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

I rise to associate myself with the remarks of the Prime Minister. It was a very emotional day. As the Prime Minister and I discussed in the Great Hall, the level of emotion and hurt and all of the conflicting emotions was almost physical; you could almost feel it against your skin. We appreciate the attendance of all the survivors and victims and all those who came to hear the apology. That was a very big compliment that these people paid to this parliament, having been let down by people in power all their lives. To come here and trust us to apologise was, at the very least, remarkable. We acknowledge that too many people didn't survive or weren't able to be there yesterday. We also acknowledge that actions, not words, are what people want. We promise not to second-guess the royal commission; it's the best set of recommendations, the best set of proposals. Especially for those dying and very ill the moment, we need to do everything to speed up redress.

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