Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I seek to associate the opposition with the remarks of the Prime Minister. We also wish to put on record our gratitude for the efforts of Australian service people who are assisting in trying to answer this most difficult and tragic of questions. All around the world bad things happen to good people, but there is something about a plane disappearing that links all the citizens of the globe. Anyone who entrusts their life to an aeroplane and the skills of the engineers and the pilots appreciates that this mystery brings this truth home in a way other disasters around the world do not always bring home to the lounge rooms and living rooms of Australia.

The people who have disappeared on this flight could be any of us. For all those who fly, and all those who have loved ones who fly, we sincerely hope we can find answers to this most troubling, disturbing and tragic of incidents.

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