Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate records its deep regret at the deaths on 18 July 2014 AEST of 298 passengers and crew on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, and tenders its profound sympathy to their families in their bereavement.

On behalf of the government, I offer sincere condolences to all the affected families and communities, both here in Australia and overseas. Today this parliament expresses its sympathy to its own and the world community who suffered such senseless loss at the hands of criminals. When a civilian airliner is shot down out of the sky on a routine commercial route with a loss of 298 innocent lives, our repulsion of this act of naked barbarism is absolute. There is, and there was, no justification for this act. The initial denials and the blame transfer that was mounted immediately after that dastardly event on 18 July brought no credit whatsoever to those involved and cruelly exacerbated the pain and anguish suffered by those bereaved. As a nation, we have especially grieved for those 38 people on that aircraft who called Australia home. Whether Australian citizens or residents or students studying here, their lives were extinguished in this act of senseless terrorist violence.

We have also joined with the Dutch and Malaysian communities and the other affected international communities to share in their sense of loss. While today we express our sympathies, let us not mince words—this airliner was not a legitimate target in any sense. Nor was any of those on board—they were innocent people travelling for work, for business, as holidaymakers or as members of the crew. They were entitled to safe passage across this airspace—safe passage that was outrageously and savagely violated. Anyone tempted to even fleetingly think otherwise about the unspeakable nature of this act needs only to look at the anguish on the faces of those left behind in its wake. Each of those people whose lives were prematurely ended that day is equally valued. We all felt the pain of those who lost loved ones. We were especially inspired, however, by the courage and strength shown in the aftermath by Rin and Anthony Maslin from Perth, whose three beautiful children died together with their grandfather as they came home from a happy holiday abroad. And to see members of the grieving families come forward with our nation's leaders to add a sprig of wattle to the wonderful wreath of our national flower at the national memorial service at St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne was something unforgettable. All of these families showed in their terrible loss a strength of character and a determination in allowing us as a nation to share in their private grief.

On behalf of the Australian people, I extend my deep gratitude to the members of the Australian Defence Force, the Australian Federal Police, seconded state police and forensic officers, the officers of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other Commonwealth government agencies, and the Prime Minister's special envoy, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, for the dedicated efforts to secure the site and to work with our international partners, including especially the government of The Netherlands, to locate the remains of those on board and repatriate them.

The shooting down of this aircraft was an act of unspeakable evil—let us make no bones about that—but, as we think of those on board that plane, let us not allow the manner of their deaths to overshadow their lives. The achievements of the 298 passengers and crew on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 were undoubtedly many, their potential unfathomable, their future robbed from them and from us, especially the young.

Today the Senate pauses to reflect on the contribution they each made to our nation and our world, and on the lives they lived, and to give thanks for them. We will seek justice for the deceased, but today we pause to reflect and give thanks for their lives and to express solidarity with the bereaved. We assure them of our thoughts and prayers as they face the future, and we will be with them as they face that future.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the opposition to support this condolence motion. Our message to the families and friends of the victims of this tragedy is this: Australians are thinking of you, Australians know your pain, and Australians stand in sympathy with you in this time of bereavement. We all know the death of a loved one opens up a terrible void—a sense of loss, heartache, sadness and grief. When the death is due to ill health or accident it is bad enough, but when we lose someone in a senseless act of violence—here, an act of murder—the grief is compounded and the pain is all that much harder to bear. When the numbers of people losing their lives mount so high, the shock and dismay for all is magnified further. The shooting down of MH17 on 17 July this year was an unthinkable tragedy and a heinous crime. A Boeing 777 flying high above the Earth, travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, carrying men, women and children going about their business—travelling abroad on holidays and work, returning home to loved ones—was hit and destroyed by a missile fired from the ground, 10 kilometres below. And every soul on board that jet aircraft perished—298 people: 283 passengers and 15 crew. Some 30 of those who lost their lives were Australians and people who call this country home.

These people were a cross-section of Australia—school teachers, doctors, office workers, retirees, small business owners and public servants, a real estate agent, an award-winning novelist, a gym instructor, a Catholic nun and several young children. They were the kind of people who make Australia what it is—a diverse nation of hard-working yet easy-going people; people who love to travel and who have an open-minded approach to the world. They were coming home after taking family holidays, attending weddings, visiting relatives in Europe. And their stories break our hearts—the Sydney nun coming back to Australia after a retreat in France, a Perth man flying home with his grandchildren, the Melbourne family of five who all lost their lives.

With this condolence motion, together we express grief for those who have died and sympathy for our fellow Australians whose lives have been changed forever by this event. We also express grief for those from other nations who died on board MH17—193 Dutch nationals, a frightening death toll for that nation, which included a leading clinical researcher coming to Australia for the international AIDS conference and a member of the Netherlands Senate. Australia has a sizeable Dutch community, and for them the loss of so many Australian and Dutch citizens is a double blow. There were also on board 43 Malaysian nationals, including the 15 members of the plane's flight crew, and people from many other countries, including the United Kingdom, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Canada. This motion offers condolences to all those affected, both here and overseas.

Six weeks after the shooting down of MH17, this event remain shocking, distressing, painful and almost impossible to fathom. For the relatives and friends of those who died, it will be etched into their psyches and it will rend their hearts for the rest of their lives. That is why it is important that we think of them. We struggle, with them, to understand this calamity. We respect and admire their courage and dignity. We stand by them in their grief.

On behalf of the opposition, I would also like to acknowledge the actions taken by the Prime Minister and the government, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs, in responding to this tragedy on behalf of the nation. I reiterate the pledge by our opposition leader, Mr Shorten, to support the government's efforts to help the families and friends, to investigate the shooting down of this aircraft and to seek justice for the victims.

I also place on record our acknowledgement of the role of officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in providing consular assistance and support to persons affected by this tragedy and of the Australian Federal Police and other personnel involved in the recovery mission and investigation, including the former Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston.

I conclude by again expressing our most profound sympathy to those who have lost their loved ones. Amidst the grief that seems without limit our words seem small, but our sincerity is not. This Senate, this parliament and this nation mourn with you.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to 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.

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the leader of the Nationals in this place, I also rise to support the condolence motion on the deaths that occurred on Malaysian Airlines flight MH17. This government has been significantly involved in helping Australians with their grief. We declared Thursday, 7 August 2014 to be a national day of mourning to honour the victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. On that day, flags on all government buildings, both here and overseas, were flown at half-mast in respect for the loss. A national memorial service took place at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, on 7 August to honour all those who lost their lives and to seek to support those who had been bereaved. The Governor-General, the presiding officers of parliament, members of cabinet, representatives of the federal opposition, members of the diplomatic corps and members of the public signed the Commonwealth of Australia condolence book in support and sympathy for the families of those tragically killed on flight MH17. There were 298 innocent people on that aircraft. As the Prime Minister said, their deaths offend our sense of justice. We think especially of the Australian families and friends of the 38 men, women and children who called Australia home. There are still so many questions with answers that, at this stage, no-one appears able to give.

As a senator from the Northern Territory, I can tell you that there is a lot of grief, particularly for one of our young teachers in an Indigenous school. At the recent Garma festival she was remembered. I say now, as I said then, I would like to acknowledge and share everyone's sadness at the death of Emma Bell, the homelands teacher at Maningrida College, who perished on flight MH17. I would particularly like to thank and acknowledge the honouring of her by the Maningrida people with a skin name, for adopting her into a Maningrida family and particularly for the smoking ceremony that helped her family and friends grieve her passing. I thank you for that. I know Emma wanted a better future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and I would like to acknowledge her important work in that area.

There are many ways of grieving across this country, but we all join as one, just as the parliament is doing here today, to console each other and those directly affected by this tragedy. Australia contributed significantly to a Dutch-led multinational police mission to the crash site of MH17. There was much danger and great risk involved before the team had to pull out. I add my acknowledgements to those of the leader of the Greens in acknowledging the particular circumstances under which that work was conducted.

Australia was there when needed with courage and determination to recover our own. More than 100 Australian officials from various agencies were deployed to Ukraine and the Netherlands to support Operation Bring Them Home. The Prime Minister's special envoy, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, was there as was our Governor-General, his Excellency General the Hon. Sir Peter Cosgrove, who was present for the arrival of both the Dutch and the Australian aircraft bringing the remains of our lost country men, women and children to the Netherlands.

The crash of flight MH17 was a crash through decency and humanity. It was a crash of cowardice and hate. But it was no accident that consumed the lives of children and other civilians. It was murder. It was the murder of 298 innocent people. It was a murder that shocked a world that appears to be hardened to recent atrocities. On behalf of the National Party, I pass my condolences on to those affected by this tragic and unnecessary loss of life.

Glenn Lazarus (Queensland, Palmer United Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise, on behalf of the Palmer United Party, to offer our deepest sympathies to those lost on and affected by the loss of flight MH17. Some 283 passengers and 15 crew were taken from us in this tragic and shocking event. While we grieve we know many of you have had your lives torn apart and that you will forever mourn the loss of loved ones as a result of this vile, evil and sinister act.

I would like to thank personally Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the foreign minister, Julie Bishop, for their persistence in ensuring our people are brought home to enable closure for the grieving and to ensure our people are properly farewelled with dignity and with the respect they deserve. This is the Australian way and we are grateful to your dedication in representing the interests of all Australians in such an honourable way.

I would like to finish by saying that the world must work even harder to stop this ever happening again. Good must conquer all.

Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I endorse the remarks made by my colleagues in relation to this condolence motion for those lost in the tragedy of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. My most heartfelt sympathies and condolences go to the families and friends of the Australians who perished on that flight, to all of the 298 souls who were senselessly killed and to the families who were left behind. In particular, who could not be moved by the 'hell beyond hell', as described by the parents of Mo, Evie and Otis Maslin, who lost their three children in the tragedy. It is absolutely heart-wrenching. Somehow they, the victims' families, must find the strength to go on. We must help them in any way we can. Those poor people aboard MH17 could have been any one of us until the moment they lost their lives. To find yourself on board a commercial flight crossing high above eastern Ukraine was unremarkable. Since the start of the unrest in Ukraine many thousands of travellers have made that journey. But for the callous actions of the rebels and their Russian backers, many more would no doubt have done so.

I commend the actions of the government in moving as swiftly as possible to secure the site of the fall of the wreckage and to take steps to repatriate the remains of the fallen. The desecration of the victims adds to the disgust at what has occurred. I commend the tireless efforts of the Prime Minister and the foreign minister, no doubt echoed by all Australians, in the face of this unprecedented challenge. I also commend the bipartisanship shown by the opposition leader and the shadow foreign minister in relation to this tragedy. It reflected national unity and an outpouring of compassion amongst Australians for those who died and for those who mourn them.

Today we remember those who died and we comfort their loved ones, but I hope one day we will hear more in this place about progress made towards holding the perpetrators of this outrage accountable for their crime. There is unfinished business to attend to, but first we must repatriate the remains. I support and commend the government's using its resources, its alliances and its diplomacy to continue to use its place on the United Nations Security Council to pursue justice for the families and for those lost. I can also say that following this tragedy a field in eastern Ukraine will forever be part of our hearts. I support this motion and I commend the Australian government for the actions it has taken.

Question agreed to, honourable senators standing in their places.