Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Faraz Tahir came to this country as a refugee and died as an Australian hero. He was just 30. His new life in this country was cut tragically short by a knife-wielding person in Bondi Junction. The other five victims of the attack at Westfield, Jade Young, Ashlee Good, Yixuan Cheng, Pikria Darchia and Dawn Singleton, were shopping, that most Australian of activities, on a weekend.

Faraz had just clocked on, actually, for his first shift as a security guard. As his brother Mudasar told us at Faraz's funeral, helping others was core to his nature. When Faraz and his fellow security guard Muhammad Taha heard the shouting and screaming as the attack on shoppers unfolded, it was Faraz who said, 'Let's find out what's going on.' Those were his final words, running to danger to protect strangers who needed his help. Both guards were stabbed—the only male victims—and Faraz was the one, unfortunately, who lost his life. Two weeks later, Muhammad Taha is still recovering from his wounds. He attended the funeral in a wheelchair. They'd met for the first time on the day of the stabbing and worked together to usher panicked shoppers to safety.

Faraz would have turned 31 the day before his funeral, the same day his family arrived in Australia to view his body. At his remembrance, which I attended with the Prime Minister, the New South Wales Premier and many others who came out in force to remember Faraz, people spoke of the pride they had in his actions. He had deep gratitude for a country that made him feel welcome and allowed him to dream of a good life head. This was the life he gave up so that others may live.

I'm proud to say my community in Chifley was part of this Australian hero's journey. He lived in the suburb of Plumpton. He attended the Masjid Baitul Huda mosque in Marsden Park, which is also where his funeral, the janazah, was held. He was an active and much loved member of Western Sydney's Ahmadiyya Muslim community. Quick to make friends, he was also known for his unwavering kindness and was an active contributor to the community's charitable endeavours.

Faraz was the best of us, and, in a fitting tribute, the Ahmadiyya community organised a blood drive in partnership with the Red Cross to commemorate his life and the lives of the other five Bondi Junction victims—giving to the community in death as he did in life, offering kindness and a helping hand to the country that made him feel safe and free. He and the other victims didn't deserve to die that day. They all deserved to live out their dreams, raise families and be part of their communities. May they all rest in peace.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We were all shocked when we saw the footage of the events unfolding at Westfield Bondi Junction on that fateful afternoon of Saturday 13 April. We have all done it: we've all gone shopping on a Saturday afternoon, looking for a gift, browsing—doing what ordinary, everyday Australians do, gathering in a peaceful place, a safe place, a secure place. Sadly, the actions of the perpetrator of this dreadful act not only had a profound impact on our nation on 13 April but will have an impact forevermore, because the lives of those people, mostly young people, were taken so unfairly, so cruelly and in such dreadful circumstances.

The Minister for Industry and Science has just read their names, and I'm glad the speakers on this condolence motion have. Sometimes when there is a tragedy involving a number of people, be it a military action or something such as this—and thankfully it's not too often—we just say the number of people who were killed. But they all have names. They loved and were loved. They have families who will go on mourning each and every one of them. Xixuan Cheng, 27, was an economics student at the University of Sydney, a fine educational institution. Pikria Darchia, 55, was an artist and designer—such a talent. Ashlee Good, 38, was an osteopath and the mother of nine-month-old Harriet. Harriet was a victim as well, but fortunately she survived. In Ash's final conscious moments she saved her daughter's life by giving her to a couple of brave bystanders. 'Look after my child,' she was no doubt thinking in those final horrendous moments. Dawn Singleton, 25, was an e-commerce assistant whose fiance, a police officer, was amongst the dozens of officers called to the scene. She was shopping for her upcoming nuptials. I know personally how much she was loved within the NSW Police Force. She was an e-commerce assistant, but the ramifications spread further than just her circle of friends; they actually went through the NSW Police Force, because her fiance is a much-respected police officer. Faraz Tahir, 30, was a security guard, a Pakistani national, a refugee. He was a security guard, as the minister, the member for Chifley, has just said, killed on his very first shift at Bondi Junction. Just think about that. It was his first day of work and he bravely went to help others, to see what needed to be done, in his role as a security guard and he lost his life because of it. And Jade Young, 47, was a brilliant architect. The lives of all of them were so cruelly cut short.

I know there was a story in the Daily Telegraph today about the NSW Police Force seeking more officers. According to the report, they're 1,500 short and seeking officers from other states and, indeed, from across the ditch—the Tasman—in New Zealand. One of the things that really struck me, as the father of a police officer, was how the men and women in blue ran to the scene, because that's what police do. That's what the ambulance officers did and what all of those first responders did that day. I hope and pray—and I'm sure it is happening—that those officers, be they ambos or be they police, are given the right attention, because many of them will be suffering as a result of this incident.

Inspector Amy Scott—how brave was she, Madam Deputy Speaker? Yes, she's got 19 years of experience in the force. Yes, she is an inspector, so she's senior. But it still takes guts. It takes courage. It takes bravery. It takes that certain metal steel in your heart and your head to do what she did and to neutralise this dreadful, dreadful attack.

We have thoughts not just for the victims but for all involved—for those people who were not first responders, those people who were not victims but who saw. For them it will be on their conscience too. And we think of our brave bollard boys who thwarted the efforts of the perpetrator to go between levels. They held him up for those few vital seconds or moments or minutes and probably saved—who knows? A dozen or so lives. They stopped it from being far worse than what it was.

In the worst of times we see the best of Australians. I share the Prime Minister's and the opposition leader's fine words—and the words of those others who have spoken on this motion, including the member for Wentworth, and I told her so when I bumped into her in the corridor. It would have been hard for her too. It's her local electorate, and no-one likes these things happening, let alone in their own local community. So many of us, probably all of us, have been to Bondi Junction. As I say, it was just an ordinary everyday Saturday afternoon.

We pay tribute to those whose lives were snuffed out by this dreadful attack. We pay tribute to the first responders. We say thank you. And I'll reiterate that the police were so brave. I do hope that they are getting the mental help that so many of them will need, but I'm sure they will. I thank those officers, particularly Inspector Scott, for doing what they did. I know that it solidified in my own mind—and, no doubt, in everybody else's minds too—what fine first responders we have. Whether it's a natural emergency, a natural disaster, or something such as this, we see the best of Australians in the worst of times.

Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of members of the Kingsford Smith community I'd like to offer my sincerest condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the terrible tragedy that occurred up the road from us at Bondi Junction on 13 April. The past three weeks have been unimaginably difficult, especially for our close-knit eastern suburbs community. Bondi Junction Westfield is a meeting place. It's generally a happy place for many in our community. My kids go there all the time with their friends to socialise, to shop, to eat, to go to the movies and to catch up. That all changed on 13 April when that happy place was turned into an unimaginable tragedy.

I want to pay tribute to two of the victims, in particular. They lived in the community that I represent and were considered locals. Pikria Darchia moved to Sydney a decade ago from Georgia. She was a world away from home, but she chose Maroubra as her new home, and she was well-known in the local community, particularly down at Maroubra Beach, where she was known as a local artist, a painter. She practised yoga and meditation. She was a regular at one of the well-known cafes down at Maroubra Beach. She was a well-known and very well-respected artist in the local community. Her kids lost their mother. Her grandkids lost so many precious years of time with her. She went to Bondi Junction on that day to simply buy a water bottle after having lunch with one of her best friends. Unfortunately, she never got to go home. Her best friend, Tamara Shelia said of Pikria: 'She loved nature. She loved everything about Australia.'

I also want to pay tribute to Ashlee Good, who lived in Randwick. Ashlee died in the noblest of circumstances, trying to save her baby, Harriet, when they were both attacked that day. Ashlee handed her baby to a man who was attempting to help, and said, 'Look after my baby.' It is a simply unimaginable tragedy. A nine-month-old—I just don't understand how anyone could do that to a baby. The baby had to fight for its life in Sydney, and, unfortunately, Ashlee succumbed to her injuries in hospital afterwards. I pay tribute to the staff at the Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick for the fantastic job they did in the aftermath to save young Harriet.

Ashlee was remembered by her family and friends as 'a beautiful mother, daughter, sister, partner, friend and all-around outstanding human' with so much more to give in life. She was a trained osteopath and well-known in the eastern suburbs. She was full of life and had just returned to her job as an account executive after a period of maternity leave. She was described by loved ones as 'a ray of sunshine' with 'a beautiful zest for life'. Just hours before the attack at Bondi she'd posted a photo on her Instagram of her baby in her arms—something that's terribly tragic. She previously spoke to her mum about being a mum, saying, 'It's like experiencing your heart swell with love whilst navigating anxiety for the first time'; I think every parent can agree with that. She said it was 'pure joy and extraordinary exhaustion blended with emotions you've never felt before'. To her, that's what being a parent was—'the most outstandingly beautiful gift that anyone could ever receive'. We offer our sincere condolences to Ashlee's family.

I also pay tribute to the other victims—Dawn Singleton, Jade Young, Faraz Tahir and Yixuan Cheng—who were tragically killed on that day as they were going about their normal lives.

I also mention Damien Guerot, who lives in our community—the French construction worker commonly known as 'the bollard man'. The CCTV footage showed his bravery in confronting the perpetrator with the knife on that dark day. He then chased behind Police Inspector Amy Scott when she was attempting to stop the assailant. Our community thanks Damien, and I think the Australian people thank Damien, for his heroic work.

I also pay tribute to Amy Scott for her incredible bravery and her demonstration of the skill, competence and training of our first responders—particularly our New South Wales police officers—who do their job to protect their community, and, in doing so, risk their lives as well. Amy definitely risked her life on that day. She showed great skill and followed the procedures to a T, and no doubt stopped that man from potentially killing a lot more innocent people. For that, she deserves to be commended and recognised. I thank her and all her first responder colleagues for what they did.

In the darkness of this tragedy the eastern suburbs community has come together in unity. I attended the memorial site on the Monday after the tragedy, and the sea of flowers and the heartfelt messages were some comfort to many in our community who were quite shocked and still showing the visible scars of what had occurred. I hugged many people that day with tears in their eyes. It was wonderful to see volunteers and staff from the Prince of Wales Hospital mental health unit, wearing their orange bibs, being there to support people; that was a great relief for many in the community, and I thank them.

Then, of course, we had the vigil down at Bondi Beach. As I walked down to that vigil I saw the waves rolling onto the beach, similar to many of the tears that were rolling off the cheeks of many who were at that vigil. There was that expression of sympathy and love from our community coming together. I want to thank the volunteers and the council—the mayor of the council, Paula Masselos, and the council officers who organised that; the New South Wales Premier and the Premier's Department, who organised the event; and, of course, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Wentworth, who has done an extraordinary job in providing comfort and support to her community. She was there on the night, as were myself and the member for Sydney, Tanya Plibersek, along with the members for Coogee and Vaucluse from the New South Wales parliament.

This is something that we hope we never have to speak about in this place but, unfortunately, we have had to. We offer our support, our love and our sincerest condolences to the families. We pray and hope that something like this never, ever happens again in any community throughout the country.

Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on my own behalf and that of the Greens to express my deep sympathy and heartfelt condolences in regard to the six victims of the unimaginable and senseless violence at Bondi Junction last month. I'll mention their names. I think it's really important that we do speak of them, because their names and their lives matter. They are Yixuan Cheng, Pikria Darchia, Ash Good, Dawn Singleton, Faraz Tahir and Jade Young. Yixuan Cheng was an economics student; Pikria Darchia was an artist; Ash Good was an osteopath and a new mum, who saved her baby, Harriet; Dawn Singleton was looking forward to her wedding day; Jade Young was a fellow architect and mum; and Faraz Tahir was a Pakistani refugee who, on his first day of work as a security guard, lost his life protecting others from a violent perpetrator. I extend my condolences also to the mourning Pakistani community. I acknowledge the bravery of those bystanders, other shoppers and retail workers who, when the benign ordinariness of a normal Saturday morning was shattered, put their own lives at risk to protect others. Their selfless bravery demonstrated the very best of humanity, and I mourn the five women killed at the hands of the disturbed and violent man who took their lives.

These deaths are unfortunately among those of at least 28 women killed this year in the epidemic of men's violence against women. To the victims' families, their friends and their community, and to all who are deeply shocked and traumatised by this horrendous incident, I extend my deepest condolences. We can and we must, on behalf of these people and on behalf of everyone, do better to prevent violence in our society. Thank you.

Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next day of sitting.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 17:56