Karen McNamara (Dobell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great sense of sorrow and feeling of loss that I rise to speak to this condolence motion. We stand today reflecting upon the events of the 15th and 16th of December 2014. It was a day that started like any other which would soon be forever altered by an unimaginable act of terror. Like many people who work in the Sydney CBD, in a previous career I sat many times with work colleagues at the Lindt Chocolate Cafe at Martin Place enjoying a cup of coffee and having meetings. When I heard of this tragedy I thought straightaway of my previous work colleagues who worked directly across the road in Elizabeth Street. I thought about the amount of time that I myself had spent in that cafe.

Never could we envisage how the routine activity of meeting friends, family or coworkers for a coffee or chocolate would become a living nightmare, and tragically it did—a nightmare that saw 10 customers and eight employees of the Sydney Lindt Chocolate Cafe enduring 16 hours of being held hostage by a lone gunman blinded by religious idealism in the extreme; 16 hours that are now remembered as a time when Sydney stared terror in the face; 16 hours that many of us remained glued to the television set. I myself, like the member for Greenway, went to bed that night hoping that everything would be okay, waking up in the morning to find that, tragically, two innocent young people had lost their lives.

Hostages Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson tragically lost their young lives. They were two brilliant, talented and much-loved individuals with so much potential and opportunity ahead of them. Every Australian will remember Katrina and Tori for their bravery and tragic loss. On behalf of the Dobell community I extend my deepest and heartfelt sympathies to the families and friends of Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson. As Australian families celebrated the Christmas season with their loved ones we all paused to remember Katrina's husband, Paul Smith, and their three children—Chloe, aged eight; Oliver, aged six; and Sasha, aged four—along with Tori's partner, Thomas Zinn.

The Central Coast united in grief over the tragic loss of Katrina and Tori. The loss of Tori Johnson, a former student of Terrigal High School, brought this horrific crime home to many Central Coast residents. Our nation's collective grief manifested itself in floral tributes, which spread throughout Martin Place and also Terrigal beach. Never before had Australia's rejection of and resilience to terror and hatred been so beautifully demonstrated in floral tributes. Ordinary Australians descended upon Martin Place to pay their respects and lay a floral tribute. I heard so many stories from residents of the Central Coast who actually travelled to Sydney to mourn and pay their respects.

We also united to thank and acknowledge the efforts of our law enforcement and emergency services personnel. This terrifying event demonstrated what law enforcement and emergency service personnel do every day, which is to abandon their own safety in difficult and dangerous situations to help protect others, and for that we are eternally grateful. We are immensely grateful and proud of their service to our community in this nation and we thank them.

Australians of all races and religions united to illustrate the power of what makes us Australian. Our unity will always prevail over those who seek to divide us. Instantaneously, we reached out to one another and were bound by common values. The various paths that make our great nation the nation that it is converged into one—a united people defiant in the face of adversity and tragedy. We struggled to comprehend how, in a country as richly diverse as ours and as peaceful as ours, someone could be so intent on destroying our social fabric.

Last year, I spoke in this parliament about the greatness of Australia. I spoke about how Australia is the lucky country and how a democracy was not born from bloodshed, civil uprising or war. We are the envy of the world and sadly those who disagree with our democratic freedom pose a constant threat to everything that makes us unique. Last year, I said in parliament that for many Australians the threat of terrorism may seem a world away. Following the events of the Martin Place siege, this is no longer the case. Australia has lost its innocence to those who hate our freedoms and values. Many people never imagined such an event transpiring on our soil.

We are all too familiar with images each night on the news depicting intolerance abroad, but never in our own backyard. Like those in Paris who marched in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, the people of Sydney and all Australians stand tall and defiant in the face of terrorism. We speak as one in that we will not tolerate hatred in our community. We will not tolerate those who sympathise with terrorist organisations or those willing to cause Australians harm due to their own reckless actions. We are stronger than ever before in our defiance of those who hate us and seek to do us harm.

Australia is a beacon of hope and liberty throughout the world. Our values will never be compromised by those who want to suppress the freedoms of innocent men, women and children. Our resolve has never been stronger. In time, Martin Place and the streets of Sydney will return to normal. We will never forget those tragically lost and those who suffered in this terrible act of hatred and madness, nor will we forget the reasons behind this attack or our resolve to ensure the safety of Australia and her people.

We join with the family and friends of the victims of the siege and with a united voice say we will never surrender to the hatred of a minority. We will forever remember this atrocity. We will forever remember the victims. I express my deepest condolences to the families of Katrina and Tori, their friends and work colleagues, and the communities whose lives have been touched and changed forever by this heartless tragedy. We should never forget those injured and those who escaped this tragedy, and ensure we support them as they deal with the horror they endured whilst held captive. I commend this motion to the House.

Debate adjourned.

See this speech in context