Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs for giving me the opportunity to respond to her statement. In this, as in all things related to MH17, the opposition supports the government. The opposition welcomes the tabling of the treaty between Australia and the Kingdom of Netherlands on the presence of Australian personnel in the Netherlands for the purpose of responding to the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

There are dates that stick with us—the years of war and the days of loss. These include 11 September 2001, October 2005—the Bali bombing—and now 17 July. Each of us can no doubt remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we first heard news of the tragic downing of MH17 on 17 July this year. We know that 298 people on board lost their lives and that 38 of those victims called Australia their home. Beyond the dates and numbers, we have come to know the personal stories of many of those who were on MH17—Emma Bell, the teacher working in the Northern Territory community of Maningrida where Aboriginal elders held a smoking ceremony last month to remember her; Gary and Mona Lee, who migrated to Australia in the 1970s; Sister Philomene Tiernan, a nun from Sydney; Perth resident Nick Norris and his three grandchildren, Evie, Mo and Otis Maslin; Johannes Van Den Hende, his wife, Shaliza Zain Dewa, and their children, Margaux, Marnix and Piers; researchers travelling to the 2014 AIDS conference in Melbourne, including the former president of the international AIDS society, Joep Lange.

We know so many of the names and stories but so little of the grief of their families. The Leader of the Opposition and I and many members of the parliament on both sides were pleased to join the Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and other members of the government for a very moving memorial service in Melbourne. We attended a memorial service in Sydney too. Right around Australia families are grieving privately for the people they have lost. Much of the past two months has been about coming to terms with what we saw on that tragic day in July.

We have seen the efforts made by our investigators as part an international effort to bring to justice those responsible for this terrible crime—unexpected, unjust and unjustifiable. The shooting down of an unarmed passenger jet in civilian airspace demands answers. It also demands a reconnection of those grieving families with something of the people that they have lost. James and Vanessa Rizk lost their parents Albert and Maree. They held a memorial service in early August, with more than a thousand mourners, and were later able to hold a private family funeral for their parents. The family of Mary and Jerry Menke from Mallacoota said:

We look forward to receiving Mary and Gerry again soon in the place and the community they loved so much and which loved them.

The work of returning the remains of those who lost their lives to Australia is phenomenally important for their families—those last objects that their loved ones touched, the things that they were holding and handling on that flight home.

The efforts of the international team have been helping families around the world to both understand the source of this crime and have their loved ones returned to them. One of the pilots, Captain Eugene Choo Jin Leong, was returned to his family for a funeral service in Malaysia. His friend, another pilot, Azlan Abu Bakar, described flying home from the Netherlands, saying:

It was horrible bringing my very close friend. We used to fly together, and this time we fly together again but in difference situation.

And yet, as difficult as that journey was for that pilot, to be able to bring home the remains of his friend to rest in an urn in his family home and allow his family to grieve for him properly and to pay their respects of course is very important work.

The mission that the Australian personnel and their international partners have carried out has been done with distinction in extremely challenging circumstances. We heard reports of a team spending seven hours and, at times, avoiding arms fire to retrieve very small pieces of debris and a silver necklace. It is completely unacceptable that participants in this conflict on Ukrainian soil were not able to afford safe passage and security to the international team of experts working on the MH17 crash site. Of course, Russia must accept its share of responsibility for the ongoing instability in the Ukraine and must fully cooperate with efforts to understand the chain of events which led to this crash.

Australia has been an international leader in the discussion about the investigation following the moving of resolution 2166 in the UN Security Council. This is exactly the sort of use that we envisaged for Australia's representation on the Security Council when we argued so hard that a country of Australia's stature deserved its place on the Security Council.

Given the seriousness of the tragedy and the urgency of the efforts by Australian personnel overseas, the treaty being tabled today forms an important part of our national response. The treaty was signed and entered into force on 1 August this year and acknowledges the responsibilities of Australian personnel, including to respect the sovereignty and the laws of the Netherlands. The treaty also affords our personnel rights and protections during their important work, including allowing them to carry weapons and wear field uniform. The arrangements provide that Australian personnel will remain under Australia's command and any necessary administrative or disciplinary action will be taken by Australia. The opposition notes that the government relied on the national interest exemption to take binding treaty action before the treaty was tabled in the parliament. We accept that the time sensitivity of the situation at hand and the primacy of affording proper protection to Australian personnel from the Department of Defence and the Australian Federal Police have made this necessary. I welcome the tabling of this treaty and commend it to the parliament.

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