Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Bali bombings were an act of terrorism and religious extremism which will be forever etched in our memories, a heinous crime which killed 88 Australians, including seven residents from the Sutherland shire. Those seven shire residents were Jodi Wallace, Charmaine Whitton, Jodie O'Shea, Michelle Dunlop, Francoise Dahan, Renae Anderson and her sister Simone Hanley. But those seven residents from the Sutherland shire and the other 81 Australians did not die alone. The bombings also killed 38 Indonesians and 76 others from 22 nations spread across the globe.

On the 10th commemoration of the Bali bombings, I was honoured to speak at a service overlooking North Cronulla Beach at The Seed, a sandstone sculpture and water feature which stands as a permanent tribute to the seven residents of the Sutherland shire who were lost. Those who gathered at North Cronulla on the day reflected on the traumatic events of 10 years ago and the loss of those who were killed and injured, and we did so knowing, 'It could have been me.' For those killed were mates on a footy trip, simply enjoying a beer. Those killed were friends on holidays. Those killed were families and friends celebrating birthdays and weddings. And those killed include schoolteachers, nurses, farmers, hairdressers, miners, mechanics, small business people and students. They were footballers, netballers, rowers, basketballers and triathletes. They represented a cross-section of our Australian society, making the Bali bombings an attack upon us all, an attack upon our Australian way of life.

We remember the words of our Prime Minister Mr Howard at the time, who, in his understated way, when he hugged one of the family members of a victim, said, 'We'll get the bastards who did this.' The members of the terrorist group that planned and committed these crimes have been brought to justice. They have been tried and convicted. Three have been executed, and other major conspirators have been killed during raids by the Indonesian police. However, 10 years on, justice can never completely diminish the pain and grief and, 10 years on, justice can never fully repair the physical scars of those injured.

As for the motivations of the terrorists, not only did they comprehensively fail to achieve their goals but, in fact, the end result was the exact opposite of what they set out to achieve. For, while the terrorists sought to drive a wedge between Australia and Indonesia, the exact opposite happened. Their crimes became a turning point for Australian and Indonesian relations, relations which had suffered following our assistance to the people of East Timor. They produced a compelling reason for both Jakarta and Canberra to work together, and they cemented for all time the emotional and economic connections between Australia and Indonesia. As we have seen in the decade since the Bali bombings, the two-way trade between our nations has increased by over 114 per cent to $14.8 billion.

While the terrorists sought to deter Australians from travelling to Indonesia, again the exact opposite has happened. In 2001, the year before the Bali bombings, 288,000 Australians travelled to Bali. Although there was a short-term downturn after the bombings, last year more than 872,000 Australians visited Indonesia, an increase of 584,000, an increase of over 200 per cent in the decade since the bombings.

And, while the terrorists sought to divide and weaken Indonesia, yet again the exact opposite happened, for their acts of terrorism only galvanised the Indonesian nation to promote freedom, democracy and tolerance. As the Indonesian President recently said, the 'monstrous act of terror' in Bali 10 years ago failed to achieve its objective and only strengthened interfaith cooperation throughout the Indonesian nation.

This act of terrorism brought out the best in our nation. It demonstrated the strength of the Australian character, our toughness and our compassion, our fighting spirit and how we stand together in times of adversity. It gave rise to countless acts of individual heroism and the triumph of the human spirit. It resulted in the biggest peacetime emergency evacuation of Australians. More than 100 patients, some horribly burned and injured, many struggling to stay alive, were flown by our Royal Australian Air Force to hospitals around Australia.

In fact, within 24 hours after the blasts, our military forces had delivered 28 of the most critically injured—some with burns to 90 per cent of their bodies, and others suffering terrible shrapnel and trauma injuries—to the Royal Perth Hospital.

Thanks to a revolutionary spray-on skin technology developed in Australia by Australians—a technology which has since been adopted around the globe as world's best practice for treating burns—incredibly, 25 of the most critically injured survived. Although nothing can diminish the pain, the grief and the suffering of the Bali bombings, in the end it has been shown that the forces of good and decency have triumphed over the forces of evil, religious extremism and hatred. Finally, 12 October is a day in our national calendar on which we recognise that freedom, democracy and tolerance can never be taken for granted and we must be ever vigilant to protect them. To those that died, especially the seven beautiful shire girls, I say that as a nation we will never forget them.

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