Lindt Cafe seige: Anthony Albanese leads floral tributes to mark 10-year anniversary of ‘traumatising’ ordeal

Ten years on from the “traumatising” Lindt cafe siege that killed two people and terrorised Sydney, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has led the floral tributes in Sydney.

Paying tribute to Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson, who were killed during Man Haron Monis’ almost 17 hour siege of the Martin Place cafe, Mr Albanese said today was “a time to remember them and pay our respects”.

“It’s also a time to pay our respects to the first responders who responded so quickly and so bravely and who remain, as we know, deeply affected by the events during something that we didn’t expect to see here in this great city of Sydney,” he said from Martin Place.

“It is time for us to remember them and to thank them for what they did during that period.”

He was joined by Governor-General Sam Mostyn, NSW Premier Chris Minns, Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore, NSW governor Margaret Beasley, and Ms Dawson’s parents.

Mr Minns said the anniversary was a time to remember the two brave Australians who were killed.

“Our hearts are with their family and loved ones, as they mourn their loss, and grieve the lives they would have had,” he said.

“Our thoughts are also with the surviving hostages and first responders, who still carry the memory and the burden of that terrible day.

“Ten years ago... there was an enormous outpouring of love and solidarity with every innocent person caught up in this evil attack. For 16 hours, our state stood with those brave people, and in the days that followed our community came together.

“Today, as we mark this difficult anniversary, we stand with them once again.”

Iranian-born Monis, a self-styled sheikh known to ASIO and police, took 18 people hostage when he entered the Lindt cafe armed with a gun and explosives on December 15, 2014, and demanded politicians declare Australia was under attack from Islamic State.

He forced the hostages to call police and media organisations, falsely claiming he had placed bombs around the city, including in a backpack.

Over the following 16.5 hours, the world watched with bated breath as a dozen people managed to escape, before it came to a fatal end.

Monis executed Mr Johnson, the cafe manager, at 2.13am on December 16; while Ms Dawson, a barrister, was killed by stray police bullet fragments as officers stormed the building.

Monis, who was out on bail at the time after being charged with being an accessory to his ex-wife’s murder, and more than 40 sexual offences, was also killed in the police shoot out.

A marathon coronial inquest put the failings of police commanders, intelligence agencies and the justice system under the microscope, resulting in major changes to how Australia responds to terrorist situations.

Louisa Hope, who was held hostage alongside her mother, told AAP the deadly siege had left a lasting impact on her.

“After the siege, when I was lying on Phillip Street, the one thing I knew in my heart was that we had to get something good out of what happened,” she said.

“What happened in the Lindt Cafe happened to our entire country.”