Doves released in Coogee's Bali service

12 Oct 2012, 4:08 pm   -   Source: AAP
A commemoration ceremony has begun at Coogee for those killed and injured in the Bali bombings. (AAP)

A commemoration ceremony has begun at Coogee for those killed and injured in the Bali bombings. (AAP)

A commemoration ceremony at Dolphin Point in the Sydney seaside suburb of Coogee has heard tributes to those killed and injured in the Bali bombings of 2002.

White doves symbolising the 88 Australian victims of the Bali bombings have been released at Sydney's Dolphin Point at a service marking the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks.

Hundreds gathered at the Bali memorial in Coogee where they heard speeches from Foreign Minister Bob Carr and Premier Barry O'Farrell and tributes from family members and friends of those who were lost.

The bombing of the popular Kuta nightspots - Paddy's Bar and the Sari Club - killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, 43 of them from NSW.

Twenty of the Australians lost were from Sydney's eastern suburbs and six were members of the Coogee Dolphins rugby league club.

Mr O'Farrell said the Bali bombings were "a brutal assault on Western society" and a deadly reminder that the lifestyle and freedoms Australians too often took for granted could not always be relied upon.

Words were cold comfort for the families and friends of those who had lost loved ones, he said, but they should know those they lost had died knowing they were loved.

Senator Carr praised the way Australians responded after the "shock of terrorism", saying it was the response of a mature nation.

"There was no call for vengeance, there was a determined resolve to find the perpetrators but there was no extremism, there was no prejudice stalking our land."

"I never heard from the families who had suffered such grievous losses any irrational or insane or hate-filled remarks," Senator Carr said.

Bombing survivor Ryan James told of his survival in the ruins of the Sari Club and how he was torn apart by the loss of his school friend and surfer mate Tom Singer.

He said it had been hard to cope through the years as he dealt with feelings of guilt over his mate's death but friends and family had helped him get his life back together.

"Yes, we were deeply wounded but those responsible for this haven't won and they never will," he said.

Jane Elkin, whose brother David Mavroudis was killed, paid tribute to the friends who rallied to assist her and her parents as they lived a nightmare in the wake of the bombings.

"Not only had I lost my brother but I had lost a part of mum and dad," she said through tears.

David Byron, who lost his 15-year-old daughter Chloe, said it didn't get any easier to accept the loss as the years passed.

"Some days it's like an eternity because I haven't seen my girl, other days it's like an eye-blink," he said.

Mr Byron said he was wearing his blue-and-white floral "Chloe shirt" bought at a shop in Bali, despite his daughter's protests.

"So that was our last argument, so that's why I have to wear it," he said.

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