Nickolas Varvaris (Barton, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I share the sentiments expressed by my colleagues who have spoken on this sad tragedy so far. Words can only express so much of what we all felt on that day and what we still feel as we recount the shocking details. It was a typical Monday in Sydney, a day where some people were wrapping up work in the lead-up to the Christmas holidays whilst others were hurrying about completing their Christmas shopping duties in the heart of the Sydney CBD, Martin Place. Coffee shops were still open and catering to the business and leisure set, with noisy city vehicles in the background echoing off the laneways and tall buildings in the financial and legal centre of the town. The day could not be more ordinary, yet only a few hours later things would change horrifically.

December 15 2014 is a day that shattered our sense of humanity. It was a day that Sydneysiders and all Australians were assaulted by the actions of a lone gunman, who was unstable, fanatical and had a depraved sense of identity. The lone gunman stepped into the Lindt chocolate cafe, ordered coffee and a slice of cake and sat down like everyone else. Except that he was not like everyone else. What he did next was terrifying, unjustifiable, and an act of pure evil. He held hostage the 10 customers inside the cafe as well as the eight employees, and demanded that they obey his orders or else. He threated innocent civilians with threats of violence, unwarranted and unjustified.

From this point onwards, a lengthy 16-hour negotiation process would commence with police. Without doubt the Martin Place siege of 15 December was an act which caused unrest in our peaceful country. The act instilled fear in all Australians for the duration of the horrific siege, leaving many questioning and many who may still find fear within them. Till this day, it has been difficult to comprehend what was going through the terrorist's mind and, furthermore, the absolute sense of fear and shock that the hostages would have felt. For many of us, whether we live in Sydney or not, the assault and threat of violence on an innocent life is unthinkable. The siege embodies an attack on the very fabric of humanity and of the Australian way of life.

Each and every person inside that cafe had their hopes and dreams virtually snuffed out the minute they were kept captive. Their lives will never be the same again. But what is truly most heartbreaking and inconceivable is the loss of lives, hours later, of the Lindt cafe manager, Tori Johnson, and barrister Katrina Dawson. The context and manner in which these two innocent individuals died is the most gut-wrenching news we all had to learn. Our sense of freedom and justice was dismantled that day, and, whilst strangers united in condemning the attack rallied around our law enforcement officers who helped end the siege, I know none of these details would console the families of Tori and Katrina. These were hardworking individuals who were loved by their families and friends, going about their day, working as they normally do or stepping out for a coffee; their lives snuffed out instantaneously.

To the family of Tori Johnson and to his partner, I am so very sorry for your loss and I extend to you my deepest and heartfelt sympathies. No parents would envisage having to bury their own child and certainly not in such circumstances. My condolences go to the family of Katrina Dawson. For starters, I could not imagine what pain and suffering you are currently going through. I, like many of my parliamentary colleagues with young children, cannot imagine the agony of losing a child, or a child losing a parent. No family, no partner or husband, no sister, brother, son or daughter, should ever have to go through what the Johnson and Dawson families have had to endure.

Tori and Katrina were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time and, as such, became unsuspecting victims in a fanatical plan conspired by a madman. Yet the pain they have suffered has been inflicted on us all as Australians. We are a peaceful, strong, civil and democratic society which values each and every person's life. To other nations, we are a beacon of hope and liberty. We are united and strong because of the values we share and the respect we have for each other and for life itself, and nothing will ever take this away.

No religion condones violence and death. No nation tolerates such sheer disregard for human life. Australians will never back down from defending our values and our way of life. This was an immeasurable tragedy that should never have occurred, and it is a testing time for all of us as we attempt to grasp what occurred that day. Many constituents in my electorate of Barton have contacted me to express their disgust, horror and anguish after learning the gruesome details of the siege. But the undertone in all their messages has been that we, as Australians, will never cower or falter when faced with acts of violence. We do not recoil when faced with a death cult, and we stand our ground when we are faced with diabolical acts motivated by a perverted sense of justice.

Our unity in these testing times gives more reason than ever for us to preserve our democratic freedoms, something that I trust both sides of politics to steadfastly adhere to. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the families of everyone involved in the siege as we grieve with them. I hope that they can move on from the terrible events of that day as they draw comfort from the millions of Australians who continue to support them. There is no place for hateful ideology and violence in any civilised democracy. Each and every one of us has a right to live in peace, to practise freedom and liberty. We defend one another when harm comes our way, as we have always done, since the days of the Anzacs. I pay my deepest respects to Tori and Katrina and to everyone affected by this atrocity. We are greater than the sum of our parts and we will rise above this. I commend this motion to the House.

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