George Campbell (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the request of Senator Lundy, I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

19 October 2007 is the sixth anniversary of the sinking of the boat known as the Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel X (SIEV X), which was bound for Australia and sank with the loss of 353 lives, including 146 children and 142 women,

(ii)

a temporary memorial to the SIEV X victims, featuring painted timber poles to represent the children, women and men who drowned, will be erected on 2 September 2007 at Weston Park, in the Australian Capital Territory, on the Canberra lakeshore and will stay in place for 6 weeks, with the approval of the National Capital Authority (NCA) and the Australian Capital Territory Government,

(iii)

this memorial is supported by people from church, school and community groups from every state and territory in Australia, by the families of the victims, and by the Australian Capital Territory Government, and

(iv)

approval for a permanent memorial to the SIEV X victims is ultimately the responsibility of the Canberra National Memorials Committee (CNMC), chaired by the Prime Minister (Mr Howard);

(b)

calls on the NCA and the CNMC to give permission for the SIEV X memorial project to be established as a permanent memorial on the Canberra lakeshore; and

(c)

expresses its regret and sympathy at the tragic loss of so many innocent lives.

Question put.