The victims of the NSW wedding bus crash have been formally honoured in parliament as a relief fund passes $600,000 and the parents of the groom call for stronger seatbelt laws.
Premier Chris Minns moved for the upper house to extend its deepest sympathies to the families, friends and loved ones of those killed or injured in what he described as “a profoundly tragic event”.
“The psychological scars of this event are significant,” he told the house on Tuesday.
“The tight-knit communities of Singleton, Cessnock and the surrounding towns are hurting even as they rally together, and we want to acknowledge their pain and honour their resilience today.”
Mr Minns said the wedding organisers “did everything right” in arranging transport for their guests.
He said the fact 10 died and 25 more were injured while returning home from the venue just “adds to the community sense of devastation and grief”.
“It’s the unfairness of the tragedy that can’t be overstated,” Mr Minns said.
Nine of those injured in the crash remain in hospital.
Young paramedics who had been in the job for less than 12 months were among the first to arrive at the scene.
“As is often the case with emergency service workers in regional NSW, more often than not you may well know someone who is in a crash or on the site of an accident,” Mr Minns said.
NSW Police, family liaison officers and chaplains, along with social workers and community-run clinics staffed by disaster response mental health clinicians, are all working to support those affected.
More than $600,000 has since been raised for family members of the victims.
Mr Minns said the government will listen to NSW Police and take on their findings, including any changes that could prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.
The pledge comes after the father of the groom called for stronger seatbelt laws on Monday.
John Gaffney, whose son Mitchell married Madeleine Edsell just hours before the crash, called for seatbelts to be mandatory on all buses.
“Hopefully something positive can come out of this tragedy,” he said in a LinkedIn post.
“Fifty years ago the fitting and wearing of seatbelts became compulsory in Australia for all occupants of motor cars, saving countless lives since.
“Whilst my wife and I can’t do this on our own, we believe ultimately everyone who rides a bus should have access to a seatbelt and be compelled by laws to wear them.”
Mr Gaffney called on the community to help by lobbying their federal and state MPs.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the incident had “shaken our nation”, describing the series of events as “a tragedy beyond words”.
“This tragedy is a stark reminder to all of us of the fragility of life and of how a completely unexpected event can change our lives in an instant,” he told the NSW parliament on Tuesday.
