Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I, too, rise today on behalf of the Australian Greens to join with my Senate colleagues on all sides of politics to extend condolences to all those who have been affected by the MH17 tragedy. Two hundred and ninety-eight lives were lost and, as has been said, 38 of those people either were Australian citizens or lived here. Our hearts go out to their families and friends, and we send them our love and support. We join with the opposition in offering our support to whatever the government can do to support those families and communities in their bereavement.

I think I speak for everyone when I say that, with air travel now within the reach of so many people, when looking at this disaster happening to a passenger flight like that coming back from Europe, from Amsterdam, you think, 'It could have been any one of us. It could have been people we know. It could have been our own families who were involved.' In the Greens movement, of course, so many environmental groups are based in Amsterdam, so you just immediately think you could have known someone on that flight.

The other thing that made it so heart-rending for Australians were the personal stories. We started to get the details of the children, the scientists, who Senator Wong talked about, and the Catholic nun who died. I heard that the family that lost the three children were being brought home by their grandfather. The first question you ask yourself is: how would I cope in the same circumstances? How would I cope with that tragedy? People's hearts went out on that score.

The other thing that was so awful for Australians and, I think, everyone around the world was every night seeing ordinary objects on the TV footage to which you could relate immediately—the broken suitcases, children's toys and clothing. Then we heard stories about wallets having been taken out of purses and that mobile phones had been taken and that people were answering those phones. There was a recognition of desecration in this tragedy, that people were actually looting. That was shocking, too. You think: how is this happening? What is going wrong in our world that this can have occurred in the first place—that a passenger plane can be shot down—and then the wreckage not treated in a way that (a) respects the people who have died and (b) enables the investigators to properly assess what has occurred?

I, too, want to acknowledge on behalf of the Australian Greens the work of the Australian government, the Prime Minister and the foreign minister, Julie Bishop, who worked tirelessly with our allies to ensure the international community got access to the site as quickly as possible, notwithstanding, again, the horror and disappointment that the fighting came close to the site and so the recovery mission was not as successful as it could have been had that level of respect been given.

I also want to acknowledge that six of those on board were prominent HIV-AIDS researchers and advocates travelling to Melbourne for an international conference that we were hosting. We have to make sure here in Australia and around the world that we continue to work hard to ensure that their legacy lives on in the global effort to combat HIV-AIDS. We need to recognise that we must continue that work because it is important for the world but also out of respect for the people who have lost their lives in this scenario.

I finally want to thank all those who worked tirelessly at the crash site to try to piece together crucial evidence. What a terrible and difficult job that was for the people involved, especially the Federal Police on the ground. I also want to acknowledge the work of the consular officials around the world in doing their level best to keep families and friends informed on the status of the situation and to offer as much support as they could. The professionalism of our public servants in that regard, both from the police and the department, is something we all want to acknowledge. With those words, I join with everyone in the parliament in expressing our condolences in relation to this tragedy.