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AUSTRALIA needs to keep engaging with Indonesia about the need to end the death penalty but removing an ambassador to the country is not the answer, according to Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters.
Ms Chesters said she shared Australia's collective grief and sadness at the news this morning that Bali nine pair Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed by firing squad overnight.
She said the two young Australians did everything that was asked of them, had admitted their mistakes and were a "demonstration of what can happen in a model prisoner rehabilitation system".
"Everyone deserves a second chance, and it appears these men, who were in their 30s, didn't get a second chance," she said.
"To see their lives taken in such a barbaric and brutal way is what most would find quite sad and heartbreaking."
But she said she was concerned with the Federal Government's decision this morning to withdraw the Australian ambassador to Indonesia.
"I believe that would do nothing to build a stronger relationship with our neighbour," she said.
"If we want Indonesia to adopt our beliefs and attitudes regarding the death penalty, we need to build stronger relationships."
She said there were still a number of prisoners still on death row in Indonesia and Australia could continue to show leadership on the need to remove the death penalty without removing a representative.
"I believe we need to keep engaging with Indonesia in the strongest way possible and keep articulating why Australians are so opposed to the death penalty," she said.
"Demonstrations like the ones we have seen locally, letters and vigils across country are another way Australia can demonstrate to the world what we think."
Ms Chesters said her thoughts were now with the family and friends of the men and those who had worked hard to free them.
"I do think we can acknowledge the very hard work of the legal team on the island for the last decade and the heartbreak they must be going through," she said.
Meanwhile, the fallout from the executions might be something the Indonesian Government was yet to calculate in other ways, Ms Chesters said.
"I think people will react out of grief and sadness and disappointment," she said.
"Because it is one of our closest neighbours, a lot of people have fond memories of that country and this morning they're waking up with a shattered view of that country.
"I don’t think that is something the Indonesian Government has really taken into account."