Flowers unite Australia, Indonesia 10 years on

12 Oct 2012, 4:18 pm   -   Source: AAP

A decade after the Bali bombing, in which 202 people were killed including 88 Australians, the people of Indonesia and Australia have come together.

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Ten years on from the first Bali bombing, the wattle and the frangipani have drawn together as symbols of resilience and hope.

The presence of the two flowers, representing Australia and Indonesia, united ceremonies from Kuta to Coogee to mark the anniversary on Friday.

The terrorist bombs that ripped through two Bali nightclubs on October 12, 2002, killed 202 people including 88 Australians.

The Sari Club, in the bustling tourist area of Kuta, was levelled when a massive bomb loaded into a van parked outside was detonated just after 11pm that night.

About 20 seconds earlier, a suicide bomber had detonated a backpack loaded with explosives inside Paddy's Bar.

Governor-General Quentin Bryce told a memorial service in Parliament House's Great Hall the Australian spirit remained strong despite the co-ordinated "act of barbarism", which was partly funded by al-Qaeda.

"This morning the waft of frangipani and wattle bloom connects our two people and places," she told the 450 officials and everyday people affected by the event who gathered in Canberra.

In Bali, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said it was a day of mixed emotions "from anger and unamended loss to forgiveness and reconciliation with a bitter past".

But there was now peace on the island, which hosts the around 700,000 Australian visitors to Bali each year.

"And perhaps there is a grim reassurance in knowing that the terrorists did not achieve what they set out to do," Ms Gillard said.

Candles placed on the edge of a pool of remembrance were then lit to represent the 22 nations that lost people in the bombings, and another six lit to represent the major faiths.

Made Bagus Arya Dana, the son of an Indonesian victim, was just 18 months old when the bombing occurred and spoke at the ceremony on hill high above Kuta.

"Now I am standing here, the same date and month when Daddy left us," he told the gathering in a reading titled "Letter for Daddy".

Indonesia's foreign minister Marty Natalegawa, said the bombing had been an "assault on humanity", but the terrorists had "utterly failed".

Former prime minister John Howard said the event had brought the two nations closer together.

"We saw in those days those two great qualities of our nation, strength but also tenderness," he said.

Back in Canberra, acting prime minister Chris Evans said Australians would always remember this day, as Americans remembered September 11, 2001.

Former Australian of the Year Fiona Wood, who was honoured for her work with burns patients at the Royal Perth Hospital after the blasts, spoke the "privilege" of helping 28 of those injured.

"I see within those hearts, resilience that is inspirational, love that is selfless and an energy ... across Australia in all sorts of areas," Dr Wood told the Canberra service.

"All you have to do is look for it and to connect with it and it will grow."

In Sydney, dozens of white doves were released at Coogee's Dolphin Point as hundreds gathered at the local Bali memorial to hear speeches by Foreign Minister Bob Carr, Premier Barry O'Farrell and tributes from family members and friends of those who were lost.

Twenty of the Australian dead were from Sydney's east, including six members of the Coogee Dolphins rugby league club.

David Byron, who lost his 15-year-old daughter Chloe, said it didn't get any easier.

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

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who sat next to Mr Howard at the ceremony, visited the Sanglah Hospital where a decade ago hundreds of the injured were given emergency treatment and a morgue was established.

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