Why did Tony Abbott choose not to visit the scene of the Cairns massacre?

TONY Abbott was busy on his cabinet reshuffle and he was winding down for Christmas. But he should have made the time to drop into Cairns, as he did to the site of the Sydney siege.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his wife Margie visited the Martin Place memorial site. Picture: Jennifer Polixenni Brankin/Getty Images Source: Getty Images

What has happened in Cairns has been, and will be for some time, a deeply damaging event for the community, which lost eight young kids, allegedly at the hand of their mother.

CAIRNS MASSACRE: Mother Mersane Warria charged with eight counts of murder

MOVING FORWARD: Parents urged to assure children after the Cairns stabbing horror

This is a different kind of terror, one that police claim comes from within the home itself.

People pay their respects for the eight children that were murdered in Murray St, Manoora. Picture: Stewart McLeanSource: News Corp Australia

No political leader would wish to set a precedent of aligning themselves with every domestic violence issue, but this savage moment cost the lives of eight young Australians.

Added to this, they were indigenous Australians. Abbott promised he would be the “Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”, and upon taking power shifted the portfolio into the Prime Minister’s Department.

With self-harm rates among young indigenous children soaring, up 48 per cent to what they were five years ago, there are concerns that the Cairns tragedy could add to the despair of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

All children are close to this event, whether they live in the neighbourhood of Murray St where the massacre occurred, or in Port Hedland, Augusta or Alice Springs. They could have used some leadership from the PM.

PM Tony Abbott and Maggie Abbott lay flowers in Martin Place paying respects to the hostages who lost their lives in the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: News Corp Australia

The cause of this attack remains to be seen.

But these are the threats children are forced to live with every day.

Abbott should have come and spoken to the children of Cairns, and the children of Australia.

Just as adults seek assurance that the threat of terror will not up-end their lives, children need to be assured that their homes — the thing they value and need most — are not under attack from within.

Tweet