the media, in the AFP, in the military and in a hundred other ways, and their families do not expect them to pay such a high price in the process. But we all know that it is possible, and, when it happens, it strikes home very hard.

It was a very powerful ceremony held last week at Fairbairn for the return of the caskets containing the bodies of the five Australians. You cannot hope to convey in a speech the mood that was there. It was quite a long ceremony, necessarily. There were five areas set aside for the families and one for those of us who had come in an official capacity on behalf of the Australian government, the opposition, the ACT government and the agencies that were represented by the people who had died. One thing struck me: for the whole duration of that ceremony, no-one spoke. Not one person in that area exchanged a word with the person next to them, because you did not know whether you could control your emotions if you spoke. It was too powerful. Of course, our hearts went out. We could not pretend that the suffering we were feeling was in any way comparable with that being endured by all the families whom we could see in front of us trying to cope with their grief. But we all had to nevertheless gear up and have our own strength as we coped, knowing that there but for fortune were people close to us. I join with all my colleagues in extending condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who died. Our thoughts are with those who are struggling to overcome the consequences of their injuries—physical and psychological.

In the time available for this debate, I want to turn my particular attention to some remarks in my capacity as shadow minister for international development assistance and speak particularly about Allison Sudradjat and those who go overseas in the service of AusAID. I think the minister has done an excellent job in his communication and support to the colleagues and families of those who died so tragically in this terrible incident. It was not my place to duplicate that; that would have been totally superfluous. I wanted to find a way of communicating, however inadequately, to the staff, many of whom are constituents of mine—probably at least half—and many of whom are friends of mine from my years and years of interest in this issue. I wrote a letter to the Director-General, which I am grateful he communicated to the staff, which makes clear that we support what the government and the minister have said about Allison and the people at AusAID—that it is the bipartisan, unanimous view of this parliament. I welcome this opportunity to expand on that, particularly with regard to Allison.

It is notable that 600 people came to pay tribute to Allison Sudradjat in the Great Hall of the parliament last Friday, while many others watched from Jakarta as the memorial service was streamed live to AusAID offices in Indonesia, in a sad irony, via the IT infrastructure that Allison herself had championed and enabled. Allison was not afraid to try new technologies and new solutions and was supportive of change and innovation. She was described as one of Australia’s most respected and talented development experts and was also an inspirational leader to whom people looked with great respect, admiration and fondness. But, in the words of Allison’s sister, Simone Kerr, could we ever know just how many millions of people Allison touched in her lifetime?

As head of AusAID in Indonesia, Allison’s work impacted on the lives of many, not only in her leadership and her management of Australia’s aid program with Indonesia but also in her compassion, her integrity and her manner. In Indonesian, one colleague told how local staff in Jakarta spoke with pride about the fact that it was Allison who hired them, because being handpicked by her was considered to be an honour. Under Allison’s leadership, much effort has gone into improving national roads and there has been a particular focus on junior and secondary education. In Indonesia, as in Australia, this is the investment that opens two doors—the door to economic success and the door to opportunity—for those who might otherwise be denied it without that education. Progress has been made in improving access to education for children, but over 100 million boys and girls around the world are still not in school today. I conclude by saying that I want to pay my respects to Allison’s family and acknowledge with gratitude and admiration the large contribution that Allison made to the Australian aid program and to all those who work in AusAID with her.

See this speech in context