‘Lives were changed forever’: Anthony Albanese’s moving tribute 20 years since devastating 2004 Boxing Day tsunami

20 years after the catastrophic Boxing Day tsunami devastated Australia’s island neighbour, Anthony Albanese has led a moving tribute.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has delivered a moving tribute while marking 20 years since the horrific Boxing Day tsunami – which killed thousands and devastated Australia’s island neighbour.

On December 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck near the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

More than 167,500 people – including 26 Australians – were killed in Indonesia which was lashed with ocean waves as high as 20 metres.

Sri Lanka reported the second-highest death toll at just north of 35,300.

Tens of thousands more were reported dead, but the total number killed remains unknown, with waves reaching other continents.

Two Thai rescuers carry a body recovered from the destroyed Khao Lak Laguna Resort Hotel following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Picture: Romeo Cacad / AFP

In a recorded video tribute, Mr Albanese said the tsunami “still has the power to shock”.

“Today, as we mark the 20th anniversary of the Boxing Day tsunami, our first thoughts are with those who lost their lives and those whose lives were changed forever,” Mr Albanese said.

“It was a natural disaster on a catastrophic scale, devastating communities with a force that still has the power to shock two decades later.”

Grainy cell phone footage has offered glimpses of what victims faced as the tsunami’s towering waves mercilessly pounded tourist hotspots.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has marked 20 years since the catastrophic Boxing Day tsunami, paying tribute to the 26 Australians killed. Picture: Supplied

Those behind the videos have often spoken of the survivor’s guilt that has haunted them.

“For 20 years, survivors have lived with the weight of loss and the pain of memories that one terrible day looming so large over all the others,” Mr Albanese said.

“For all of these people, we hold them in our hearts, yet our hearts are also filled by what the disaster showed us of the human spirit.

“Even amid that nightmare, people followed the powerful instinct to help each other, to look out for each other and to comfort each other.

“It was in that spirit that we came together as people and as nations to help our cherished friends and neighbours across the region, to get back on their feet.”

The tsunami displaced around 1.7 million people and inflicted billions of dollars in damage.

Australia gave Indonesia $60m in immediate humanitarian aid primarily to Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and the Sychelles.

Canberra also gave Indonesia $1bn in reconstruction loans.

Globally, fundraising efforts yield about US$14bn.

“That spirit is humanity’s greatest strength made forever stand as a monument to all who were lost, and may the memory of them never fade.”