Speech From National Party Leader Bill English In The House On Bali Bombing
I want to acknowledge the efforts of the Government to find and secure our citizens in Bali. For constituents of mine
Jim and Elaine Mc Dougall, the wait is joyfully over For others the agony is just beginning. Our hopes and prayers are
with the families of those who have been seriously injured and the families of those for whom grave fears are held .
The Balinese people have suffered loss of life and a loss of their livelihood. Other nations have lost citizens too and
today we acknowledge them. As part of the great family of nations turning its mind to the realisation that terrorists
make no distinctions about where its victims are, or from where they come.
And I acknowledge today the suffering and the grief and the shock in so many Australian families We thank the Australian
people for reaching our to our own in time of need. Taking our sick and injured into their care.
This generosity given instinctively from their people to ours is at the heart of the resolve. We must share today with
Australia to pursue the killers who perpetrated this barbaric event
For the terrorists make no distinction. If they bombed Bali because Australia went to Afghanistan. We are there too If
they bombed Bali because Australia went to East Timor We are there too.
There could have been dozens of our citizens in that nightclub.
Young people who play the same sports at the end of the same season.
The terrorists draw no distinction between us and Australia.
Does the terrorist know or care about our so called independent foreign policy.
Puta in Bali has no military significance. The young Aussies and Kiwis who went there could not have been less concerned
about politics, strategy security. It's a holiday spot.
This event brings terrorism to our citizens
We know in our minds that terrorism knows no boundaries. Today we had better believe it.
They are a threat to us though we have never been a threat to them.
That is why a supposedly "independent foreign policy" won't work. The war on terrorism must be global and regional.
Our links with Australia in the war against terror must become stronger - not weaker. Now is the time to reach out, not
hang back
We have thought we were better, different, more moral. If we were, it now makes no difference
A policy that assumes no threat is a dangerous policy in the face of a real threat
We must affirm more strongly than ever our opposition to terror and our support for whatever measures are needed to
bring terrorists to justice.
We must affirm our common bond with Australia.
We can no longer take comfort from our distance and we should no longer take comfort from the fact that Australia lies
as a buffer between Indonesia and us.
The lesion we must learn is that the security of our citizens - and citizens of all countries who share our values - are
now totally interdependent.
We can not protect our citizens around the globe alone. In turn we must protect those who visit us here.
We can start by repairing our defence and intelligence relationship with Australia with whom together we face this
barbarity .