Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to join in the response to the MH17 report provided by the Prime Minister. For the friends and families of the 38 victims who called Australia home and for people right around our world who lost someone they loved in the skies over Ukraine on that fateful morning in July, today is another step in the unfinished journey to justice. On behalf of my colleagues, I want to acknowledge the efforts of all those who contributed to this report. In particular, we thank the Dutch air safety board who led the work and all the Australian experts involved. Also, at this time, we think of Malaysia, in particular, which has suffered such tragedy in recent times.

This report tells us more of the mechanics of the MH17 tragedy—the how—not who perpetrated this atrocity or why. These questions deserve answers and the answers must lead to justice. But for those who mourn the loss of a loved one even this will not be enough. Grief is not, ultimately, about how someone is taken from you or even why, it is about who has gone and what you will miss—the unfinished conversations, the too-late statements of love, the unmade plans for shared adventures, the familiar places and the memories you made there together. This is the lonely road of mourning. For some, it means putting photos in a drawer, unable to look upon them until the scars heal. For others, it means putting up more photos than ever before.

All of us as we grow older have experienced the pain of mourning, the heavy weight of sadness and sorrow and loss, but none of us, in this place, can imagine the added burden the families of those aboard MH17 have had to bear. Their courage, their resilience, their patience and their remarkable ability to endure the harsh glare of the public spotlight on their unwanted private grief will be, again, unlocked today from the compartments of memory. I hope they can draw some modest consolation and affirmation from the knowledge that they are not alone. The hearts of all Australians are with them.

Prime Minister, just as I have worked with the member for Warringah on this, and I acknowledge his unflinching efforts, Labor supports every effort here and abroad to bring the perpetrators of this incomprehensible crime to account. We urge the parties involved in the crisis in Ukraine to fully commit to ending the violence in Ukraine. No more lives should be lost over matters that can and should be resolved around a conference table. Today we honour the loss and we stand with their loved ones, now and always.

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