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

On indulgence—Australia's heartfelt sympathy and resolute solidarity is with the people of the United Kingdom. We stand with them today, as we always have and always will, steadfast allies in freedom's cause. So far we know that at least 19 people have been killed and about 60 injured as a result of an explosion at the Manchester Arena shortly after the conclusion of an Ariana Grande concert last night. As I speak to the House now, the cause of the blast is unknown, but the authorities in the United Kingdom are treating it as a terrorist attack. This would be the deadliest attack in the United Kingdom since the London bombings of July 2005.

Our thoughts and our prayers are with the victims of this attack and with their families. As parents, we keenly feel the anxiety of those waiting to learn of their children's safety on this terrible night. This incident, this attack, is especially vile, especially criminal, especially horrific, because it appears to have been deliberately directed at teenagers. This is an attack on innocence. Surely there is no crime more reprehensible than the murder of children. This is a direct and brutal attack on young people everywhere, on freedom everywhere.

Already we are seeing the stories of bravery, solidarity and compassion emerging from this tragedy, as people rallied without a second thought to help each other. Emergency workers rushed to the arena, towards the danger, as concert goers fled from it. On the streets and online, beds, phone chargers and cups of tea were being offered to those caught up in the attack.

This morning, I have spoken with our Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Tony Sheehan, and to Alexander Downer, our High Commissioner in London, who is liaising closely with the British authorities. I have also spoken to Her Excellency Menna Rawlings, the British High Commissioner, and, Mr Speaker, as you acknowledged, we welcome the presence of her deputy, Ingrid Southworth, in the House today. In this House, built upon the values and the freedoms of British people, of the British parliament itself, surrounded, here we are reminded of the freedoms that British people established at Westminster. We stand with you and we thank you for being here with us today.

The Australian High Commission in London is making urgent inquiries to determine if any Australians have been affected by this attack. I urge any Australians in the UK to heed the advice of the British authorities and to contact the United Kingdom's Anti-Terrorist Hotline if you have any information that you think may be relevant to the incident in Manchester. Australians in the UK or at home who are concerned about friends or relatives who could be affected by this attack should call the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade consular line, which, within Australia, is 1300 555 135 and, from overseas, 61 2 6261 3305.

Australian and British agencies work closely together—none closer—right across the full spectrum of our counterterrorism work. These partnerships are enduring and they are essential to keeping our nation safe. This attack comes just two months after a terrorist targeted Westminster, striking at the very heart of democracy, killing six innocent people. Safely enjoying public places, from sports arenas to local markets, is part of the way of life in the United Kingdom, just as it is here. It is a basic human right to be able to go out into public places and public spaces, to shop, to go to a concert, to do our business, to take our exercise. Keeping Australians safe is our first priority, as keeping Britain safe is the first priority of Prime Minister May.

We already have strong arrangements here to protect public places, including close cooperation between governments, law enforcement agencies and the operators of public venues. My government is working intensively with the other jurisdictions in Australia and cooperating with our international counterparts to further develop our national strategy for protecting places of mass gathering. We have seen too many crimes perpetrated through acts of violence and terrorism in places of mass gathering not to realise that we need to do more to keep our public places safe. It is a very, very high priority.

Too often we stand in this chamber offering our sympathy and support to those confronting horrific attacks like the one we have seen today. Once again, Australia stands with Britain in resolute solidarity, partners in freedom's cause. Tireless in our defence of our people's safety and their liberty, our nations will never give in to terror.

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

I rise to support the words of the Prime Minister. We use words as our tool of trade in this parliament, but sometimes, at some moments, you realise that words are inadequate to cover the grief, to explain what has happened. I am thinking of parents, siblings and family members in Manchester. It is the very early hours of the morning there—nine hours behind us. How do words help explain the inexplicable? Yet right now words are what we have to offer.

The people of Britain should know that we feel their pain and we share their shock and anger. I have spoken to the British High Commissioner. I have offered her the condolences of my party. And I acknowledge the welcome presence of the Deputy High Commissioner. We have been informed, as the Prime Minister said, that this is being treated as a terrorist incident, but there is much more to find out. We condemn this crime—if that is what it is, and it appears to be—without hesitation, and the people of Manchester should know that we are fully aware of their grit, their northern determination. It is heartening to hear the stories even now seeping out. But instead of locking doors and closing up, the people of Manchester are helping those who are to be evacuated, responding in a way that we hope we would if we were in the same dreadful circumstances.

I think, though, as a parent, it is to parents I wish to briefly speak. What makes this different to a casualty on a battlefield is that you think when your kids go to listen to music they would be safe. My eldest two are teenagers and they go to concerts, like so many here and so many elsewhere. When you see that shaky iPhone footage on that relentless 24-hour coverage you see so many young people. They are dressed to go out to a concert, to dance and to listen to music. I can only begin to imagine the pain of parents wondering where their kids are when the first reports and the first texts came out, and when they realised that their family—their kids—are at this concert. I can only begin to dimly imagine the parents whose calls are being unanswered and their messages go through to that voicemail.

I also think today, 'How do I explain this to my own kids?' How do we make sense of this to our own children? I will say that it would appear that this has been done by evil people. I will say that we do everything we can in this country to make you safe. I will say to them, 'Of course you can still keep going to concerts.' But there are deeper answers, of course, for us to find in coming days and weeks. Again, I would say this: in this place, periodically, when we see this kind of footage we think, 'Not again.' The French theatre, the Bataclan theatre, the stadium in Paris and the scenes outside of Westminster—I think all of us here think, 'Not again.'

What I think we also need to say to people is that the world should not get used to this. We should not accept this as the normal state of affairs. We should never believe that this sort of crime cannot be stopped and that we need to change. This is not the normal course of events. The world and absolutely most of us are far better than that. Today I offer my prayers and support to the people going through this and a promise to lots of kids wondering about all of this that this is not the normal course of events and we will never accept it as the normal state of affairs.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. I ask all present to rise in recognition of the deceased and the injured.

Honourable members having stood in their places—

I thank the House.