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00:00We all went into that courtroom knowing that nothing that judge did would bring our loved
00:07ones back.
00:08But, at the very least, I can hope that no one ever has to sit in that witness chair
00:15ever again for the sake of circumstance.
00:18How did it feel to sit in that witness chair yesterday and hear that victim impact statement?
00:24Honestly, it was refreshing.
00:26I think I said what I needed to say, and I think that's all there is to it.
00:32And we all need to do what we need to do.
00:35Look, addiction isn't easy.
00:38I'll admit that.
00:41But, no matter what, he was still responsible for all those lives, for being the one to
00:46bring those people home safely.
00:49And we had to take accountability for that.
00:52Did you think the sentence was fair?
00:54Yes.
00:55Kaya was your cousin, Nadine was your auntie.
00:59How do you want them to be remembered?
01:02I think I want them to be remembered as the fun and outgoing and lovable people they were.
01:08They were protective.
01:10They were friendly.
01:12They could light up a room.
01:14And I think that's what I want them to be remembered as.
01:18Can you ask me a question?
01:20How are you feeling in the wake of that sentence being heard?
01:23I was actually quite surprised.
01:25I come in not believing very much in the blood justice system.
01:32But the result that they got was tremendous for us.
01:38It will never bring back my beautiful sister, Nadine.
01:43It will never bring back my sassy niece, Kaya.
01:50Our lives will change forever.
01:54And we want people to remember them as loving, kind, caring people that they were.
02:04They will always be missed.
02:09This is a difficult question.
02:11Do you feel a sense of closure now that this has taken place today?
02:16I don't think closure ever happens.
02:21Listening to stories within the court, you realise that many of the victims that were on the bus that night
02:31are all living with trauma, depression, anxiety.
02:37Those are the things that we'll live with for the rest of our lives.
02:42I don't think it will ever be closure because the nightmares will continue.
02:48I don't know about other people.
02:50They might find that this is a closure for them.
02:53But my niece was only 22.
02:56She had so many more years to live and enjoy her life.
03:02My sister was so vibrant.
03:04She loved the AFL.
03:06She wanted to be an umpire in the Lord Hastings court.
03:15She was sassy, just like her daughter.
03:21She loved to dance on tables drunk.
03:23She was pretty out there.
03:28That's what it all is.
03:30The mating and choir and all the other seven victims were amazing people.
03:38Doctors, friends, teammates.
03:43There's just not enough words to properly describe the amount of people we've lost other than gorgeous people.
03:49I think that kind of brings it all together.
03:52Can you describe the feeling in the courtroom amongst yourself and other families and survivors when that sentence was handed down?
04:00I don't think I really took it in.
04:03I was having an anxiety attack at the time because it was taking so long to get numbers.
04:10I had no idea what it all meant about all the words that the judge used.
04:19I will say I didn't think that we would get the sentence that we got.
04:26I'm really surprised.
04:30It never brings me back.
04:32It will never be enough.
04:34Did you look at him when that sentence was handed down?
04:37I saw the back of him because of where I was sitting.
04:42I think it was a bit of a shock to him because he was shaking and stuff like that.
04:48I don't know. I can't say whether he realised the severity of the sentence that the judge used.
04:56I think none of us knew.
04:58The judge was amazing.
05:00All the first responders.
05:04There were a lot of first responders who weren't able to do victim impact studies.
05:10People not being able to go back to work.
05:12It's been humongous.
05:15As fantastic as it could be in a beautiful Humber valley where these sort of things will never happen again.
05:27We did hear before that the sentence was handed down.
05:31Talking about how important the victim impact statement was.
05:35How much it helped a lot of people in the community.
05:45It has made me realise that I'm not alone in some of the experiences that I've had.
05:50I can confidently say I do not remember any of what I said in my victim impact statement.
05:58It was lucky it was written down.
06:01But yeah, I do not recall anything particularly.
06:09But having everyone here together has been helpful.
06:13Yeah, we've met beautiful families on the way in pure tragedy.
06:24Tonight I'm going back to my motel room, packing up my stuff and then we'll be heading off back to Victoria which will be home.
06:34Does it feel like a chapter closed for anyone?
06:37No, I think we've still got some with the coroner's inquest coming through.
06:42I don't think it's ever an end to this because you expect to lose your parents but you never expect to lose your sibling and your niece at such a young age.
06:56So I think it's a bit too early to say that it's a closure of a chapter.
07:02Because our lives will continue to be struggling for quite some time.
07:18I have a name for my child.
07:21So it would be nothing for the offender.
07:27I don't like talking about his name.
07:32I want, at the forefront, those ten beautiful souls, the brightest eyes that we have, to be the ones.
07:41Names that are more important than the offender.
07:46That's pretty harsh, probably, from me.
07:51Because I've always been a compassionate person.
07:56But considering the tragedy that this has caused, I don't, at this point in time, have any compassion or feel sorry for him.
08:08And if I may, one more thing.
08:12I said it in court but I want to say it again.
08:14I want to give a huge thank you to all the emergency services, the DPP, the social workers, anyone and everyone who supported not only my family but the families of all the other victims.
08:28They've just been amazing in navigating this really, really tough time.
08:32And there isn't much more we can ask for.