Ben Small (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

There have been, as many colleagues across the aisle have reflected, many words. Many fine words have been exchanged here today, but the one that has been missing, from the Prime Minister's address down, is 'sorry'. So I am sorry for being part of a parliament that was supposed to keep Australians safe and failed to do so. For a government that seems unable to say it, I am sorry for the failures in this building that led to 15 Australians being butchered on the sands of Bondi. In a cold moment of reflection, we must acknowledge, each of us, the 226 legislators, decision-makers and leaders that come to Canberra to represent our communities, that this wasn't unthinkable.

Rather, when just 48 hours after the October 7 attacks we saw a congregation of hatred in Sydney chanting death to a community in Australia, there was a warning sign. It is unthinkable, when the ensuing 800 days saw a continuation and indeed an escalation of that hatred by those who would seek to sow division in our community, that this attack was unthinkable. It was less unthinkable after we saw schools graffitied, synagogues firebombed and indeed our nation's national threat level escalated in a formal communication from our intelligence and security apparatus that Australia was expecting a terrorist attack within 12 months. To each of the families, the friends, the neighbours, the colleagues and those community members who have lost a loved one in this attack, I am sorry for my part in that.

This attack represents a loss of innocence for all Australians and indeed the country that we love. We owe it to each of those who have lost their lives and those impacted by this to root out and banish from this country the root cause, which is—we have to call it for what it is—an extremist Islamist fundamentalism that has no place in a free and open Australia.

In any tragedy, in any dark moment, there are of course shining lights. This is no exception, with acts of heroism from police, paramedics, surf lifesavers and ordinary Australians who ran towards the danger. They ran towards the gunfire to act in almost unimaginable valour. I think that is the best of what our country can be and indeed the best of what our country should be.

The late Queen Elizabeth II said that grief is the price we pray for love. I think they are fine words for our grieving families and communities to remember as they cherish those that they have lost. For me personally, I will take their loss—each of those murders—as a stark lesson of the responsibility we carry in this place as legislators. I thank the House.

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