Thirty years after the Port Arthur massacre, the terrible, indiscriminate cruelty of that day remains beyond understanding. 

Australia pauses today to remember the 35 people whose lives and futures were so pitilessly stolen from them just because they happened to be there.

We think of everyone whose world was shattered by the loss of those who had been the bright centre of their lives, their love left desperately wrapped around an absence. 

Our hearts go out to everyone who has lived with decades of loss, and every survivor and loved one who is no longer with us but was shadowed by an inconsolable grief for the rest of their days.

We think of all who survived but with memories that would never soften.

We express our gratitude to the first responders who arrived in scenes of unspeakable horror but somehow found the strength to do their duty.

We think of the broader Tasmanian community, which was shaken to the core, but came together in love and extraordinary resilience – and in the process, lifted Australia when we so desperately needed it.

We honour the extraordinary courage that emerged from shattering grief. We think of Walter Mikac who channelled his devastating loss into a call for national action on gun reform, writing to Prime Minister Howard with a message that echoes through the decades: “Be strong, act now”. 

Australia is a better place because the Government and the Parliament of the day came together to answer Walter’s call. 

This is what we hold on to – the abiding memory that somehow amid the most terrible darkness the best of humanity found a way to shine.

Three decades on from that day when our nation stopped, let us stand together as we stood together then, united in love for everyone who never came home.