Norway

It’s hard to believe that something so wrong can occur in today’s age. Have we not learned from all the suffering that humanity has has witnessed in the past?

A life is priceless, it’s immeasurable. What’s left are the impressions and lessons these innocent souls have left us. Many people join with other like minded people to live out and enjoy their political principles and beliefs on how society should function. As close as we may be to those ideals, one should never have to die for them. Not in a democracy, not in any form of government for that matter and definitely not in 2011.

The saddest part of this tragedy is that the problem is a human one. For this reason, we must provide a resolution. It’s through our strength, our solidarity and empathy that we can ever cope and continue forward. It’s through, love respect and hope that we can face tomorrow.

I can’t comfort those Norwegian families with my words. My only gesture is to say that on Saturday, we in Australia hurt too. We are all saddened. Humanity all over the world hurts when these things happen. I can extend my solidarity and my sympathy. May the memories of those deceased brothers and sisters be kept alive by those who knew and loved them.

We won’t forget. We won’t stop. We will continue because this is human nature. Together, we are all stronger than hate, fear, violence and evil.
Peace is the answer, love is the ingredient and understanding is the key.

Bless you all.
A fraternal hug from your brothers and sisters in Australia.

What has happened to our national conscience? We used to pride ourselves on being the land of the fair go; we used to think of ourselves as decent, generous and compassionate. We worry about the victims of tsunamis overseas, and we worry about the mistreatment of Australian cattle overseas. Why are we willing to treat asylum seekers so badly? Why are we even thinking about sending them to another country so they can be mistreated out of sight?

PAUL PEARCE: Labor has got to go back to being a labour party, a social democratic party. We, for the last 25 years have been involved in deregulation, we’ve been involved in market-based economics, we should be the party looking after the working class, we should be a party looking after the trade union movement, we should be a party actually supporting public ownership and public regulation.

Former member for Coogee in NSW Parliament. Defeated in 2011 state election.