As so many of my colleagues before me have said, Bali is a much loved place, frequently visited by people from around the world, who consider it to be a very special place. Bali has for years been a popular holiday destination for many Australians. Many from my own electorate of Calwell flock there with friends and family. Although I have never had the opportunity to visit, I have many friends and family who have holidayed in Bali. On returning home, they are forever smitten by its beauty and in particular are impressed by the friendliness and charm of the Balinese people.
The 2002 Bali bombings horrified and outraged the entire world community. No-one could believe that this much loved island paradise could have been violated in such a vicious and lethal way. We came together and mourned for the huge loss of life, including the significant number of Australians, and we struggled to cope with and to understand the motivation for these bombings and their tragic consequences. We came together with our Indonesian neighbours and we forged a new relationship based on our cooperation and acknowledgment that we were all facing a common threat and that, as such, we had to stand together.
The healing process has been a long and difficult one, but we could have said—until recently, that is—that in recent times a new-found confidence had emerged in Bali. Tourism was thriving, people were beginning to return and everything appeared to be back on track. The events of 2002 were slowly being put behind everyone. But then the second Bali bombings took place, and they leave us once again mourning for our dead and wondering why.
No-one can make any sense of these senseless killings. They are horrific acts that leave pain and suffering in their tracks, acts that in a split second cause loss of life for innocent people and a lifetime of grieving for those who have lost their loved ones. As a nation and as members of the world community, we must again stand together with Indonesia and offer support and compassion to the victims and their families.
However, today I want to take the opportunity to reflect on the actions of terrorists who are prepared to take their own lives in a cause that is committed to nothing more than murdering innocent people. As we all know and have seen, suicide bombing attacks result in widespread carnage. As is the nature of indiscriminate acts of terrorism, the action itself is wilful, calculated and well planned. It is not the spontaneous action of uncontrolled rage or mental illness; it is the premeditated action of killers with a cause.
As we struggle to understand the motivation of terrorists, we constantly ask ourselves questions. Is it a case of a clash of civilisations? Is it religious fundamentalism? Is it poverty and disadvantage? Is it the result of dominant foreign policies and military activities? Can the resentment bred by the war in Afghanistan and the ongoing war in Iraq be to blame? Whatever the mix of reasons that seek to explain the motivation behind terrorism, one thing is certain: no cause, divine or secular, can ever justify the deliberate taking of innocent life. These actions are criminal. They are immoral and they are sins against faith. Indeed, in this instance, they are sins against the teachings and principles of Islam. My very large Islamic community constantly reminds me that, like other religious faiths, Islam teaches peace and compassion. It requires its faithful to practise in a manner that is benevolent and loving and rejects totally the killing of innocent people in its name.
We need to reflect on this tragedy, both as a nation and as an active member of our geographical region. We also need to consider our relationship with our largest and closest neighbour, Indonesia. People are brought together during times of adversity. The tragedies of the Bali bombings in 2002, the bombing outside the Australian embassy in 2004, the Boxing Day tsunami and now the most recent bombings in Bali have forged, and indeed strengthened, our relationship with our closest neighbour, Indonesia.
In July, I and the member for Melbourne Ports were members of a delegation that visited Jakarta. We were there with other colleagues from the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, and our visit was sponsored by the Institute for Democratic Studies. The delegation aimed at developing relations between Indonesian and Australian members of parliament. I want to record the warmth of the reception we received from our Indonesian colleagues. I was very impressed, as was my colleague the member for Melbourne Ports, by the interest they took in learning about Australia and its people. This is the basis upon which we build our mutual relations—getting to know each other fosters better understanding; it helps demystify and breaks down barriers. We have a lot to learn about our neighbours, but they, too, want to know more about us. Communication and cooperation at all levels between governments, parliamentarians, diplomats, security officials and ordinary people in general are an effective way of tackling the propaganda and prejudice of radicals and fundamentalists who prey on the hearts and minds of malleable people, leading them to commit mass murder and leading them to their own self-destruction in the service of an evil cause.
As a country, Australia can play a significant role in maintaining the communication channels needed to allow for the exchange of dialogue between ourselves and the Indonesian people. We are already doing this, but we must increase the effort. Our national security depends largely on the success of the dialogue and on cooperation between our two governments—indeed, between our people. To this end, we also need to acknowledge and commend the work of all the people who have rallied yet again, starting with the Balinese medical staff, the Indonesian police and the Indonesian government officials. In relation to the Australian relief effort, commendations must go to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade personnel, the Australian Defence Force, the Australian Federal Police, the Royal Australian Air Force, the medical teams at the Royal Darwin Hospital, officials at the Australian embassy and, in particular, our ambassador Mr David Ritchie, whom I met on our trip to Indonesia in July. Most of all, we have to thank the public for their assistance in this great time of need.
I also take this opportunity to offer my sympathy to the people of Pakistan and India who are enduring massive loss of life and destruction of property as a result of last Saturday’s earthquake, which has, as we know, devastated north-east Pakistan and the Indian-held areas of Kashmir. We are looking potentially at a loss of up to 40,000 people, and this is a staggering number. In addition to dealing with so many deaths, the people of Pakistan and India who have survived this crisis will now face the long and difficult task of trying to rebuild their lives. Australia needs to do whatever is possible to assist in the immediate aftermath as well as into the future. Rescue efforts, I understand, are being hampered by mountainous terrain, but I want to commend our efforts and the efforts of the international community. In the midst of the tragedy we will also learn of happy moments, such as the story of the rescue of the young boy and girl who were pulled alive from the rubble of their collapsed school. This is so typical when natural disasters unfortunately strike. In the last 12 months our world community has been stricken with natural disasters that have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
I would like to take this opportunity to express some thoughts for the people in Guatemala who are also experiencing hardship and loss because of the hurricane activities and the rains which have resulted in severe flooding and mud slides. In countries like Guatemala, which many Australians do not know very much about, there is extreme poverty. People, particularly those in the indigenous community, are forced to live in the most difficult and deprived conditions. These floods and mud slides have wiped away homes and livelihoods on a grand scale. There does not appear to be any hope of recovery. Again another corner of our world community faces grief and an uncertain future.
These natural disasters are a constant reminder that we live in a world that is very fragile and unpredictable. For those of us who are fortunate enough to live in better circumstances, such as we who live in Australia, our duty must always be to lend the best possible assistance we can. We have a good record of doing so and we must continue to do so. We must be fully aware that a great number of people in the world community rely on our support.
