Like so many Australians, I can still remember the shock and disbelief of watching the events of September 11 unfold.
It is difficult to believe 25 years have now passed.
The images of that day remain etched in our memories, ordinary people going about their lives, families suddenly torn apart, and courageous first responders running towards unimaginable danger as others desperately tried to escape.
Behind those images are almost 3,000 individual lives that were never allowed to continue. They were mums and dads, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, colleagues and friends. Their loved ones have now carried that loss for a quarter of a century.
While the attacks took place on American soil, their impact was felt around the world, including right here in Rockhampton and across Central Queensland.
People here watched the same horrifying images and shared the same sense of disbelief, sadness and uncertainty about what this meant for the world our children would inherit.
September 11 was not simply an attack on buildings or on the United States. It was an attack on the Western values we share, democracy, freedom, tolerance and the right of ordinary people to live their lives without fear.
Australia stood with the United States then, just as Australians continue to stand against terrorism, hatred and violent extremism today.
September 11 changed our world. For many of us, it changed the way we thought about our own safety and reminded us that the freedoms and security we enjoy can never simply be taken for granted.
Twenty-five years later, that lesson remains important.
Australia must continue to be vigilant against terrorism, violent extremism and anyone who seeks to do harm to our people or undermine our peaceful and democratic way of life.
That means supporting our intelligence, defence and law-enforcement agencies, protecting our borders and ensuring our immigration system is carefully managed, properly resourced and supported by rigorous security and character checks.
Australia is a proud and successful multicultural nation, and generations of migrants have made an enormous contribution to our country. Australians are also entitled to expect their government to know who is entering our country and to make the safety, security and social cohesion of the Australian people its highest priority.
On this anniversary, however, politics comes second to remembrance.
Today is about the people who left home on an ordinary September morning and never returned.
Twenty-five years may have passed, but we have not forgotten.
We remember the events of 9/11 and we remain determined to defend the freedom, democracy and way of life that terrorism sought to attack.
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Michelle Landry: Gordon Watson | 0418 908 159
