THE HON MARK DREYFUS KC MP
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
CABINET SECRETARY
MEMBER FOR ISAACS
MH17 Commemoration Address
Wednesday, 17 July 2024
Your Majesties, Prime Minister, Ministers, members of the diplomatic corps, and the next of kin and loved ones of the victims of Flight MH17, good afternoon.
It is an honour to be with you today, to have had the privilege to speak to many of you, and to address a nation that, like Australia, is still grieving. It is a responsibility I do not take lightly.
I also wish to acknowledge the presence of the representatives of fellow Joint Investigation Team countries and grieving nations.
Your presence today is a reminder that none of us are alone in marking our grief.
Today marks ten years since the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over the east of Ukraine.
On 17 July 2014, Flight MH17 was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. 298 individuals, each with their own dreams and plans for the future, were on board.
Some were crew members, working to ensure passengers’ safety and comfort. Some were families returning home from holidays of a lifetime.
Some were leaving home to visit loved ones on the other side of the world.
Others were doctors and activists heading to Melbourne, Australia, for an international AIDS conference. All of these people put their trust in the safety of civil aviation.
Yet all of these people had their lives tragically cut short in a senseless act of violence.
Among those who lost their lives were 38 people who called Australia home. The Netherlands continue to grieve the 196 Dutch nationals who lost their lives that day.
Through this tragedy, our shared grief and our relentless pursuit for truth, justice and accountability has deepened forever the strong bond and partnership between Australia and the Netherlands.
To all the 298 victims’ next-of-kin and loved ones gathered here and elsewhere today, I know that no words can ease the pain that you continue to feel.
To the next-of-kin networks across the grieving nations – and particularly to our hosts today, Stichting Vliegramp MH17– you have our deepest respect for all the work you do to ensure those who lost their lives are never forgotten, and for the courage and solidarity you have each shown in the face of such inexplicable tragedy.
For while the story of Flight MH17 is one of great tragedy, it is also a story of humanity, empathy and solidarity.
I wish to take a moment to pay tribute to those who travelled to Ukraine and the Netherlands after the downing of Flight MH17 to investigate the crash, and those who tirelessly worked on the investigations in the years since.
I also wish to pay tribute to all those who supported grieving families, friends and communities as they came to terms with the loss of their loved ones in such unimaginable circumstances. I hope you each know the impact your work has had, and how much it is valued.
Above all, over the last 10 years, the next-of-kin have been central to our endeavours in seeking truth, justice and accountability for the victims of the downing of Flight MH17.
We remain resolute in that mission.
Since 2022, Australia and the Netherlands have been working together to pursue a case against the Russian Federation in the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization for its role in the downing of Flight MH17.
Australia deplores the Russian Federation’s withdrawal last month from these proceedings.
Nonetheless, we presented our case before the Council, including the compelling evidence demonstrating that the Russian Federation was responsible for the downing, through its role in the transport, deployment and use of the missile launcher that shot down Flight MH17.
The evidence used in these proceedings followed the extensive efforts of investigators who participated in the technical investigation led by the Dutch Safety Board, and the criminal investigation conducted by the multinational Joint Investigation Team.
Just under two years ago, the District Court of The Hague found Russians Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, and Ukrainian separatist Leonid Kharchenko guilty for their involvement in the downing of Flight MH17.
No amount of avoidance or obfuscation by the Russian Federation can avoid that fact.
The District Court of The Hague sentenced all three in absentia to life imprisonment for their involvement in this criminal act. It remains our collective intent that those individuals serve their sentences.
The evidence used to convict these individuals was a result of the extensive and collaborative work of the Joint Investigation Team.
I reiterate my sincere thanks to the hundreds of investigators involved in this thorough and painstaking work – from our own Australian Federal Police, and counterparts from the Netherlands, Malaysia, Belgium and Ukraine.
I would like to recognise the bravery of the next of kin, many of who retold their heartbreaking stories last month before the European Court of Human Rights, after previously providing their victim impacts statement in the criminal proceedings.
Your testimonies are a true demonstration of humanity and strength which honoured the lives of the loved ones you have lost.
While it may be some time before judgment is handed down, we have already seen important steps towards the pursuit of truth, justice and accountability – with the Court finding in admissibility proceedings a year ago that the Russian Federation exercised jurisdiction in the east of Ukraine when Flight MH17 was shot down.
This was the first time an international court has confirmed the Russian Federation’s involvement in the downing of the aircraft.
The downing of Flight MH17 has had an unquantifiable impact on the grieving nations.
The loss of all 298 people on board continues to be felt in the voids in our homes, in our workplaces, in our schools, in literature, in science and in the arts, on our beaches and by our canals, but so very personally, in the arms of loved ones.
I know that the downing of Flight MH17 has caused grief, anger and despair. Grief for the loss of loved ones.
Anger at the senselessness of the downing of a civilian aircraft. And despair, after 10 years have passed without any acknowledgment of responsibility from the Russian Federation.
But I also know that the international community has not forgotten. We have remained steadfast in our commitment to seeking truth, justice, and accountability for the victims of the downing of Flight MH17, their communities, and their loved ones.
Today, we pause to remember the 298 people on-board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on the 17th of July, 2014.
Today, we honour their lives, remember their dreams, and grieve with those left behind.
Today, we remain unwavering in our determination to ensure truth, justice and accountability for the victims and their loved ones.
Five years ago, former Prime Minister Mark Rutte shared a poem by one of your compatriots on loss, disbelief and acceptance.
Today, I would like to do the same. Australian author, Liam Davison, was one of the Australians lost in the downing alongside his wife Frankie: an extraordinary writer, great friend, keen cyclist, father to Sam and Milly, and brother to Bryan, who joins us with his family.
His short story, Men Like Beattie, speaks of unexpected loss, unresolved accountability and living with ongoing grief. This passage is about navigating those complex feelings, like a surfer in the ocean –
“He feels the drawn out turn as it threatens to close – like grief or sorrow, something that you pull against and use to your advantage to send you gliding, straight down the shining line that folds and pitches before you, and you find the spot and hold it, keeping just ahead of it… always.”
Thank you.
END
