PRIME MINISTER:
It is a real honour to be here today. It was particularly good to say hello to Joel Herat again. What an incredible thing to come back to work after the ordeal that he and his workmates went through.
I am full of admiration for people who – despite going through something horrific that no one should have to experience – are able to front up and get on with life.
So, good on him, and good on everyone associated with this Lindt Cafe and it is a tribute to the spirit of Sydney and Australia that after one of the most gruesome days in our national life, this cafe has now reopened and is full of the usual spirit of Australian people.
QUESTION:
PM, what message are you trying to send by coming here personally?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, it's obviously a message of support for everyone who suffered on that terrible day. It's a message of solidarity, in particular, with the staff of the Lindt Cafe and of course it's a message of memory for Tori Johnson and for Katrina Dawson. I mean, we have to remember the Dawson family, the Johnson family, and their terrible loss.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, what was the buzz in there? What did you speak to people about? To whom did you speak?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I think all of them are there to show solidarity with the workers of the Lindt Cafe and with those who were killed or injured on that terrible day. I think there was, I guess, relief that life goes on; exuberance, almost, at what exhilaration Sydneysiders naturally have; but also sorrow that we had to endure what was – for everyone who lived through it – an absolutely harrowing time.
QUESTION:
Did you have any safety concerns coming here?
PRIME MINISTER:
Oh, of course not. Of course not. Look, you know, the message that the Australian people will always give to terrorists is that you might occasionally frighten us, but you will never change the way we live.
You will never change the values that are ours.
Thanks so much.
[ends]