We have had more very bad news out of the Middle East.
It seems that one of the Japanese hostages has been executed by the Daesh death cult. This is an absolute atrocity – an absolute atrocity.
It is hard to imagine the anguish that that hostage’s family would be going through, the anguish that the other hostage’s family would now be going through and indeed the anguish that the people of Japan would now be suffering.
All this means is it’s more important than ever to do everything we can to disrupt and degrade the death cult. That’s all it is – a death cult. It is in love with death. It glories in killing people. It is a sign of the dark age which is descended upon large parts of Eastern Syria and Northern Iraq.
I am pleased and proud that the Australian Armed Forces are doing what they can in the Middle East right now to contribute to disrupting and degrading this death cult.
I am also proud of the work that our security forces are doing here at home to ensure that people influenced by this death cult are not in a position to do us harm.
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