Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I really appreciate the opportunity to add some words to the condolence motion today on the Martin Place siege.

I was very struck, listening to the comments by the member for Murray. Like the member, I represent a very multicultural community. I think that being a part of that community is the only way to understand how terribly wrong this person who committed this act of terrorism was. They tried to do something that would divide Australians and which would create deep divisions between people, based on their culture, their race and their religion. But what he has actually done through these acts of absolute horror is to bring Australians together, the exact opposite of what he was trying to do. I have absolutely seen that in my community in Hotham, and I do want to take the opportunity this evening to talk on behalf of the 150,000-odd people that I have the very great privilege of representing in this chamber.

We come from a very diverse community—about 170 nationalities, many races, religions, lots of different family structures and different choices that people have made about how to live their lives. But I know that on 15 December last year everyone who lives in my community stopped in their tracks, and what we saw was this crazed, lone gunman take 18 Australians hostage—just people who were going about their everyday business.

This is the most shocking act that I can think of in my lifetime as an adult in Australia. I have never seen anything like this happen before. It was a day when all of us who were outside that cafe stood shoulder to shoulder with the people that were inside and so terrified.

I do not want to use the time this evening to debate what intention the person may have had and whether this was in fact an act of terrorism or otherwise; I do not want to talk about whether officials did the right thing. I just want to use this chance to say, on behalf of the 150,000 people that I represent, how sorry I am to all of the people who were affected by this tragedy. I want the people who were affected to know that we are with them in their grief and that we continue to stand with them and think with them as they try to process this virtually unimaginable tragedy that they have been affected by.

I also want to say on behalf of the people of Hotham how proud I am of how Australians reacted to the incidents on 15 and 16 December. How did we respond to the Martin Place siege? Was it with aggression, with violence? No, none of those things. Australians instead responded with love. Instead of anger, they built a huge monument of flowers that, over the weeks that followed, just about covered Martin Place. I cannot think of a better metaphor for the way that people reacted to this awful tragedy. I went past our Lindt Cafe in Melbourne a couple of weeks after the tragedy unfolded, and even all the way down in Melbourne, hundreds of kilometres away, Melburnians had covered our Lindt Cafe with flowers, too, standing shoulder to shoulder with Sydneysiders.

I do not think that I can imagine a country in the world, other than Australia, reacting in this way. I think we all know that in the face of incidents like this humans can go to very dark places. But, instead, we saw Australians show our country to be open and tolerant and, really, a great country—I truly do believe that.

I know how easy it would have been for me to imagine—having travelled and been to so many different societies and cultures—that people might take the chance to try to attack races or religions. But, again, that is not what we saw. What we saw instead was thousands upon thousands of Australians reach out to other Australians of Muslim background and say 'I will ride with you'. Hundreds of thousands of Australians, instead of acting with anger or going to a place that lacks generosity, said, 'I will protect others in my community who might be feeling vulnerable at this time'. That is the kind of mature place—the most mature and multicultural place—that Australia is. Instead of hate, we responded with love. That is something that I am incredibly proud of.

With the indulgence of the House I will just say a few words about the people who died in this tragedy. Katrina Dawson was the sister of a friend of mine, a person who I truly and greatly respect and admire. I want to say, particularly to her family—because of that personal connection—how truly sorry I am that this has happened. I know that I cannot do anything about that, and that nothing I say today is going to bring Katrina back. But I want you to know that you are in my thoughts—that you have been in my thoughts since this occurred. I know it has been a shattering experience, but I also know that Katrina's good works will live on through the establishment of the Katrina Dawson foundation, and through this I know that she will continue to have an impact on life in Australia.

The same goes, of course, for Tori Johnson, who, with Katrina, showed so much bravery on that day.

To the families of Tori and Katrina, to Sydneysiders who were exposed to this horrific act, to everyone who was personally affected by this, on behalf of the people of Hotham, I want you to know how sorry we are, how much you remain in our thoughts, and of course in the thoughts of everyone in this chamber.

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