Early this morning a video was released which appears to show the murder of Kenji Goto, the second Japanese hostage held by the Daesh death cult.
As Prime Minister Abe has said, this is a despicable act of terrorism. My thoughts and prayers are with Mr Goto’s family and friends as they deal with the anguish caused by this atrocity, in particular with his daughters who have had their father stolen from them.
The killings of Mr Goto and Haruna Yukawa are the latest outrages designed to intimidate the international community from taking action to resolve the crisis in Iraq and Syria. I welcome Prime Minister Abe’s resolve not to yield to terrorism and his determination that Japan will continue to expand its humanitarian assistance, including food aid and medical support.
Australia will continue to do what it can to combat this death cult. The Australian Defence Force is working with our partners to disrupt, degrade and ultimately defeat this threat to the peoples of Iraq and Syria, the international community and our domestic security.
1 February 2015