Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this condolence motion. I want to mention, first of all, and thank, all of those members who have already spoken on this, from the Prime Minister to the opposition leader and the member for Wentworth. I was also fortunate to be in this place when we heard from both the member for Chifley and the member for Kingsford Smith, who both had a couple of the victims living in their respective local communities.

On the afternoon of Saturday 13 April, it was just a month ago, a tragedy unfolded in Westfield Bondi in my hometown of Sydney. On that afternoon, lives were changed forever, for the worse, in only a couple of minutes—a couple of minutes of madness, but utter devastation. Many of us in my community spend our Saturday afternoons in the way that these victims were. We're shopping, we're going to the movies, we're running last-minute errands, we're having coffee, catching up with friends and having lunch. So this was a complete tragedy. I'll share some of the words of the member for Riverina, who said that it's important to mention the victims rather than simply including them in a group, because they were very much individuals with individual families and individual communities who will now miss them very much. So the immediate victims of the tragedy were: Yixuan Cheng, a Chinese national and an economics student at Sydney University, aged only 27; Pikria Darchia, aged only 55—she was a mum, a grandmother and a well-known and respected artist, known locally very well; and Ashlee Good, an osteopath and a new mum—she had baby Harriet, aged only nine months. Ashley herself was 38 and her story is now well known. When she was stabbed, she handed her baby to an unknown man and said, 'Please look after my baby.' I think that all of those of us who are parents can relate to that overwhelming sense of protection that comes when you're a parent. Ashley paid the ultimate sacrifice, but baby Harriet will be okay, from what we have heard. Dawn Singleton, aged only 25, was an e-commerce student and a bride-to be, shopping for her upcoming wedding. Faraz Tahir was a refugee from Pakistan and a Westfield security guard. He was only 30, and it was his first shift when he also tragically also lost his life. And Jade Young was an architect, a loving mother to two children and aged only 47. They were all members of families. They were members of community groups. They've left behind grieving parents, siblings, partners, children and friends.

On behalf of my electorate, I want to say that many of us go over to Bondi regularly, so those us who were in Sydney could well and truly see that it could have been any of us. It seems that everybody I've spoken to knew somebody that day, probably because Westfield Bondi is such a large retail outlet. I've heard of people that knew a friend of a friend or a friend of a colleague who was there or they knew a first responder. In particular, when we move on to that, I want to mention the many others who were working at Westfield that day. They were working in the small businesses. They were retail workers. Many of them, without any thought for their own safety, sprang into action. They tried first of all to protect their customers, then they tried to protect others, and they did that totally unselfishly. They demonstrated bravery, calmness, a sense of purpose and a very strong sense of community.

If we're speaking of courage, let's speak of the acts of Silas Despreaux and Damien Guerot. Armed with chairs and a bollard, they thwarted the perpetrator. We'll never know how many other lives were saved through their acts. Ultimately, of course, the madness was finally stopped by the courage, decisiveness and strength of New South Wales police inspector Amy Scott, who confronted the assailant without any regard for her safety. Obviously, she deserves to be recognised and commended, as do all members of the New South Wales police who were there that day and joined in or who have been a part of the process subsequently, as well as all of the first responders: the paramedics, the security agencies, the ambulance personnel and the emergency services. There are also many health workers who were involved on that day and immediately afterwards. We don't yet know, and we won't know for a long time, the toll that it has taken on the people who were there that day: the retail workers and the first responders. I do hope that, in the days, weeks and months to come, they all receive the mental health support that they will need.

In the true Australian spirit, we often see that our character comes through and that we do come together very well in times of despair and in times of great distress and hardship, and we've seen our character on display following those events. We've seen the floral tributes. We've seen the many that attended the memorial services. We've the vigils held in and around Bondi and the eastern suburbs. We've seen the countless messages on social media. That is the way that Australians behave in times of adversity

Just to conclude, let me say that there were so many people at Bondi that day—people who will be impacted for a very long time, many forever. On behalf of my community in Hughes, I want to pay particular tribute to the victims. May they rest in peace. I also want to extend compassion and sympathy to all those affected and let them know that they are in our thoughts today and will be into the future.

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