Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to express my deepest condolences to the family of Mohamud Mohmud Muketar. He was a constituent of the Melbourne electorate, living in Fitzroy. Two weeks ago he was returning home from work at night and he was murdered within sight of his home, just outside the Fitzroy police station. He was 31. My Victorian colleagues may have read about this attack in the paper.

Mohamud was much loved, and many people around the Melbourne Somalia communities are devastated by his loss. I was deeply moved to join Somali-Australians at a community meeting in the wake of this devastating news. Many questions were asked by people attending. Why was Mohamud's family not informed? Indeed, why was his father left to stumble across the crime scene as he was going to meet his son to change over shifts? Could his body not have been released for a traditional burial?

His death has come at a time when many in the Somali community are feeling strained. Somali community members have told me of their concerns about the ways police and media have treated young people in their community. And within a few days of his death, community members were dealt the blow of learning of the sinking of a boat in the Mediterranean that was carrying many hundreds of people, most of who had been forced to leave Somalia. To the Somali community I say today that we stand with you in the wake of this devastating news. The community is already coming together to support the family of Mohamud. Online fundraising has already raised over $6,000 to support the family. I will post a link to this fundraising effort on my Facebook page and I encourage Melburnians to offer their support.

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