George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

That is a very important question, if I may say so. Overnight the Dutch Safety Board released the investigation report into the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on 17 July last year. The report is the result of a meticulous forensic investigation, and Australia has been closely involved in that investigation through the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. The final report sets out compelling evidence indicating the type of missile and the launch site of the missile which brought down MH17. Its findings are based on a forensic technical analysis of all of the available evidence. It does not attribute responsibility for the incident. The report concludes that flight MH17 was brought down by a surface-to-air missile—to be precise, by a warhead fired from a Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile system. It ruled out any other possible cause of the incident. The trajectory of the missile indicated that it was launched from within a 320 square kilometre area in eastern Ukraine.

I know it is difficult to find comfort for families in the face of this news. We continue to grieve for all 298 people on board, and in particular those who called Australia home. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those victims as they process the findings of this report. The Australian government thanks the investigators for their very detailed and tireless work in establishing beyond doubt the cause of this outrage.