20 years ago, at 11pm on October 12, 2002 three bombs exploded in Bali.
One at the Sari Club, one at Paddy’s Bar, both Kuta Beach clubs popular with foreigners, and one in front of the United States consulate.
202 people were killed, 88 of them Australians. Scores more were wounded.
That attack was the largest single loss of Australian lives due to an act of terror.
It was also the largest aero-medical evacuation in Australian history, with at least 66 badly injured people evacuated to Darwin for medical treatment.
I’d like to note here 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 with disasters and emergencies all over the world.
It also continues to train medical professionals around the Indo-Pacific in emergency response.
And while August 21st may be the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, their families grapple with their loss every day.
As we near the 20th anniversary of the Bali Bombings in October, the land at the Sari Club still stands vacant.
The Australia Bali Peace Park Association has tried for two decades to establish a peace park on the site, but have 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 with a scholarship round for studies in tourism and hospitality for someone from Bali and each of their five Tourism Priority areas.
I would also like to draw attention to the excellent work done in this space by my colleague, the Member for Curtin.
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 both individual and collective perceptions of terrorism.”
The Member for Curtin noted in her research that terrorist attack sites are often recognised for their symbolic significance.
And that gives the attack, and attackers, more power to be abused and manipulated.
It’s our job as those who remain to commemorate the victims of terrorism, to ensure that their deaths are not further weaponised in this way.
Creating a peace park or sports park is a 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 terrorists seek to sow.
I would also like 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.
