Subjects: Bondi Junction tragedy.
E&OE
PETER DUTTON:
Well, it’s obviously a very emotional place, and the emotion is still raw for many local members of the community who were impacted, directly or indirectly.
I want to say thank you very much to Kellie for her bravery as a local member and the way that she’s provided support to local residents here. Also to Richard and Andrew Bragg, who are here today as well – important leaders in the local community.
It’s striking when you look among the flowers there and the bouquets and the beautiful messages, to see the teddy bears that sit among the flowers. Obviously, when you see an attack like this, it’s repugnant enough that people are targeted, but in the case where women are targeted or children are the victims, there’s a particular chord that that strikes in the community.
So, I’m honoured to be here today to pay respect to those who have lost their lives, to honour the very many brave acts and to be part of the healing process and the unifying process that must happen for our country after a period of grief and horror like this.
Most importantly, at the moment, our thoughts and prayers are with those who are still in hospital or recovering from the physical and mental scars that will, in many cases, take a lifetime to heal. So, to all those family and friends and all those who have really been particularly impacted, we send our very warm and heartfelt wishes to them as well.
QUESTION:
Should the injured security guard be granted an Australian visa?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, that’s obviously an issue for the Prime Minister. I think, at the moment, the focus really is on those who have lost their lives, those who are recovering, and I think any other matter can be dealt with in due course.
QUESTION:
The Prime Minister’s given the visa to the French man, should not the Pakistani also be granted one?
PETER DUTTON:
I’ve answered that question.
QUESTION:
Mr Dutton, you spent some time writing in the condolence book, are you able to give us an insight into what you wrote and your thoughts for people who were caught up in this?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I wanted to, again, offer my condolences to the victims and to the local community. I wanted to send a very clear message of thank you to the acts of bravery, and I made the point in my condolence note about the complete strangers who put their own lives at risk, who tended to those who were injured. Kellie was talking before about the horror of people running from a threat that they didn’t really understand at the time; old people who couldn’t run but knew that there was a threat and that they could be in harm’s way.
I made the point that the act of bravery from the Police Inspector, I mean, we’ll never know of course, but there’s no doubt in my mind that her act of bravery, when you see her striding toward the threat, and the way in which she professionally responded, that absolutely saved lives. How many? We don’t know. It would have been very difficult for the police not knowing where the individual was in a shopping centre of that size to locate, and people would have been in harm’s way for a lot longer. So, I recognised all of that, and as I say, the point about unifying after a moment of national tragedy is an important one for us all to dedicate ourselves to.
Thank you very much.
[ends]