John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House:

(a)

record its deep regret at the tragic loss of life and serious injuries that resulted from the aircraft accident in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on 7 March 2007;

(b)

note that amongst the 21 people killed were 5 Australians serving their nation, working for:       the Australian Federal Police—Mark Scott and Brice Steele;       the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade—Liz O’Neill;       AusAid—Alison Sudradjat; and       the Fairfax Press—Morgan Mellish; and       record its deep appreciation of their meritorious public service;

(c)

tender its profound sympathy to the Government and people of Indonesia, and to the families of all the people killed and injured in the accident; and

(d)

extend its best wishes to all those injured for a speedy recovery, recalling particularly Cynthia Banham, Michael Hatton, Kyle Quinlan and Roger Tallboys.

It is appropriate at the commencement of this parliamentary sitting that we pause for a moment to express our sadness and offer our words of comfort to the loved ones of those who died in this tragic accident. Those that have been taken from us by this accident—those five Australians in different ways—were on service for their country. Because of that and because many of them in different ways, including those injured, were known to a number of us and were known to so many in the government, it is a particularly poignant moment and we should reflect on their contribution and reflect upon the tragedy that overtook them and their families.

When news was given to me in the outer suburbs of Melbourne on the morning of 7 March I immediately thought of how, in so many different ways, their lives had intertwined in the service of Australia and how the loss of people of this character took from our country and from our Public Service people who dedicated their lives to the betterment of Australia and the betterment of Australia’s relations with the rest of the world. I had the opportunity shortly after receiving the news of speaking to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, who was, as you know, in Indonesia and only a few hours earlier had spent time with many if not all of those who perished in this accident.

I and the Attorney-General and the Leader of the Opposition and the Assistant Treasurer a few moments ago attended a solemn and moving funeral service at St Andrew’s Cathedral here in Canberra to farewell Mark Scott and to honour his contribution to the Australian Federal Police. As the police chaplain remarked, one of the common links amongst all of those who died in this terrible accident was that in every case they were taken well before their time and the loss, because of that, is all the more grievous.

We also send our very best wishes to all of those who were injured, including two Defence Force personnel, an Australian businessman and Cynthia Banham, a well-loved and respected journalist for the Fairfax press. We admire her extraordinary courage in the face of this terrible accident and we send our thoughts particularly to her beloved, Michael Harvey of the Melbourne Herald Sun, who, together with Cynthia’s family, has maintained a bedside vigil at the Perth Hospital.

We again reflect on the extraordinary capacity of this country to mobilise, in partnership and goodwill, its emergency services. They do us proud. Again they were there. I particularly honour the contribution of the Federal Police towards organising the rescue effort, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Defence Force and all of the others associated with the effort not only to identify those who died but also to care for the injured.

It was an accident that claimed people on a common purpose. The common purpose was the better projection of this country within our region. For that we especially mourn their deaths and we particularly grieve for the terrible loss that their families have suffered. Those working for the police—and one of them I have had some contact with in the course of my official duties—were both highly regarded men properly honoured by their force. Liz O’Neill was a remarkably vivacious and popular officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and known to many of us. She was heavily involved in the arrangements to cope with the horrible aftermaths of the first and second Bali attacks, she organised and assisted in relation to the bombing of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in 2004 and, of course, she was intimately involved in organising visits to Jakarta for me, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and many other senior members of the government and was known well to the Leader of the Opposition and other members of the opposition.

They were, as I say, all involved in the service of Australia, and so indeed were those of the press. In a way, an incident like this links us permanently with each other. The media of Australia, whilst they are not always in sympathy with the objectives and the goals of the government of the day or, indeed, the opposition of the day, are nonetheless a permanent and indelible part of the great democratic network of this country. We reflect upon the contribution that Allison Sudradjat made to the projection of Australia’s overseas aid effort, and on Morgan Mellish, a very talented young journalist. The obituaries that have been written so affectionately of him by his Fairfax press colleagues speak of a person full of life and hope and optimism, of incredible personal charm, of great adventure and with a love of the surf and a love of sport generally, but with all of that a very talented journalist, having won a Walkley award in relation to an examination of the taxation affairs of a former member of the board of the Reserve Bank. So to all of those relatives and friends, we convey our profound sympathy.

We also mark the reality that the nations of Australia and Indonesia have been joined yet again in tragedy. I had the opportunity the night after this terrible accident of addressing a gathering of the Global Foundation in Melbourne attended by the ambassador for Indonesia, and I said then that again our two countries had been joined in tragedy. The cooperation between the rescue forces of the two countries once again swung into action. And if any sense of comfort and optimism can be garnered from such a terrible event it is once again to remark on the goodwill, the sense of cooperation and the spontaneous willingness to work together that was evidenced by the authorities of the two countries.

We mourn the deaths of these five Australians. We thank them for their service to our country. We extend our love and our prayers to their loved ones. We wish a speedy recovery to those injured. We salute their courage and we admire their sense of hope and optimism. We look forward in our different ways to seeing them again and helping them on the road to fully resuming the lives that were so brutally interrupted by this terrible accident.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the opposition I support the Prime Minister’s motion and I offer our thoughts and prayers for the Australian families and the Indonesian families who have lost loved ones in the Garuda Airlines accident two weeks ago. Words cannot fully describe the impact of these events on the families suffering bereavement. We can never appropriate their grief; grief is a deeply personal thing.

The five Australians who lost their lives—Australian embassy official Liz O’Neill, AusAID’s Allison Sudradjat, Australian Federal Police agent Brice Steele, Australian Federal Police agent Mark Scott and Australian Financial Review journalist Morgan Mellish—all dedicated themselves to public service. Beyond the grief felt by their families, they have left gaps in the lives of many who have had the privilege of working with them, of knowing them as colleagues and as friends. Whether it was in diplomacy, in humanitarian assistance, in security or in journalism, they chose to work in the service of others. They chose to work in public service, and public service is a good thing. They were all devoted to their work, and through their work they were all connected. So it is fitting that in this spirit and in this place, in this place of the nation’s work, we honour their lives and their work in the service of others.

On Wednesday, 7 March, shortly before 8 am in Yogyakarta, these Australians met an untimely death—well before their time. They still had much more to give. Together with the Acting Prime Minister, the foreign minister and others and, most importantly, their families, we welcomed home their bodies at Fairbairn RAAF Base last week. In the stillness of the wind that day and with the sound of muffled drums, and with the five Australian flags draped over their caskets, they were met with sorrow and mourning by their loved ones and they were met with deep respect by their colleagues.

Liz O’Neill was a humanitarian whose life was filled with love and compassion and service for others. Liz worked at the Jesuit Social Justice Centre in Sydney. She joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1994, then worked for the Sydney 2000 Olympics and was awarded an Order of Australia for her work with the team dealing with the Bali bombings. In 2003 Liz was posted to Jakarta and was soon faced with another tragedy, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. These were horrific tasks. It has been said that Liz demonstrated an inner equilibrium beyond her years. Bishop Greg Kelly said the other day that Liz was a woman of humour, competence, devotion and large-heartedness. All these sentiments certainly reflect the Liz O’Neill that I encountered over many visits to Jakarta. Her challenge was to meet, I remember, the formidable competing media requirements of a visiting foreign minister and a visiting shadow foreign minister at the same time. The fact that she was able to discharge those responsibilities with grace, with humour and with aplomb was itself worthy of some award. She did it with great effect and with great style. The world desperately needs more people like Liz O’Neill. As Liz’s husband, Wayne Adams, said:

The world is a lesser place. The grief and desolation we feel will not soon fade but her memory will live with us forever.

Our thoughts go to Wayne, their beautiful baby daughter, Lucinda, and their families.

Allison Sudradjat was known to many in this place through her role as the Indonesian head of AusAID. Allison played an integral role in coordinating the emergency relief effort in response to devastation wrought by the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004. As Deborah Cameron wrote, for Allison:

... a diplomat, aid worker and humanitarian—it was time to shine.

And in helping direct the $1 billion aid effort, Allison was deeply and completely committed to improving the lives of others as best she could. Allison loved Indonesia. She studied there. She learnt the language. She married in Jakarta. She was a great Australian humanitarian in the great tradition of Australian humanitarianism stretching back across the decades. She was a true friend of Indonesia, something recognised by the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who wrote to the Prime Minister saying:

... we will forever appreciate her compassion and her good work for Australia-Indonesia relations.

In this difficult time our thoughts go to her husband, Ris, and their four children, Jamila, Imran, Zaini and Yasmin.

Brice Steele was the head of the Australian Federal Police operation in Jakarta. He had risen fast through the AFP ranks. Tributes for Brice have come from colleagues across the spectrum, from drivers and tea ladies, from ambassadors and departmental secretaries. He was a formidable man. They all paid tribute to his professionalism, integrity, intellect, kindness, generosity, humour and humility. The work of the AFP in Jakarta has been of critical importance in the Australia-Indonesia relationship. In combating people smuggling, terrorism and the narcotics trade, the AFP have been front and centre to that operation, and Brice was front and centre to that operation. Brice had met his wife, Kellie, when she was 14 years old and then again when she was in year 10, while he was studying in his first year of university. They dated briefly and then parted, only to be joined again a few years later, and married in November 1996. There have been many tributes to Brice and to his love for Kellie. As Catherine Armitage has reported, the many tributes have recounted how Brice established instant rapport with everyone he met, how he was largely teetotal yet always managed to be the life of the party and how at the embassy in Beijing he was adored by all the children. We extend our sincere condolences to Kellie and to Brice’s family.

Mark Scott had been a Federal Police officer since 1987 and had served in Burma, where he was posted in 2002, and in Indonesia, where he had been since last year. Mark also worked as a policeman in the ACT before being posted abroad. Mark’s work for the AFP in Indonesia was of the highest order—always able to cooperate effectively with his Indonesian counterparts, always serving the Australian interest, always building brick by brick the Australia-Indonesia security relationship. At a memorial service last week at the Federal Police offices in Canberra, Mark’s colleagues recalled his patience, his dedication, his kindness, his broad smile and his unique sense of humour. As Detective Sergeant Daryl Neit recalled:

We deal with the dead and the dying all the time, but this is one of those occasions for our family of police officers that has rattled the whole team.

His loss is also deeply felt. Our thoughts and our prayers are with Mark’s wife, Sally, and their three children.

Morgan Mellish was an award-winning journalist who had worked for the Sydney Morning Herald and most recently for the Australian Financial Review, for which he was the Jakarta based correspondent. Morgan was a fun, larrikin Aussie who revelled in being and excelled as a journalist. Geoff Thompson described him as a ‘handsome, sandy-haired grinning surfer charmer’. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Ian Verrender said that his colleagues and friends ‘will sorely miss his dry wit and permanent smile’. Morgan’s sister Caroline said:

“I don’t think there was ever a dull moment and he loved everything he did.”

She said:

“He had two goals in life and one was to be a foreign correspondent and one was to win a Walkley award. He did both of those in 2006 …

Morgan won a 2006 Walkley award for his investigative report into Robert Gerard. Our thoughts and our prayers and condolences go to his family, his friends and his many colleagues in this place.

In the middle of all the horrible carnage and wreckage and suffering and loss, there has also been a ray of hope, and that ray of hope is Cynthia Banham’s brave fight, unrelentingly fighting against the odds. With the help of our wonderful medical specialists at Royal Perth Hospital, including our very own Dr Fiona Wood, Cynthia is making progress. In her own time, I hope and we hope that Cynthia returns to journalism and continues to make a contribution to public life, to keep all of us in this place accountable.

Other Australians, including Michael Hatton, Kyle Quinlan and Roger Tallboys, and the Indonesians affected by this tragedy have suffered greatly. Our thoughts and our prayers also go out to them.

I want to pay tribute to all those who have aided the survivors, especially those who have formed specialist medical teams and travelled to help, and those who have assisted the families and made the arrangements for repatriation. This is difficult work; it is often heart-rending work.

The thoughts of all of us in this building are also with Michael Harvey, the Herald Sun reporter and Cynthia’s partner. It is a very tough profession. Michael is one of the truly nice guys that you come across in this place. He has been a tower of strength in this, Cynthia’s greatest time of need. I understand that Cynthia and Michael might be listening to these speeches today, so we just say directly to both of you that you are both loved and admired in this place, more than you will ever know, and the strength you are showing is an inspiration to us all. I know that you will both be with us here soon.

On behalf of the opposition and, I know, all of us in this place, our thoughts, our hearts and our prayers go out to the families, the loved ones, the friends and the colleagues at this very difficult time. The lives that have been lost are the nation’s loss as well.

Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I join the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in recording our deep regret at the tragic loss of life that occurred when Garuda flight 200 overshot the runway at Yogyakarta on 7 March. Twenty-one people lost their lives in the accident, including five Australians who were travelling in connection with the visit to Indonesia by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Attorney-General.

As the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have indicated, a number of us welcomed—if you can put it that way—the repatriation of the five Australians at Fairbairn last week. It was one of the most difficult public duties that I have encountered in my public life. Trying to comfort the families who were struggling to rationalise their loss was almost impossible. As the nation tries to give them comfort, we keep them in our prayers and hope that they have the strength to be able to continue their lives without their loved ones who were so tragically taken away from them on 7 March.

The five Australians killed came from very different backgrounds but were all drawn to Indonesia by their commitment to serving the Australian people and the Australian nation. Morgan Mellish, from the Australian Financial Review, had the potential to be one of Australia’s great foreign correspondents. He had already won a Walkley award in 2006 and should have gone on to a long and distinguished journalistic career. Tragically, that has been cut short.

Federal Agent Brice Steele was the manager of the AFP’s Indonesian operations and was one of our foremost experts on Jemaah Islamiah. With him was Federal Agent Mark Scott, who started his career on the beat in Tuggeranong and Woden here in Canberra—you could not imagine a more typical part of suburban Australia in which to start a career as a policeman. His career took him to Cyprus and Burma and then on to Indonesia. It was serving his nation as a member of the AFP that found him on that tragic flight on 7 March.

Allison Sudradjat was the head of Australia’s aid program in Indonesia. She developed her interest in Indonesia when she was at school. She dedicated her life to working on Australia’s behalf for the Indonesian people.

Finally, we honour Elizabeth O’Neill OAM, Counsellor for Public Affairs at our Jakarta embassy. I worked with Liz for a number of years in my immediate past role as Australia’s Minister for Trade, particularly when, with my Indonesian counterpart, we started developing a trade and investment framework between our two countries, focused on improving the business environment between us. Liz was legendary for her professionalism, integrity and willingness to help journalists, even when she was under enormous pressure. She dealt with some harrowing situations, including the 2004 bombing of the embassy, and the tsunami and its aftermath. She was also a member of the emergency response team sent to Bali after the October 2002 terrorist attack and was awarded the Order of Australia for her work at that time.

All we can do now is to honour their memory and to make sure that we learn from the accident that took their lives. That is the job of the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee along with some technical assistance from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. We sent three investigators to Indonesia, including the Deputy Director of the ATSB, Alan Stray, to help with the investigation. The ATSB will continue working closely with the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee. In fact the ATSB recently gained funding from AusAID to enable an Indonesian investigator to train with the ATSB for 12 months from the middle of this year. Ironically, the AusAID officer who championed the project was Allison Sudradjat. Mr Speaker, I think we can speak on behalf of the entire nation in saying that our thoughts and prayers are with the families of all those who lost their lives, particularly the five Australians who lost their lives. We also need to keep in our thoughts and prayers those who were injured and who continue to fight a battle against those injuries, especially Cynthia Banham, Michael Hatton, Kyle Quinlan and Roger Tallboys.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the condolence motion moved by the Prime Minister and seconded by the Leader of the Opposition. Today this parliament is honouring those five Australians whose lives were tragically lost when, on 7 March, Garuda flight 200 crashed. Today we demonstrate our grief. Now and forever there is a bond between Liz O’Neill, Allison Sudradjat, Brice Steele, Mark Scott and Morgan Mellish. They lost their lives together, far too soon, when they had too much left to live for, leaving grieving families and grieving friends behind.

But even as they stepped onto that Garuda flight they had something in common: they were going to work. And even though it was work in a far-flung destination they were doing what millions of Australians do every day. They said goodbye to their families and they went to work that day not knowing that it would be their last.

Many Australians have been touched deeply by this tragedy, particularly here in Canberra. I was particularly moved by an opinion piece written by Malcolm Farr in the Daily Telegraph on 9 March where he described a speech given by Laura Tingle about Morgan Mellish and this tragedy generally. He described the nature of its effect on Canberra in the following terms:

An unusual factor of the Garuda plane crash on Wednesday was that it struck to the core of three quite small communities, groups which are separate but interrelated in Canberra.

They were the communities of journalists, diplomats and federal police.

Each one of the groups is quite tiny and close-knit. Those in them know just about all the others personally or at a narrow remove. People retire but never really leave their community.

Members of each group spend much of their time tending to the tragedies of others, telling the stories of tragedy’s victims and easing the pain of those tragedy has left behind. In this case they were the ones left behind.

Let me echo those words.

Even Australians who did not know Liz or Allison or Brice or Mark or Morgan have been touched by this tragedy as well. Many Australians know what it is like to visit Indonesia, to jump on an internal flight, to run the gauntlet of the last-minute changes to flights, to nervously joke in a very Australian way about air safety even as you sit on the flight and then, behind the very Australian jokes, to really be just that little bit nervous, to pay just that little bit more attention to the air safety demonstration, to strap that seatbelt on just that little bit tighter. But even as we do those things we never really think that it is going to happen to us. Then it does happen to five Australians and we are left with the shock of unexpected death, the grief and of course the unanswerable question: why? The randomness of this tragedy really does take your breath away. If only that last-minute ticket swap had not occurred; if only that other flight had not been missed—if only. They are all questions we will never know the answers to.

My condolences go out to the relatives and friends of those who have tragically lost their lives. These are the people who have lost so much. My thoughts go to all of those who were injured in this tragedy. But may I pause, Mr Speaker, to specifically offer my best wishes to Cynthia Banham and all those close to her as she fights to survive and come back from her own ordeal. We know she used her extraordinary physical fitness to help her survive when others did not and to escape the inferno which erupted when the plane skidded to a stop in those rice paddies. I know the thoughts of many are with her, and with her partner and my friend, Michael Harvey, and I trust that we will see her back in the press gallery. Though we will never see Morgan Mellish again, I know he will be remembered.

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

First of all I would like to support strongly this motion moved by the Prime Minister and supported by the Leader of the Opposition and others. Obviously the events of 7 March deeply touched all Australians—most especially the people who are in the foremost of our minds today, the families and the loved ones of those who lost their lives, but also those in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, AusAID, the Australian Federal Police and the Fairfax organisation. For them the impact of losing close friends and colleagues will be permanent and profound. As I said to officers of DFAT and AusAID just last week, in the 11 years that I have been the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and certainly in my working life, there has never been a worse day for our portfolio than that day. To lose Liz, Allison, Brice Steele, Mark Scott and Morgan Mellish in one day is a cruel thing. So our hearts and our prayers are with their families and loved ones at this terrible time. All five touched so many of us in this House in different ways.

Others have spoken of Liz O’Neill, and my experiences of her were of course very similar. I had a good deal to do with her over a number of years. I remember her back at the time of the first Bali bombing in 2002. She got an Order of Australia for her performance then, for the excellent job that she did and the other work that she did to consolidate Australia-Indonesia relations, including corralling the extraordinarily difficult Indonesian media. Some members of the House, particularly government members, will be familiar with the modern-day Indonesian media. Liz could communicate with them in Bahasa Indonesian and she could seemingly keep them under a good deal of control. She was a tremendous asset at the embassy in Jakarta. She was also a great public servant. She served on the Bougainville Peace Monitoring Group and at the embassy in Tokyo as well. She won enormous respect and great affection.

Allison Sudradjat, the head of AusAID in Indonesia, was simply an outstanding public servant and I know she will be deeply missed in AusAID. Many people in AusAID thought Allison would one day become the director-general. That is what people thought of her. She not only ran our aid operation in Indonesia—which is our biggest these days, bigger even than our program in Papua New Guinea—but also did work in Port Moresby with great distinction. But as others have said, she had a special passion for Indonesia. She knew Indonesia backwards. She did a wonderful job running that aid program. I knew her well; I respected her enormously. I saw her at a function the day before she died. I pay enormous tribute to her as a great Australian.

Brice Steele was the head of the AFP Liaison Office in Indonesia—the Minister-Counsellor (Police Liaison) at the embassy in Jakarta. One of the things that struck me about Brice Steele was that he was so young and so senior. For somebody to be so young and to be at such a senior level is an enormous tribute to him. Anybody who knew him thought the world of Brice Steele. He only recently arrived in Jakarta; he was just getting into the job. He had been involved with us in the counterterrorism conference on the Monday and the Tuesday before the tragic accident. Everyone you speak to in the Australian Federal Police speaks highly of him.

Federal agent Mark Scott was the team leader of the Regional Engagement Team in Jakarta and he played a very important role in engaging the Indonesian police on a range of particular counterterrorism initiatives. He had also served in Burma and in Cyprus, so he had had a distinguished career serving the Federal Police.

I did not know Morgan Mellish very well, but I knew him a little. I saw him in Jakarta during the days before his death, at the various doorstops that politicians have when they travel. I can only add to what others have said and say that he was a very distinguished journalist. He was also enormously popular and will be very much missed. I extend my profound sympathies to the families of all those who were killed. I also extend my profound sympathies to the many Indonesians who lost their lives or sustained serious injuries on that aircraft.

In responding to the tragedy of 7 March I would also like to pay tribute to the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. Ambassador Bill Farmer and the whole team there did a simply extraordinary job. It is important to remember that this is the embassy that was bombed on 9 September 2004, and some of the people working there today were there at that time. You can imagine the drama that this additional catastrophe was for them. The embassy staff responded just magnificently on 7 March. Fearing the worst for so many of their friends and colleagues, they nevertheless went about their work. It was quite extraordinary. I do not think anybody will ever quite know how extraordinarily professional they were. The Attorney-General and I know because we sat with them in the operations room and worked with them throughout 7 March and, in my case, also into the next day. I can only say that they showed great character and great courage, and they deserve to be honoured by the people of Australia for the professionalism they showed at that time.

Let me also publicly thank the staff of my department in the crisis centre in Canberra, in the consular and media areas and throughout the portfolio. They did a very good job. Also, in the Department of Defence so many people, both civilians and military, did an outstanding job in responding to this crisis.

The opportunity should not pass to acknowledge the generosity of Qantas, which provided an aircraft to fly the bereaved family members to and from Yogyakarta. This is pretty typical of the way Qantas responds when crises occur internationally. I do not want to advertise one airline over another—that is inappropriate—but they are a wonderful airline in that respect.

Let me add to the concerns expressed by others my words of concern for Cynthia Banham. My thoughts and prayers are very much with her. I went to see her in the hospital, as I did the others, on the day of the crash. I suppose I saw her about one o’clock in the afternoon. I am so pleased that she is recovering now. She did not look in very good shape, I have to tell the House, on that occasion. The doctor told me that she had a six per cent chance of survival. You can imagine how we all felt about that. But she has survived and that is wonderful to hear. I look forward to going over to Perth soon to see her myself. Michael Harvey has been a wonderful support to her as well. Good luck to Cynthia; I hope she gets much better very soon. Like others, I look forward to seeing her sitting up there in the press gallery and to reading her comments in the Sydney Morning Herald again before too long. I did say to her in that hospital in Yogyakarta that day—she was conscious; she was able to talk to me—that we in the federal parliament, both the government and the opposition, were all looking forward to seeing her back in Canberra. Imagine the pain she was in. But she managed to smile. It is great that she was able to do that, and it is great that she is getting better.

I also want to convey my best wishes for a full and successful recovery for Roger Tallboys. I saw him in the hospital as well. He was not as badly injured as Cynthia but he was pretty badly injured. He had burns to about 30 per cent of his body. He too is making a good recovery, in Singapore. I saw Flight Sergeant Michael Hatton and Leading Aircraftsman Kyle Quinlan. They were being traditional Australians with such courage and full of jokes while sitting in hospital somewhat injured. I remember Michael Hatton saying to me: ‘Mate, get me a ship to take me home. I don’t want to go back by plane.’ He is in the Royal Australian Air Force! They are both back, they are both fine and they were able to describe the circumstances of the accident.

In conclusion: from the point of view of my portfolio, we would like permanent memories of Liz and Allison. I am arranging for the department and AusAID to come up with ideas for a permanent memorial. I want not just some physical memorial but scholarships or some initiative of that kind—we have not worked out what it will be—because I do not think either of them should ever be forgotten in the context of my portfolio. They were really special people and I would not want them ever to be forgotten.

Robert McClelland (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I appreciate the opportunity to make some brief comments in support of the motion. Much has been said by the Prime Minister and other speakers of the aspect of service that we learn to respect. I suppose it is easy to denigrate public servants, but when you look at the work that is done by these people—and I include in that category journalists, members of the fourth estate—you see very talented and well-rounded people in so many aspects, who could earn thousands and thousands of dollars in the private sector doing all kinds of things but who give their service to their country, their agency, and ultimately their families, who are unquestionably proud of their achievements. I should also say that, from the point of view of being in politics, we tend to see our opponents as politicians, but when an event like this happens we note their humanity and decency, which we acknowledge and respect. I am sure that is appreciated by all Australians.

I would like to make some brief comments about those who lost their lives and say a little more about Cynthia Banham, with whom I became quite friendly in my portfolio capacity in the shadow ministry.

Allison Sudradjat was 41 and is survived by her husband and four children. She achieved, as has been said, an amazing amount during her short life. She was incredibly well rounded, a keen sportswoman, and she really devoted her enthusiasm and lust for life to improving the lives of countless others. Of particular comfort to her family and friends should be the next generation of Indonesian children, who will benefit from her focus on junior and secondary education in particular, as well as her life’s work generally.

The two Australian Federal Police officers who perished in the crash exemplified, as we have heard, the best characteristics of a modern international policeman. I understand that Brice Steele, who was 35, was the youngest person to ever graduate from the police academy in Canberra and served for 17 years, having been deployed to Beijing and Jakarta to provide vital expertise in counterterrorism. He will be sorely missed by the service as well as his family. I send our condolences to his young wife.

Fellow officer Mark Scott, aged 41 and survived by his wife and three children, was a good-natured larrikin by all reports, and his 20 years of service in the AFP saw many highlights, including a Police Overseas Service Medal, a United Nations medal for his work on the United Nations mission to Cyprus in 1999 and an ACT Community Policing Medal for his work in Canberra in 2003.

I knew Morgan Mellish a little—but I see Laura Tingle in the gallery and I know she had a particular fondness for Morgan. He also had a tremendous zest for life. He had previously worked with the Herald and, more recently, worked on the Australian Financial Review. He was highly regarded within the media and the wider community, and last year his experience earned him a well-deserved Walkley award.

Liz O’Neill was just 37. We have heard of Liz’s experience and contribution to our country. In particular, in 2002 she was part of the team that responded to the Bali bombings, and in that role she no doubt comforted and assisted a number of families who had also suffered loss. Her commitment earned her, as has been noted, an Order of Australia medal. Liz is survived by her husband, Wayne, her daughter, Lucinda, her parents, her brothers and her sister. Our best wishes also go to Kyle Quinlan, Roger Tallboys and Mike Hatton.

I will return in my comments to Cynthia Banham. Interestingly, and perhaps profoundly, I became quite close to Cynthia during her reporting of the Sea King accident. I know that during that investigation she became quite an advocate for the families who had suffered loss in that accident. Cynthia covered a broad range of views, but I think that in her writings we can see—more than with any other journalist in Australia, I think it is fair to say—a real passion for those who have suffered injustice. I note the Minister for Defence nodding in appreciation. Cynthia really was an advocate for those who perhaps had been afforded less justice than we as a community and a parliament would expect. She will forever have our respect in that regard.

I spoke to Michael Harvey about two hours ago to let him and Cynthia know that this motion was occurring, which he appreciated. He in fact phoned me back after I left that message to indicate that Cynthia also appreciated the motion. She wished to convey her sympathies to those Australian and Indonesian families who had suffered loss and those who have been injured.

If you get to know both Cynthia and Michael, you will not find two more gentle people. I think they are incredibly gentle but, I suspect, in their own way also incredibly determined. Their capacity to train for and run marathons is legendary. It is something that we are quite jealous, or even respectful, about. There is no doubt that the fitness that both of them worked on together and which egged them both on contributed to Cynthia’s survival in terms of her determination to get away from the aircraft. There is no doubt that their general lifestyle and determination, and the support they gave each other, contributed to that.

It is really instructive to talk to Michael. Michael—and you can sense the emotion in his voice—is amazed by Cynthia’s strength. He said that she really has that strength and spirit. In fact, we have all noticed, in our own way, words of encouragement from Cynthia. Michael said that before the accident, when someone was a bit downtrodden, Cynthia’s catchcry was, ‘Hey, listen: life’s a precious thing’—in other words, ‘Get on with it.’ She is showing that zest for life, which is unquestionably heading her in the right direction. Indeed, Michael said that she has now reached the point of discussing activities that both will be doing after her recovery. I suspect work may be a lower order priority, but from our point of view we would certainly welcome Cynthia back among us in the not too distant future.

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The tragedy of Wednesday, 7 March is very much etched in my mind and memory. As I sat in the terminal in Jakarta, waiting for others who were joining the party to travel to Yogyakarta, I first heard that a plane on which Australians were on board had overshot the runway in Yogyakarta. No further news was received at that time. A number of those amongst us—including Louise Hand, the Deputy Head of Mission, and Deputy Commissioner John Lawler—were on the phone endeavouring to see whether they could raise those they knew were on board. None of the phones were answered. We waited further and then heard that, as it was described to me, a fireball had surrounded the aircraft.

Bill Farmer and the Minister for Foreign Affairs were with us. Mention has been made of the way in which they immediately initiated arrangements at the embassy for a situation room and the collection of relevant information about the parties. Progressively over time, information came to us about who were thought to be missing, and there were reports of those who were thought to have survived. It became very apparent that we were going to suffer personal loss, as we did, with Liz O’Neill, Allison Sudradjat, Morgan Mellish, and Federal Agents Brice Steele and Mark Scott. We had all bonded together in the short time that we were there, as you would expect. The professionalism of each of them was there to be seen.

I was briefed by Brice Steele and Mark Scott on the work that they were doing—work that is of fundamental importance to the safety and security of Australians. The way in which they, as part of the Federal Police, built a relationship with the police of Indonesia will pay dividends in the future. I will not go into it further, save to say that it was a task that we asked them to undertake in the national interest. I have grieved with their families at the funerals that I have attended to date. I know that the performance of each of them is very much appreciated by their fellow Australians. I mourn for their families, for their children, for their wives, Kellie and Sally, and for all those that I have come to know over time—the families that I have dealt with. It may surprise people to know that, inevitably when you face a tragedy of the magnitude of this sort, you have had dealings with people in other aspects of your life, and that means that you focus very much on the loss that has occurred.

Finally, I would also like to add my personal good wishes to Cynthia Banham. Cynthia, if you are listening, we are all delighted to know that you are on the road to recovery. For those who have not yet had a chance to send their best wishes, I am told there is a message book for Cynthia in the Parliament House gym. We look forward to seeing her back. Prime Minister, I thank you for this condolence motion and the privilege of being able to be associated with it.

Arch Bevis (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Homeland Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a privilege to join the other speakers, on both sides of this chamber, in saying a few words acknowledging the contribution of the five Australians, especially, whose lives were lost in the Garuda Indonesia airline crash on 7 March. At the end of last week a number of us on both sides of this chamber, at Fairbairn, respectfully witnessed the return to Australia of the five caskets and saw the families and others associated with this terrible tragedy firsthand—for the first time, for many of us, which brought the issue very much to our minds. The lives lost were those of Australian Federal Police agent Mark Scott, Australian Federal Police Commander Brice Steele, Allison Sudradjat, Liz O’Neill and Morgan Mellish. Morgan Mellish was known to many people in this parliament as a journalist. He was a vibrant person and a dedicated professional. Liz O’Neill became known to many of us after the 2002 Bali bombings, with the wonderful work she did there. That has been recognised appropriately and commented on by others here today. Allison Sudradjat was head of AusAID in Indonesia and, as the Minister for Foreign Affairs has pointed out, was one of the most prized and capable people within the organisation. For all these people it is a terrible loss to their families and loved ones and to the nation.

I particularly want to make mention of the two Federal Police officers, Agent Mark Scott and Commander Brice Steele. I think the foreign minister mentioned Brice Steele’s youthful age and senior rank—a sign of his enormous abilities. He joined the AFP as a 19-year-old. He was the youngest person in the intake, and graduated as one of the top of the class. He could already speak two other languages at that time. By the time he was 36 he had been promoted not just to the senior ranks but within the senior ranks. He was one of the senior commanders in the Federal Police, an extraordinarily talented police officer with dedication and a wide range of skills. Having listened to the tributes at his funeral from his family, friends and others, it was also clear that he was an enormously decent person. It was not just that he was a capable individual; he was a caring individual who truthfully and genuinely was concerned for those around him and the world in which he lived. 

When Kellie spoke at that funeral, one could not help but be deeply moved. One of the things that struck me in that presentation was that Kellie took the opportunity—at a time when she could be forgiven for thinking of her own sorrow and loss—to ask us all to pause and think of the others who had suffered on that flight, not just Brice and her and her family. That, I thought, was indicative of a view of life and a spirit that permeates the characters of these people. Even in that darkest moment, their words to us were to consider others who had also suffered.

That spirit was reflected again today at the funeral of Mark Scott, when Mark’s brother made the same comment. Mark also was a Federal Police agent with great ability, having served across the breadth, as has been mentioned, starting as a community police officer here in Canberra, serving overseas in Cyprus and Myanmar and most recently in Indonesia. These are people who dedicated their lives to improving the communities in which they lived. It is a great loss for all of us that they are no longer here.

I also want to add my words of sympathy for Cynthia Banham. Like many in this place, I have had the pleasure of working with Cynthia at different times on projects. It is true that she always exhibited not just a professionalism that no-one could fault but a concern for those people to whom justice and decency have not been applied and a willingness to do what she could to deal with those issues. She is an outstanding journalist. We hope for her that the worst has now passed. I am encouraged by the comments of the foreign minister, who has had the opportunity to meet with her. We certainly wish her a speedy recovery and the opportunity to be back here working at Parliament House.

Finally, I think it is appropriate for the parliament to acknowledge occasions like this. There are tragedies that from time to time in our lives we have to contend with, but this is different. We are talking here about people whose lives have been lost in the service of the nation—and not just in any particular task in the service of our nation. These are people who have been involved in serving our nation and, in doing so, seeking to protect the lives of the rest of us, or seeking to advance our national image and our national presence on the world stage. They are special people who undertake an extraordinarily important role for us, which we tend in our daily lives to take too much for granted. It is thoroughly appropriate that the parliament should pause and acknowledge the contribution of those who have given their service to this nation for the security of others and, in doing so, have lost their lives. I extend my deep sympathy and condolences to their families and loved ones.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a mark of respect, I ask honourable members to rise in their places.

Honourable members having stood in their places—

I thank the House.

Debate (on motion by Mr Abbott) adjourned.