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

If I may, I will briefly associate myself with the heartfelt remarks of the Prime Minister. Yesterday we were operating on those early fragments of information, but the more that we learn the worse it gets. It is clear that Manchester has been an act of evil terror. It is a crime of cowardice; it was aimed at innocent people and innocent children—people having innocent fun. Now we have seen the face of the evil perpetrator, and we have also now become witness to the faces of some of those who were lost. In associating myself with the Prime Minister's remarks, I want to share the comments of Ms Charlotte Campbell. She spoke to the media, and her words could be the words of any of us in this House who are parents, or, indeed, of any Australian:

I'm at home phoning everybody: hospitals, police, the centres that the children have been put in. Her dad's in Manchester looking for her. I've got friends looking for her. I've got people I don't even know looking for her, people messaging me, saying we've got her photo, looking for her, we'll get in contact if we see her. And I'm just hearing nothing. … They've basically told me to stay put and wait for a phone call.

Very soon after that, Ms Campbell had her phone ring with the worst possible news. Her daughter, Olivia, was only 15 years old. In time, the shock will fade and the news will move on, but for families the grief will remain. We will retain our shared determination to defeat terrorism. Like the Prime Minister, despite the fierce arguments we might have on other matters here, all of us in Australia stand alongside the United Kingdom as friends, as family and as partners in this conflict.

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