By GEORGIA LYSAGHT
Dear Mr Abbott,
My brother, Scott Lysaght, was killed in the 2002 Bali Bombing at the Sari Club. As you can imagine, our family – his wife, my mother and father, my sister, and I were all devastated.
You too have experienced first hand the impact of a terror attack when you assisted Australians affected by the 2005 Bali bombing. I understand that you stayed there all day, helping not only those who had been injured but supporting and comforting their families.
In the wake of the 2002 Bali bombings I was overwhelmed by the support and kindness that my family and I received from everyday Australians – family, friends, co-workers, and even perfect strangers. For me, this kind of humanity represents a key element of what it is to be Australian. Yet, I remember also being extremely distressed as I heard violent sentiments on talk back radio – one that stuck with me was a caller who wanted to put all of “them” in the Melbourne Cricket Ground and let the victims of the Bali bombings and their families beat them up. I did not want any act of violence, racism, or bigotry to be justified in my brother’s name, my family’s name, or my name.
After Scott died, I made the deliberate decision to act as a proponent of peace in my own small way, by actively engaging with people from cross-cultural backgrounds, exercising respect and tolerance, standing up to racism, and expanding my knowledge about the world around me.
For example, my honours and PhD theses both focused upon the case study of Indonesia. This provided me with the opportunity to learn as much as I could about Indonesia, make a lot of Indonesian friends, and to see the individuals who were responsible for the Bali bombings as un-representative of the broader Indonesian population.
Top Comments
its a pity that Oz PMs of both parties serve the 1% who require terror in order to secure their profiteering; it would be better if they were to listen to the majority of Oz citizens who I believe would rather we didn't invade other countries (the start of all this)- and 'raising the terror alert' a cynical ploy to divert attention from his disaster capitalism budget playbook; and human beings- brothers, mothers, children- get lost in all of this.
I think that media is who she should be appealing to as they are the ones that sensationalise everything and promote such responses. if the preventative security measures were not taken who is to say that another Bali situation would not occur here? then everyone would really be up in arms that Australia's government did not do anything to prevent it despite having the intelligence that such attacks are imminent (as we saw by the recent arrests of those in Brisbane and Sydney).