Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that 21 August 2022 is the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism;

(2) remembers those Australians who have lost their lives in terrorism incidents, both abroad and on our shores, and their families who are forever impacted; and

(3) thanks the men and women of our law enforcement and national security agencies who work every day to keep Australians safe from the threat of terrorism.

I rise to move this motion and recognise that the 21st of this month is the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism. It is fitting that we pause and remember those victims, especially those Australians who've perished both here and overseas.

I stood in this place in August 2014 to express the heartfelt shock, grief and sorrow that we all felt about the shooting down of flight MH17. On that flight was one of my constituents, Helena Sidelik, who lived a life of joy, generosity and strength. She embodied all that is good and right with the world—the complete opposite of those who commit atrocious acts of terrorism. At the time, I joined with well over 200 friends and family members to celebrate her life and to mourn with them the loss of a remarkable lady. Sadly, there are stories like this in many communities across Australia.

We all know that Australians were killed in the World Trade Centre attack, the Bali bombings, MH17, the London Underground and London Bridge attacks and other attacks abroad. Sadly, we've also had a number of incidents here, including the Lindt siege and the Bourke Street attack. The truth is that the threat of terrorism and violent extremism has not diminished.

Here in Australia, 144 people have been charged in 71 counterterrorism related operations around Australia since 2014, when the national terrorism threat level was raised to 'probable'. That is why the previous coalition government took decisive action to prevent, detect and deter terror attacks. The new counterterrorism strategy we developed sets out a comprehensive plan to counter violent extremism, equip our law enforcement and intelligence agencies and ensure our laws and arrangements are fit for purpose. Importantly, we delivered record funding in the fight on terror, including an extra $1.3 billion to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and boosting the Australian Federal Police's annual budget to more than $1.7 billion. We've strengthened laws to ensure our highest-risk terrorists remain behind bars and that terrorists serve their full sentences, even when weak state laws provide discounts, and enable us to cancel the citizenship of dual-national terrorists. We've listed terrorist organisations under our Criminal Code, making it illegal to be a member or supporter, including Hezbollah and Hamas in their entirety.

I want to pay tribute today to those brave men and women who work in our national security and law enforcement agencies, because they take up the fight against terror every single day, and we owe them an enormous debt of gratitude. It's a fact that they have thwarted many planned attacks here on home soil and have saved countless lives. Of course, the public rarely get to hear about the attacks that didn't happen. Our teams have also contributed to international intelligence to prevent terrorism abroad. We can be proud of our counterterrorism officers and the contribution that they make. Australia, as it often does, is doing more than our share in the international fight against terror.

Australia is one of the most successful democracies in the world. We have a peaceful, cohesive society, made up of those who have come across the sea as well as those who were born here. Ideologically based violent extremism in any form threatens our way of life and our social fabric. It will never be tolerated. It will never be accepted. And neither should it be. Terrorism has senselessly taken too many Australians from us. On 21 August, we will remember them, and we will acknowledge their families, who still suffer the pain of their loss.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for McPherson for this motion. Almost 20 years ago, at 11 pm on 12 October 2002, three bombs exploded in Bali, one at the Sari Club and one at Paddy's Pub—both Kuta Beach clubs that were popular with foreigners—and one in front of the United States consulate. There were 202 people killed, 88 of them Australians. Scores more were wounded. This attack was the largest single loss of Australian lives due to an act of terror. As well as 88 Australian sons and daughters, there were 38 Indonesian nationals killed, 26 Brits, seven Americans, six Germans, five Swedes, four Dutch, four French, three Danes, three Kiwis, three Swiss, two Brazilians, two Canadians, two Japanese, two South Africans, two South Koreans, an Ecuadorian, a Greek, an Italian, a Pole, a Portuguese and a Taiwanese—human beings all taken from this earth. It was also the largest aeromedical evacuation in Australian history, with at least 66 badly injured people evacuated to Darwin for urgent medical treatment.

I'd like to note that this tragedy also sparked the creation of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, which is in my electorate of Solomon. The centre has done exceptional work ever since then to respond to disasters and emergencies all over the world. It also continues to train medical professionals around the Indo-Pacific in emergency response. And this is very important soft-power work that they do, helping our neighbours.

While 21 August may be the International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, their families grapple with their loss every day of the year. And as we near the 20th anniversary of the Bali bombings in October, the land at the Sari Club still stands vacant. The Australian Bali Peace Park Association had tried for two decades to establish a peace park on the site, but it has since folded. The idea was to provide a space for peaceful reflection and healing after such a terrible act of violence and to be able to secure the ongoing dignity and solemnity of the site. Australia is well placed to mark the anniversary in a number of ways. And there have been a number of ideas floated over the years. I think we should reflect and acknowledge this tragedy 20 years on.

I want to draw the attention of this chamber, and of all members, to the excellent work done in this space by my colleague the member for Cowan. She examined the role of the Australian Bali Peace Park Association in a study of 'terrorist attack sites as theatres of performance that carry symbolic meaning both as the targets of destruction and as spaces for the constant reinterpretation of individual and collective perceptions of terrorism'. The member for Cowan noted in her research that terrorist attack sites are often recognised for their symbolic significance, and that gives the attack and the attackers more power that can be abused and manipulated. So it's our job, as those who remain, to commemorate the victims of terrorism so as to ensure that their deaths are not further weaponised in any way. Creating a park or a sports park is one way of neutralising that and building something positive that can unite Indonesia and Australia and be a clear and direct rejection of terrorism and the division that terrorists seek to sow.

In closing, I want to thank our law enforcement and national security agencies and their dedicated staff, who work so hard to keep Australians safe from terrorism both at home and abroad. They are often unsung heroes. The work that they do every day and the sacrifices that they and their family make are truly incredible and should be acknowledged at every time. I thank the member for bringing this motion to the House.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise also to make a few comments in relation to the motion that is before us. Terrorism is awful. The poor victims of terrorism and their families, particularly the families, live with it for the rest of their lives.

Sadly, terrorism has always been with us. It's something that, in Western society, we might forget about. We might be lulled into a sense of security for a number of years, and then there's an horrific attack, such as what happened in New York a few decades ago, that makes us realise that terrorism could strike at any time and could strike at any one of us. Usually it comes from a place of hate and is designed to cause significant pain and to make a point. Most of us can recall where we were at the time the Twin Towers came down. I was quite young; I was at university. When I first turned on the television, I thought I was watching a movie, only to be shocked to realise that it was actually happening in real time, in real life.

From that moment there's been a significant shift, particularly in Western democracies, around how we need to act and be more vigilant in relation to terrorism. There's been a lot of conversation about what we need to do to ensure that we're not just supporting victims but preventing future attacks. That's where we need to be more engaged and more supportive of groups, and of our society and our governments, who attempt to deradicalise, to build bridges and to engage those who might feel isolated so they don't become more radicalised in our community.

I do note that, of the opposition speakers, none spoke about the horrific terrorism incident that occurred in our neighbouring country New Zealand, where 51 people were killed while worshipping, by an Australian terrorist who went to New Zealand to cause harm. Just as we remember all of the victims and reach out the hand of friendship, we also need to remember that we have a role to play in educating and engaging our own citizens. We have some responsibility in that. He was an awful, awful person who did a horrific thing. He was an Australian, and we all felt a strong sense of shame and disappointment that day that one of our countrymen could do that.

Right-wing terrorism is on the rise, and it is something that our law enforcement agencies work hard to prevent. I know that in my own electorate we had our own scares, which were not talked about a lot because of the great work of our law enforcement agencies. When our council approved the building of a mosque, it became a bit of a stand-off between the far left and the far right, who came to Bendigo to voice their opposition or their support. A few people who attended those rallies in Bendigo were arrested, and it was later discovered that one of those in attendance—a far-right extremist—had bomb-making material on his home computer and had parts of what he could use to make a pipe bomb. It was only because of the amazing efforts of our law enforcement agencies that no real damage was done, and I, as well as many in our community, pay tribute to that.

Coming out of those rallies, there were the first ever convictions in Victoria of far-right extremists for racial vilification. Why does this matter? Because it is about saying to people that you cannot racially vilify; that people have the right to live in this country, to practice their religion and to have freedom of speech; and that we will call it out. Not all right-wing speech and hate leads to terrorism, but it does help inflame and give the okay. If there were not that rally that had been organised, maybe this individual with that equipment would not have been in Bendigo on that day. This is why we have to make sure that we are addressing all aspects of what causes individuals to become radicalised.

These days like the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism are important, not just to say to the families that we feel for them but to recommit, as a society, to being more inclusive, to being strong and vigilant, and to making sure that no-one else ever suffers these terrible tragedies again. (Time expired)

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank all those who have contributed in a bipartisan way on this motion, particularly the member for McPherson for moving it and giving us the opportunity to discuss this very important issue, which is remembering that the world we live in is a dangerous one and that there are a lot of people in this country and around the world who keep us safe and do so much to protect us from the risk of terrorism.

I'm sure everyone in the debate, not just those whom I've listened to since entering the chamber, has talked about some of their own recollections of epochal moments related to terrorist attacks. Obviously, everyone of a certain age has their own recollection of where they were when the September 11 terrorist attacks happened, with the attacks on the World Trade Center and other aircraft hijackings in the United States in 2001. I was in school at the time, and it was the evening here in Australia. Just about to go to bed, I happened to see the very beginnings of the coverage of that attack, which was when the first building had been struck but before the second building was struck. For me, as someone who was only 18 years old, it was the first time I could comprehend something of that magnitude happening. Obviously, it changed the United States dramatically. It changed our country and the whole world dramatically in many ways. I pay tribute to Australians—including members of this parliament such as the member for Herbert, who is with us—who proceeded to serve our nation in Afghanistan and other theatres of conflict in response to the unprovoked attacks and the need to ensure that the people responsible for that were brought to justice and that the risk that they posed was removed. While there were the innocent victims who unfortunately succumbed on that day, there could have been more into the future.

We must always remember that, although we reflect on and think through the attacks that occur, there are so many that could have occurred if our national security agencies didn't do the work that they do. Of course, we'll never know some of the threats that they have removed from the free people of Australia and around the world. But I'm very confident that, if it weren't for the work that they do and the service and protection that they provide, other attacks would have occurred and could occur into the future. This motion gives us an opportunity to really acknowledge that. At times, of course, it's very important that these things be confidential. They are related to the national security of our nation, and so the people who probably give the greatest service to us are not always fully acknowledged publicly, because that's simply not possible. But this gives us the opportunity to make that point through this debate.

I was in London in June 2017 when the London Bridge attacks occurred. I remember that was around 10 o'clock in the evening. I was in my hotel room. I couldn't believe that within walking distance of where I was staying, if I'd decided to go out instead of going back to my hotel room after dinner, I could have been in the midst of a terrorist attack—perhaps a victim of it. Tragically, two Australians were killed in that attack. Of course, the phone lights up and everyone who is back home in Australia who has heard that this has happened is trying to get in contact with you, because they know you're in London and they're desperately concerned that you could have been a victim of this attack. That makes it very real at a personal level, to have been in proximity to the sort of attack that occurred then.

These risks are ever present, and, unfortunately, they will be into the future. We have to accept that. We have had to change the way we live our lives over the last few decades because of the growing risk, particularly through new technology et cetera, of people who want to terrorise free people in nations across the world, just as much here in Australia as anywhere else. We have to remember that there are necessities and there is a balance between the free way we want to live our lives and the important need to give our security services and agencies the powers and the tools they need to protect us, particularly from the great evil of terrorism. I take the opportunity to thank all of the Australian national security agencies that keep us safe and, of course, commemorate victims of terrorism both here in Australia and across the world.

Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I start by thanking the member for McPherson for bringing this motion to the chamber for the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism. That day was established to be 21 August by the UN General Assembly in 2017.

I want to talk about victims of terrorism because as a professor, before I entered parliament, one of my research projects worked very closely with victims of terrorism. I've been honoured to have met many victims of terrorism over the years through my work. What many of them said to me was that there was no voice and no place for victims of terrorism in the construction of counterterrorism policies or in counterterrorism responses. So a lot of my work was looking at ways in which we can bring the voices of victims into how we respond to terrorism. Obviously, I got distracted by a political career, but I'm very proud to say that my work was continued by my PhD student Carmen Jacques, who last year completed her PhD very successfully on victims of terrorism.

I do want to talk a little bit about some of those groups that I met, because I worked very closely with a number of victims, associations and groups over the years in looking at how victims' voices can be brought into counterterrorism legislation and policy. I first want to mention the Omagh Victims Support Group, which was set up in response to the Omagh bombing in 1998, which killed 29 and injured around 200 people. The head of that is an amazing man named Michael Gallagher, who lost his 20 year old son Aiden in the bombing. Aiden's last words to his father were, 'I will not be long, Dad.' That was the last time that Michael saw Aiden. I urge everyone unfamiliar with the story of the Omagh Victims Support Group to watch a movie simply titled Omagh, which very accurately documents the struggle of the survivors and the families of victims of the Omagh bombing to get justice for that act of terrorism.

Among the other people I've met, apart from Michael and the Omagh Victims Support Group, I've also had the pleasure of working with victims of the Bali bombings. Much of my research was on victims of the Bali bombings. Victims of terrorism respond in different ways to their trauma. Some of them become advocates for peace as part of their healing; not all of them, but some do. Indeed, the Bali Peace Park association was comprised of victims and survivors who, together, wanted to come together and establish a peace park on the site of the Sari Club. As we all know, the Bali bombings killed 202 people, 89 of them Australians. Every year on the site of the Sari Club—up until COVID hit—89 candles are lit for each of those Australian victims. I have had the honour, along with my husband, David, of being there with the victims and survivors of the Bali bombings, lighting those candles for the 89 Australians who died. There is a group of survivors of the Bali bombings and victims of the Bali bombings for whom that Sari Club site is sacred land. That is where their loved ones died, that is where they lost their loved ones and that is where their loved ones spent their final hours. I don't think we can underestimate the significance of terrorism sites for those who have survived and the ways in which they provide healing for those victims.

I also want to pay tribute to Gill Hicks, who lost both her legs in the 2005 London bombings. Gill has become a tremendous advocate for peace and reconciliation and for building bridges and coming together. I also want to mention Alpha Cheng, the son of Curtis Cheng, who was killed in a terrorist attack and whom I also worked very closely with in undertaking that work of building bridges, understanding and tackling the social issues that lead a young person down the path of radicalisation to violent extremism. On this day of remembering and paying tribute to the victims of terrorism, I think it's also important to remember that their voices are important, that their voices deserve to be heard, and that we need to listen to how they want to heal.

Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is nothing more important than life. Any loss of life is sad, but a life cut short as a result of terrorism is a tragedy. The hate and horror that is experienced through violent extremists is a blight on the global society and has absolutely no place in humanity. We in this place must do everything we can to stop any and all acts of terror on our shores and abroad. That's why I want to speak in support of this motion recognising the up-and-coming International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism. I'd like to take this opportunity to remember those we've lost to terrorist attacks—men, women, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, mates—every single one of them with more of their life to live and more of themselves to give. Many of them left behind family members who will never be the same and will spend the rest of their own lives mourning the loss of their loved ones.

So we must never take for granted our democracy and the freedoms we have. We must always protect our rights to freedom of speech and expression through the democratic process. The senseless taking of life based on some sort of political motivation is never okay. In that vein, I want to reflect on the contribution of our law enforcement, our national security agencies and the Australian Defence Force. The men and women of these organisations who risk their own lives to preserve the safety of others deserve our full respect and our gratitude. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes that the average person has no idea about, but it's protecting our nation each and every day from the threat of terrorism. For that, I want to say thank you.

I found myself in our nation's fight against terrorism in Afghanistan in 2009 with the Australian Army. We fought the Taliban there so we didn't have to fight them here. We cleared IEDs to preserve life and allow civilians to live their lives and get ahead. We built schools for girls and wells for communities. We did as much as we could to keep the terrorists at bay. I've detailed a number of times in this place the toll that took. I lost mates in country who died wearing the Australian uniform. I've lost mates at home who have succumbed to their war within. I've got friends who have lost limbs, and I suffered permanent injuries from an IED explosion. And almost a year ago, when the Taliban took back Kabul, our nation's bravest returned into the belly of the beast to evacuate thousands of civilian men, women and children. They may have lost their city and country, but our ADF heeded the call to ensure that they didn't lose their lives. These are brave, selfless actions that we must all honour here today.

I want to put on the record that the Taliban are a terrorist organisation; they are no government. Just this year, on the first day of school in Afghanistan, eager female students were arriving for class to learn, to get an education—a fundamental right for children around the world. These Afghan girls were met with closed gates and armed Taliban guards. Girls in Afghanistan are not allowed to get an education, not allowed to learn. We must condemn these disgusting acts from this terrorist group. We must reaffirm that this terrorist group is no friend to democracy, no friend of Australia and no friend to the young girls of Afghanistan.

So many Australians have given up their entire lives to ensure the safety of others. As we remember the victims of terrorism, we must also remember those who became victims because they were fighting it head-on. Sadly, the fight will go on. And that's why we must continue to invest in the services and agencies that protect us and keep us safe. Because of our focus on keeping Australians safe, 144 people have been charged in 71 counterterrorism related operations around Australia since 2014. In a time when the national terrorism threat level was raised to 'probable', that is literally dozens of terrorist attacks that never happened because of the hard work and the intelligence gathering of our agencies. To ASIO, the AFP, the Australian Defence Force—to the many agencies that keep us safe—I want to say thank you. Thank you for your hard work in ensuring that we can live the lives we live today.

To all those who have lost a loved one to terrorism, I offer my sincere condolences. And to those who fight every day against the threat of terror, thank you—you have our utmost respect and support.

Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly I thank the member for McPherson for bringing this motion before the House. Right around the world, there would be a lot of public sympathy for victims of terrorism over the last four or five decades. Indeed, it has become almost part and parcel of the world we live in today that, all too often, innocent people—men, women and children—are mercilessly killed by people that don't even know them, people that they have never seen and people to whom they have never done anything wrong.

I particularly want to use this occasion to talk about two of those victims. One was Angela Golotta, a 19-year-old Australian whom I knew personally and whose family I know personally, who was killed in the Bali bombings on 12 October 2002 in the Sari Club. Angela was there with her mother, her father and her brother, holidaying in Bali at the time of the bombing. Her parents and her brother had just left the Sari Club to go back to their hotel, when, a few minutes later, they heard the bombing—Angela had remained back at the Sari Club for a few more minutes—and raced back to the club.

I can recall listening to the story of her father, John Golotta, who was talking about the horrific carnage that he had walked into. I believe he was, in fact, the first person to set foot into the Sari Club after the bombing—seeing the bodies on the floor, some still alive, many dead, with him calling out for his daughter. It is something that I'm sure he will never, ever forget, not only because his daughter was there but also because of the carnage he saw. I know that every year, on the anniversary date, it's a very sad occasion for his family, particularly when other community and family events arise and she is no longer with them—a young 19-year-old who had the future ahead of her and was tragically taken.

The second person whom I also knew very well was Andrew Knox. Andrew was killed in the Twin Towers disaster in the US on 11 September 2001. I can recall Andrew, before he went to America to take up his new posting, meeting with me only weeks before he left Australia. He then went to take up that new posting. On the day of the Twin Towers disaster—or only the next morning, I think—I can recall getting a telephone call from a very close friend of his, telling me that Andrew was one of the people in the building and about Andrew's last conversation with this person, who was relaying the information to me. Indeed, I believe Andrew was on the phone, trying to make contact with his own family, at the time. I attended Andrew's funeral, which was very well supported in Adelaide. Again, I look back at both Andrew and Angela and I see two young people—Andrew was 29—who genuinely had a tremendous future ahead of them and whose lives came to an end in those two disasters.

When I think of both of them, I also think of the literally thousands of people who have, over the years, lost their lives. Many of them I don't know, and most of us in this room would not know them, but to their families the same applies. Sadly, it seems to me that, because terrorist activities seem to happen all too often, it's now almost become simply another statistic. The reality is that for those people it is not a statistic; it's a real human life that has been lost. I say that in the context that we, as people of this world and with our fellow people around the world, need to do whatever we can to try and prevent more atrocities from happening.

Almost on a weekly basis, we hear in the USA of shootings, even in places like kindergartens and schools where innocent children are going about their daily lives. Parents send them to a place where they think that they will be safe and that they will see them at the end of the day. When I think about that and think of my own children and now my grandchildren and think it could have been one of our children that didn't come home, I can understand the feelings and the emotions they must go through. It is not just for those people who have lost their lives that lives change; for their families, lives change forever as well. So I say to the members of this House that we must collectively do whatever we can to prevent those kinds of atrocities.

I thank the first responders—not just our law enforcement agencies for the tremendous work they do but also those people who, when something like this happens, when there is an horrific act of terrorism, are the first ones on the scene to see what happens and pick up the pieces. So I give them all my thanks.

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.