Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I compliment the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence on his contribution: a very heartfelt and genuine account, particularly of his attendance at the national day of mourning.

I, like all members, support the Prime Minister's motion of condolence in respect of the MH17 victims. I support the words of the Prime Minister, as I do the words of the Leader of the Opposition. There is no doubt that this is a terrible tragedy—an unspeakable event that has occurred on foreign soil but which to some extent is very close to home.

As members of parliament we are not foreign to being on international aircraft as we go about doing our duties. Some of those involve visits to other parts of the world. Some of us have had the privilege of visiting other areas in the Middle East and some of those have been troubled zones. But none of us undertake that with the view that it may be our last trip because disaster looms around the corner.

I cannot imagine the situation for the 298 people on the aircraft because I imagine it would have been pretty instantaneous when MH17 was shot down. But what I can empathise with is the hurt and the grieving that all the families of people who were on that aircraft have gone through and will continue to go through for a long while to come.

On 17 July, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was carrying 283 passages and had a crew of 15. It was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over the airspace of eastern Ukraine. It is a fact that this airline was travelling at an altitude internationally approved for travel over Ukraine. It had been cleared. It was known to be a commercial passenger jet. Of those 298 citizens on board that aircraft—people who came from all over the world—absolutely regrettably, 38 were citizens or residents of Australia.

I take this opportunity to express my deepest sympathies to the families of victims on board the aircraft at this terrible time. I acknowledge in doing so that this is not just to be put down as an accident. I know this was a violent and heinous crime that was committed and which took the lives of these people. I am proud of the way that Australia has handled that situation. I support the Prime Minister's call that justice must be answered in respect of those innocent lives lost on MH17.

Throughout my electorate of Fowler, which is a very multicultural electorate, are many places of worship. Most of those places have conducted religious services in memory of the victims. Indeed, the Buddhist temple, Mingue Lay in Bonnyrigg established a shrine constructed by local residents to pay their respects to all those innocent lives lost aboard MH17. Fairfield City Council and their staff joined together last month on the national day of mourning to express their condolences. I am aware that that one of the council staff members at Fairfield City Council in particular is mourning the loss of a family member who was on board the aircraft.

It is also a matter of fact that among the losses that occurred on 17 July were some of the most renowned experts—researchers and medical health workers—working tirelessly to find a solution to the AIDS epidemic, particularly as it applies in Africa. Regrettably, it is possible that with the downing of MH17 perhaps we lost the very people who could be delivering the keys to the challenges of AIDS and who could have been out there doing a very good and necessary job of looking after victims of AIDS. Therefore, this crime impacts on the lives of many and, as I said, I understand that the grief and the sorrow will be felt for many years to come.

It is just unbelievable that a country such as Ukraine, despite turmoil within its domestic politics, can in such a short period of time descend into a situation where armament capable of shooting down a plane at 32,000 feet—or equivalent to about six miles high in the sky—are used, taking innocent lives. I would have thought for all those involved in the debate in terms of Ukraine's sovereignty that some civility, and certainly some humanity, should apply when they are pressing these claims against one another.

On behalf of all the constituents in my electorate of Fowler, I pass on my deepest condolences to the families and friends who have lost loved ones in the MH17 disaster. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this very difficult time. May all victims rest in peace.

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