Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I've had the honour of hosting two extraordinary young people in my office: Yanky Super, whose family lives in my electorate; and Mendy Liberman, a paramedic who was working the day of the Bondi terror attack. Mendy was thrown into the scene and was asked to triage all of the different victims of that day. What was even harder and more extraordinary about his efforts was that he was a member of the community himself. I asked him: 'How do you know that it's safe for you to go in there? How do you make the decision, as a first responder, to put yourself in harm's way and decide that you're going to get in there?' And he said: 'Look, sometimes you don't really know the full answer to that. You don't know what's around you. And if you leave people too long, to know that the scene is a hundred per cent safe, then it's going to be too late.' What he did is he started triaging people, and one of the people who he triaged was one of his best friends, Yanky Super. Yanky was also a first responder volunteer. He was shot in the back and he still has shrapnel all around his back. It hurts to move in certain ways. Extraordinarily, when he was being presented to his good friend Mendy, who was triaging people, he was telling him to send other people who needed help to the hospital. At that point, he actually had a collapsed lung and was fighting for his life.

These two young men faced more than they ever should have that day. But, when they were sitting in my office, they were beaming and they were talking, speaking about hope and about how they are. It was one of the most incredible moments I've had in my office. I was privileged to meet two people who embody the very best of our country. In the hardest of moments, they rose to the occasion. They were selfless, they were powerful, they were kind and they were generous to everyone around them.

These two men, Mendy and Yanky, were a privilege to speak to. I'm in awe of their bravery. I'm in awe of the way that Yaakov 'Yanky' Super, who is literally still dealing with shrapnel all through his back, is able to not be bitter but to actually be hopeful, to talk about his experience and to talk about the work he's done since. He was very grateful for all of the engagement right across this place from all different sides of politics and didn't have an ounce of bitterness in him. Mendy, who's dedicated his life to being a first responder, spoke about the humility and the importance of what he went through. I thank them both for all of their efforts.

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