STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms SITOU (Reid) (13:34): Today marks 35 years since the Strathfield massacre. On 17 August 1991, seven innocent people were killed and six others seriously injured in 10 terrifying minutes at Strathfield Plaza. Today we remember Roberta Armstrong, Carole Dickinson, George Mavris, Rachelle Milburn, Joyce Nixon, Patricia Rowe and Robertson Kan Hock Voon.

We remember them not simply as names on a memorial but as people who were loved—family members, friends and neighbours whose lives were taken far too soon. We also remember the extraordinary courage shown that afternoon. Greg Read, a Vietnam War veteran, ran ahead of the gunman through the plaza and into the car park, warning people to take cover even as shots were being fired around him.

Police later estimated that his actions saved at least eight people. He was rightly awarded the Star of Courage. And we acknowledge the police, paramedics and other first responders who ran towards danger to protect others, including then 19-year-old Constable Liam Pigott, one of the first officers on the scene.

Thirty-five years on, the pain of that day remains part of Strathfield's story, and we honour and remember those who were lost.