Bali bombings anniversary: Kings Park commemoration remembers the victims and incredible deeds

The Bali bombings have been remembered as a display of the best and worst of humanity in a moving 20th anniversary commemoration at Kings Park on Wednesday.

About 200 people — including family members and friends of the 16 West Australians killed in the 2002 terrorist attack — braved a cold spring morning for the sunrise service at the Bali Memorial.

Premier Mark McGowan said the “senseless” trauma caused by the blasts on the Kuta nightclub strip remained painful and “raw”.

He said the tragedy had inspired incredible acts of kindness and resilience, many of them from the victims of the attack itself and the first responders and medical professionals that treated them.

“We remember, in the horrible burning light of the blast, lit up in relief were some of the very best actions that humanity had to offer,” Mr McGowan said.

“Those who selflessly ran into danger to help others. Those who worked tirelessly around the clock to save the lives of others. Those who offered the cutting edge of human ingenuity and capability to assist.”

Survivor Anthony Svilicich, who was inside Sari Club when one of the two bombs detonated, said the terrorists may have won the “battle on that night but they certainly haven’t won the war”.

“The knowledge that more people visit Bali now than prior to the bombings shows that they failed to scare us away,” he said.

“We can rest assured the Australian spirit has not been broken. Our spirit remains strong, open, free and tolerant in the memory of those lost.”

Bali Memorial Association secretary Fiona Ross, who lost her brother David in the attack, said 20 years on the pain had not lessened.

She said her memories of the event and its aftermath remained “awful and terrible” but she was buoyed by the countless acts of love and kindness — small and large — she had encountered in the wake of the tragedy.

“There’s flowers and there’s meals dropped off to be reheated,” Ms Ross said.

“There’s a class of 10-year-olds who fundraise to give you a locket so you can keep a picture of your brother with you.

She added that was grief was “love with nowhere to go” but that over the years those mourning the loss or serious injury of loves ones “find ways of where we can put that love”.

“We come together in moments like this very early in the morning for no other reason than we can just stand together and remember,” Ms Ross said.

“And I think ultimately, that’s the really important thing.”

Seven of the 16 West Australians killed in the twin bombing of Paddy’s Pub and Sari Club were members of the Kingsley Football Club, which was well represented at Wednesday’s memorial service.

Jacob Paltridge Carr was just 11-months-old when his dad Corey Paltridge was killed whilst on that ill-fated Kingsley Cats foot trip, leaving him to grow up without his father.

The now 20-year-old flew recently welcomed his first son – Levi Corey – but flew over from NSW especially for the service.

“It’s painful. Every year you hope it gets better but it just doesn’t, it gets harder and harder every year,” Mr Paltridge Carr said.

Australia’s youngest Bali bombing survivor Megan Basioli was just 14-years-old when the attack – which killed her father Peter Basioli – left her with severe burns to her arms, legs and hands.

She told a breakfast organised for West Australians survivors of the bombings that she was committed to ensuring younger generations were educated about the “adversity we have overcome and the lives that were lost”.

“That in great times of tragedy, this is where the human spirit really shines its brightest,” she said.

“For me, and I know many others here today, the help that we received on that fateful night from strangers will remain in my heart forever.”

The woman that led the treatment of Ms Basioli and countless other survivors – leading WA burns doctor and researcher Fiona Wood – delivered an impassioned speech about the lasting legacy of resilience forged by the heartless massacre.

While insisting the impact on her own life was “trivial” compared to the suffering of the victims and their loved ones, Professor Wood admitted to carrying “a fair bit of vicarious trauma”.

“The only way I personally can keep in front of it is by research, and ensuring that today is a day of learning to make tomorrow better,” she said.

“I can’t say anything to make it easier for you. All I can say is… I’ve tried to do the best I can. Day in, day out, surrounded by an enormous amount of personal and professional energy.”

Professor Wood implored everyone still grappling with the fallout of the bombings to “open your hearts to love” and to “bring you’re A-game to the table and make this place better for all of us.”

Wreathes and floral tributes were laid at the Bali Memorial by a procession of dignitaries, including Mr McGowan, WA Governor Chris Dawson, Indonesian Consul General Listiana Operananta, Police Commissioner Col Blanch and Veterans’ Affair Minister Matt Keogh, who was representing Prime Minster Anthony Albanese.

Also in attendance were Denis and Una Glennon, parents of Claremont serial killer victim Ciara Glennon, with Mr Glennon an inaugural member of the Bali Memorial Steering Committee set up by Mr McGowan back in 2003.

At that time, the Rockingham MP was Parliamentary Secretary to then Premier Geoff Gallop and tasked with finding a suitable location for the eventual memorial.