Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Justice today was delivered in New Zealand to the terrorist and murderer for his cowardly and horrific crimes and attacks on a Christchurch mosque. The world must never see him or hear from him ever again. All Australians were and remain horrified and devastated by his despicable terrorist act.

New Zealand is family to us in Australia. Today we send our love across the ditch, and I had the opportunity to pass on those wishes directly to the New Zealand Prime Minister earlier today.

But, out of the horror of this event, I simply want to refer to what emerged as an incredible grace and beauty in the form of Farid Ahmed, who I met, with Jenny, at the memorial service in Christchurch at the time, and again when he came to visit me in Sydney in March of this year. Farid lost his wife that day, and his message in response was not one of hate but one of hope and of love. He is truly one of the most inspirational people I have ever met—incredibly humbling just to be in his presence.

I pay tribute to the Muslim community of New Zealand and also of Australia, who have supported each other in these very difficult times—and today will be a time when it all comes back and it hurts again, in a way just that bit more than it ordinarily does—but the way they have done that reflects the goodness of their faith. You have been a light answering a terrible darkness.

God bless you, New Zealand, our whanau, this day. May it be another day of healing for everyone affected by this terrible terrorist atrocity.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today in New Zealand we have seen justice, a civilised response to an act that was anything but. It was an act of terrorist violence, coldly and cynically calculated to push people apart, to sow division and tear a society apart, on innocent people, defenceless, in their most sacred place, in peaceful prayer, in solemn respect of their faith. Prayer is a time which should be sacrosanct. Instead, we got the ultimate atrocity. In the end, it only succeeded in bringing the people of New Zealand closer together. We will not say the killer's name. We will not speak of him, other than to acknowledge that he was one of ours—an Australian, who cast such a terrible shadow over our dear neighbour.

We can only hope that, from today, New Zealand can begin the long process of healing. We can only hope that, after an act of such premeditated merciless cruelty, today's sentence can at least bring some small measure of comfort to those left behind. We remember every life that was lost in Christchurch on that most awful of days. For those still grieving and wishing their loved one could one day come home again, maybe even today's decision might just make it a little bit easier. It won't change things, but may their sadness be softened by the knowledge that their loss brought a nation together. To New Zealand: we stand with you. To the Muslim community: we grieve with you. Hate will not divide us.

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

I thank both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.