MELBOURNE
Australians who lost family members and friends in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine gathered Friday to mark the one-year anniversary of the tragedy.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott unveiled a plaque carrying the names of the 38 Australian passengers who lost their lives on July 17 last year, placed in a garden outside parliament in soil brought back from the crash by an Australian police officer.
“They deserved to be welcomed home, not shot out of the sky in a war of aggression by one country against a smaller neighbor,” ABC-News quoted him as saying in a speech at the memorial service in Canberra, referring to ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
"In the worst of times, you have displayed the strength of giants and the grace of angels, and I am humbled by your example," Abbott said.
"Now we owe it to the dead to bring the guilty to justice. We owe it to the living to work for a more just and humane world, a world where people can turn their faces to the sun with the shadows behind them like the sun flowers blooming again in the fields where MH17 came down."
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop read a message by the parents of three children – Mo, Evie and Otis Maslin – who lost their lives alongside their grandfather.
“No hate in the world will ever be as strong as the love we have for each other. As our kids always said,” The Australian quoted her as saying as she raised two fingers, “peace out.”
Meanwhile, opposition leader Bill Shorten also paid tribute to the friends and relatives of the victims.
“No inscription on a plaque can remotely capture the depth of loss or the sense of sadness that you feel,” he said. “Even though no memorial can truly speak for the love and the laughter taken far too soon, the potential and the possibility left unfulfilled, the memorial that we dedicated earlier today will stand for all time in tribute to the people you loved and lost.”
All 298 passengers and crew on board Kuala Lumpur-bound Flight MH17 died when the aircraft was shot down July 17 over eastern Ukraine, while flying from Amsterdam.
Last weekend, Malaysia held a memorial service marking the one-year anniversary, during which Prime Minister Najib Razak said that a multinational investigation into the tragedy is nearing conclusion, and authorities would be able to name the party responsible for the fatal incident.
“We are not pointing fingers at anyone until there is clear evidence, but we condemn this heartless, uncivilized, violent and irresponsible action,” he had told some 1,000 people, comprising of next-of-kin, foreign dignitaries and government officials, gathered at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Earlier this week, the five countries investigating the MH17 crash – including Belgium, the Netherlands and Ukraine -- urged the United Nations Security Council to establish a criminal tribunal to charge those found responsible for downing the ill-fated plane.
