Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

The opposition joins with the remarks of the member for Kennedy and the remarks of the government. I think all Australians who saw some of the footage and all who learnt the news of what happened at Ravenshoe were shocked. It was a dreadful ordeal. The set of circumstances outlined by the member for Kennedy shows how unlucky people were. The fireballs of a gas explosion—nothing can prepare people for that. We acknowledge and put on record the stories of modest heroism—of people putting their friends or victims before themselves. I have seen firsthand, in other circumstances, burns injuries; they are a particularly dreadful form of pain. People will be scarred for life and, in the case of at least two families, losses that are irreparable.

Robert Frost was the American poet laureate and he spoke about a terrible tragedy in his life—he called it 'the shafts of fate'. Whilst this could be described in the same way, I do not believe anything can make sense for the people, who have gone through this, of what has happened to them—unfinished conversations, for example. I am sure there will be some people who will be saying: 'Why not me?' while others will say: 'Why her?' Let me reassure those who have been through that tragedy that everyone understands, is committed to you. We understand that Australians are resilient, and people will be resilient here. We also understand that nothing could have prepared people of this.

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