Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to update the House on the investigation into the loss of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. Last night the Dutch air safety board released its report into the shooting down of flight MH17. This was an investigation into the cause of the disaster but not to identify those responsible for it. The report is the result of many months of meticulous forensic work by the Dutch, who have worked closely with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. It confirms what Australia has maintained since the outset—that the flight MH17 passenger jet carrying 298 people, 38 of them Australian, was shot down by a Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile system. The missile was fired from within a 320-square-kilometre area in eastern Ukraine, then occupied by Russian backed separatist forces. Other scenarios that could have caused the crash were carefully considered, analysed and excluded because of the available evidence.

I thank the investigators for their very detailed and tireless work in this investigation. I pay tribute to the highly professional work of all the Australian authorities, especially the Australian Federal Police. I want to express our thanks to the member for Warringah for his leadership, courage and compassion in the face of this tragedy. This report is an important step. It will provide answers to the families of the 38 Australian victims, with confirmation of the direct cause of the crash.

The destruction of MH17 and the murder of its passengers and crew was a shocking, shameful and cowardly crime. It was set against and part of the continuing geopolitical aftershocks of the collapse of the Soviet Union more than 25 years ago. But it was a deeply personal tragedy for the victims and their families. Thirty-eight Australians were killed, but 23 million Australians mourned, many because we knew the victims. In my own case, it was the Sacred Heart nun Sister Philomene Tiernan, whose earthly life, devoted to love and learning, was snuffed out by hatred and ignorance. All of us mourned because we know that there but for the grace of God go we or those we love.

Every new report bring some more closure to the bereaved, but it renews the grief as well. So today, once again, our prayers and love are with the families of all the victims of MH17. Our Australian family, like all families, prefers to come together in times of joy and celebration. In the days that followed the destruction of MH17, in the worst of times, we were united in compassion for the grieving and in our determination to see justice delivered to those responsible for this crime. As a government, we continue to do all we can to support the families, keep them informed and provide counselling and support.

This report from the Dutch air safety board will not provide all the answers to all of their questions. The demands of justice are yet unmet. Today I am writing to the bereaved families to assure them that they have the heartfelt sympathies of the nation as this process continues.

I thank the Dutch government. So many citizens of that country were killed in this crash. I spoke to their Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, last night. I thank the Dutch government for its efforts in providing the families with information on the investigation as it became available.

Those who committed this crime must answer for it. Led by our foreign minister, Australia sponsored UN Security Council resolution 2166 on 21 July 2014. It requires all nations to cooperate to identify those who sent MH17 to its destruction and hold them accountable. We deplore the conduct of Russia, using its Security Council veto in July to block the establishment of a special international criminal tribunal. However, the work of the joint investigation team, which has seen cooperation between Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine, will continue undaunted. We are focused on all possible options for prosecuting those responsible, with a view to securing due punishment for this crime.

I want to thank the foreign minister, Julie Bishop, for her tireless work in marshalling the support and cooperation from other countries to make this happen. As she has said, we will not be bullied by Russia. We and all the nations whose citizens share our grief are determined to do everything we can, no matter how long it takes, to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.

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

I rise to join in the response to the MH17 report provided by the Prime Minister. For the friends and families of the 38 victims who called Australia home and for people right around our world who lost someone they loved in the skies over Ukraine on that fateful morning in July, today is another step in the unfinished journey to justice. On behalf of my colleagues, I want to acknowledge the efforts of all those who contributed to this report. In particular, we thank the Dutch air safety board who led the work and all the Australian experts involved. Also, at this time, we think of Malaysia, in particular, which has suffered such tragedy in recent times.

This report tells us more of the mechanics of the MH17 tragedy—the how—not who perpetrated this atrocity or why. These questions deserve answers and the answers must lead to justice. But for those who mourn the loss of a loved one even this will not be enough. Grief is not, ultimately, about how someone is taken from you or even why, it is about who has gone and what you will miss—the unfinished conversations, the too-late statements of love, the unmade plans for shared adventures, the familiar places and the memories you made there together. This is the lonely road of mourning. For some, it means putting photos in a drawer, unable to look upon them until the scars heal. For others, it means putting up more photos than ever before.

All of us as we grow older have experienced the pain of mourning, the heavy weight of sadness and sorrow and loss, but none of us, in this place, can imagine the added burden the families of those aboard MH17 have had to bear. Their courage, their resilience, their patience and their remarkable ability to endure the harsh glare of the public spotlight on their unwanted private grief will be, again, unlocked today from the compartments of memory. I hope they can draw some modest consolation and affirmation from the knowledge that they are not alone. The hearts of all Australians are with them.

Prime Minister, just as I have worked with the member for Warringah on this, and I acknowledge his unflinching efforts, Labor supports every effort here and abroad to bring the perpetrators of this incomprehensible crime to account. We urge the parties involved in the crisis in Ukraine to fully commit to ending the violence in Ukraine. No more lives should be lost over matters that can and should be resolved around a conference table. Today we honour the loss and we stand with their loved ones, now and always.