Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

What a sad and terrible day it was on Friday, 13 November 2015. The terror attacks in Paris have shocked the world and rocked France, as well as the rest of us. It has shocked us into the acknowledgement that terrorism by whomever it is perpetrated is aimed at all of us—all of the citizens of the world who believe in freedom, in equality and in the rule of law. The ISIS attacks in Paris were aimed directly at the heart of democracy and liberty—designed, through a senseless loss of life, to injure all of us and strike fear into our hearts. This was as much an attack on the people of France as it was an attack on the people of Australia. It was an attack on all faiths—an attack on Christians, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists and also an attack on Muslims. The indiscriminate terror killings have no explanation, no justification and no basis in the name of any faith. They, ISIS, are just terrorists aiming at destroying our way of life and destroying an institution, but much worse these attacks are designed to turn us against each other. Let us not do that. Let us not blame each other—instead, let us work together to fight this terror. And this is exactly what we have seen in France when a defiant population has crowded back into the streets around Paris in the cafes and restaurants and places of entertainment.

Of course, this is what makes Paris such a special place for more than 30 million visitors each year. The city of light is host to more than a million Australian visitors—Australians on a once in a lifetime trip, working or studying. That connection to Australia could not have been more real for one brave young teenager, Emma Parkinson—that one in a million Australian who was shot and severely wounded in the Bataclan theatre. We are all hopeful of a speedy and full recovery for Emma and pay tribute to her courage. Emma Parkinson serves as a reminder of the strong link between our two countries, which dates back 100 years. In fact, just two weeks ago, on Remembrance Day, the parliament hosted a French delegation of senators who came to pay their respects to the Aussie diggers who helped liberate France and small towns during the First World War. The delegation leader, Senator Marc Daunis, spoke of the great love and deep appreciation the French people continue to feel for the Australians who came to help them fight for freedom. That was 100 years ago, but here we are again fighting a war—yes, it is a war—against those who would take away our freedom. So in some way we are all connected. For me that connection is very strong because France is where I was born and lived until the age of nearly six before my family migrated to Australia.

Australia, like France and all other democratic countries that base their form of governance on the principles of freedom and the fundamental right to live in freedom, has strong values and we uphold these principles for all of our citizens. But this, of itself, is not enough, whether it is in France or whether it is in Australia. Both countries must do more and fight back those that would do us harm. Australia, like France, has fought to defend these same principles of freedom, in some cases side-by-side defending against tyranny and despotic ideology. But be it 100 years ago, 75 years ago or just two weeks ago, today our democratic societies must be defend our collective freedoms against the scourge of terrorism.

Paris, Lebanon, Mali, Bamako, New York, Washington or in the air above Egypt, terrorism has no bounds and it can strike at any time. But we must continue to stare down those who seek to attack our way of life, because we have no choice. Every act of terrorism is an attack on humanity and is not something that we have sought. Motivated by hate and often perpetrated in the name of faith or religion, these are false claims; there is no faith and there is no God in terrorism. Put simply, the motivation for terrorism is hatred, control and fear.

What we know about the attacks in Paris is that the death toll remains at 129, with 352 others injured and some 40 people remaining in critical condition. Investigators believe that up to 20 people were involved in the attacks. French President Francois Hollande has declared a three-month state of emergency as well as deploying troops and extra police right across Paris. As the Prime Minister of Australia and the Leader of the Opposition noted in parliament: liberty, peace, justice and democracy are virtues our two countries have fought for and share. These values are etched into our way of life, respect for the rule of law and our fellow citizens.

Australians are united in grief from this senseless loss of life and we stand as one with the French people, determined to not let the barbaric acts of those who hate taint our ways of life. There has been an enormous outpouring of grief and shock from Australians for what took place in Paris. This was done through quiet, peaceful and respectful gatherings in our major cities across the country to show our support for our French friends. In Brisbane, the community gathered with the Queensland Premier, the federal Minister for Immigration and Border Protection and the Lord Mayor of Brisbane with a host of other elected representatives at all levels of government to express our support for the French people and to stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends. I was deeply moved by the gathering and I know directly how much this has meant for people in France.

Here in Australia, such a beautiful and peaceful country, we too are no strangers to terrorism; we too are victims of terrorism, and we are not naive about the real threats that we face here at home. That is why the Labor Party stands as one with the government to take strong action to prevent, detect and deal with those who would want to harm us here. The actions that are now being taken in Europe, some would say are harsh, some would say are extreme and some would say go much further than we would have ever expected. But I think all of the actions now being taken by European countries, in particular in relation to protecting their citizens, are a direct response to what has taken place.

I think that, sadly, there is an awakening of the reality that terrorism reaches into all of our homes in some way, that the many acts of terrorism that we have seen over many years—and in particular the acts of terrorism that we saw in Paris—spell an end to naive views about those who may be targeted more than others. There is no-one who is safe. I think that Australians, having woken to the news of what took place in Paris, have come to that view as well.

There is a very deep and strong connection whether people have been to Paris or not been to Paris; there is this feeling that it is a safe place to go, a place that we all, at some time in our lives, want to visit. I think, in part, that is why we were so deeply shocked by what took place there, because we know it is our young Australians who go there for their special visit, their special holiday, who were impacted with so many lives being lost.

Of course what took place in Paris does not detract from other losses of life in other areas, I mentioned previously. It is important that we say that all lives are valuable, that all lives are important and that the Australian nation must play a global role and a strong role in the fight against terrorism. This is not something that will go away, I suspect, very unfortunately, in the next few months or even few years. But it is something that we can beat; it is something that is defeatable, and we can play a role in the defeat of terrorism.

My heart goes out to all the families that have lost loved ones, not just in Paris but in other terrorist attacks, the many, many people that this has affected deeply right around the world, particularly here in Australia but also particularly for all my family in France.

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