NRS-20770 | Martin Place siege tributes

This series consists of tributes and condolence books relating to the Martin Place/Lindt Cafe siege that occurred in Sydney in December 2014.On 15 December 2014 at approximately 8.33am, a lone gunman by the name of Man Haron Monis entered the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place and took the staff and customers hostage. The siege lasted over 17 hours, ending in the death of Monis and two of the hostages, Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson. Several other hostages were also injured. (1)After the siege ended, people began leaving floral tributes on the pavement at Martin Place between Castlereagh Street and the MLC Centre, creating a makeshift outdoor shrine. In the days that followed, a second shrine was started outside the Lindt Cafe itself, with tributes being placed on and around the crime scene barrier. (2) The shrines grew to include not only thousands of floral arrangements, but also many other items such as greeting cards, stuffed animals, posters and placards, religious artefacts, photos and frames, handmade artworks, and gifts for the families of the hostages. Condolence Books were also set up in Martin Place by the New South Wales Government and later at Parliament House, the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Town Hall. Condolence books were also donated by other organisations.On 23 December 2014, with rain forecast for Sydney, volunteers from the State Emergency Services, Rural Fire Service and the Red Cross were engaged by the Department of Premier and Cabinet to remove the tributes. The flowers were mulched and stored for future use, while all of the other items were transferred to State Records New South Wales as State archives. (4)The tributes are arranged in various categories according to the theme of the message or the format of the item, and vary in size from small ornaments and medallions to large stuffed toys and placards. Some of the tributes were left by people who appear to have personally known the victims, however the majority of tributes reflect an outpouring of emotion from the general public at large. The tributes are not only directed towards the victims and their families, but also to police and emergency services personnel, and Lindt Cafe workers. Additionally, there are many messages relating to peace and inter-faith harmony, including references to the Twitter campaigns "#Illridewithyou" & "#StandTogether". (3) Due to the date of the event, many items also feature a Christmas theme.The condolence books are in the form of loose leaf pages, except for the Lindt Cafe books which are in the form of bound notebooks.Endnotes1. Commonwealth of Australia. (2015). Martin Place Siege: Joint Commonwealth - New South Wales review, https://www.dpmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/170215_Martin_Place_Siege_Review_1.pdf (accessed 24 September 2015), p.5.2. Pike, B and Walker, I. (2014, December 17). 'Sydney siege: Second floral shrine springs up in Martin Place on police barrier outside Lindt Cafe'. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/.3. New South Wales. Community Relations Commission for a Multicultural NSW (2014). Community relations report, http://web2.multicultural.nsw.gov.au/CRR2014/files/assets/basic-html/page-2.html# (accessed 24 September 2015), p.11.4. Baird, M (Premier of New South Wales). (2014, 22 December). Martin Place floral tribute update, media release, https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases-premier (accessed 24 September 2015).