SPEECH - LALOR PARK TRAGEDY - HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - 9 SEPTEMBER 2015

09 September 2015

DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Lalor Park is one of the oldest and most well-established suburbs in the electorate of Greenway. It is a close-knit community. It is comprised of good people. It is a proud community, and one which in recent years has been actively focusing on its renewal for the good of all of its citizens.

So it was with great distress that we woke up this morning to the news that a grandmother and her seven-year-old grandson were found dead—stabbed to death—on their own lawn and a neighbouring lawn. The perpetrator appears to be the son of the grandmother and the uncle of the seven-year-old.

That little boy's schoolfriends will be feeling that loss today, as will his family and his grandmother's friends. It will be a time of intense grief.

We need to let Blacktown Local Area Command do its job, and I commend them for doing their job. There will be another job to examine what has happened here and to let justice be done. There will be many questions, including on reports that ice played a role and may, indeed, have influenced the outcome here.

As the member for Greenway, I want to assure the people of Lalor Park that I stand with them. In fact, I believe all members of this parliament stand with the community of Lalor Park today at this time of intense grief. We share your sorrow and we express that most sincerely today.