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03-03-2024
SYDNEY: Qantas has made a special tribute to flight attendant Luke Davies at Sydney’s 2024 ‘Mardi Gras Parade’, following his alleged murder at the hands of a serving police officer.
NCA NewsWire understands Sandy Davies joined Qantas crew on board the float, which featured the nose of a plane with Davies’ name marked on it, as it made its way along Oxford Street on Saturday night.
Police will allege Davies was killed, along with his new boyfriend Jesse Baird, by then-senior constable Beau Lamarre-Condon, who had previously had an intimate relationship with Baird.
Police will allege in court Lamarre-Condon, who worked in the NSW Police Youth Command, used his service weapon to kill the pair.
On Saturday, the airline added Davies’ name to its float, which displayed the nose of a plane topped with a rainbow.
Under the iconic red kangaroo, the flight attendant’s name was displayed.
Davies had been working for Qantas since September 2022, and had moved to Sydney from Brisbane in November to begin working on international routes.
“Luke was a much-loved member of the Qantas cabin crew community in Brisbane and Sydney,” Qantas’ executive manager of cabin crew Leeanne Langridge said in a statement earlier this week.
“He had a passion for travel, life, his family and friends and the customers that he served. He will be deeply missed. The whole team at Qantas are thinking of Luke and Jesse’s loved ones.”
Pop star G-Flip sat in the cockpit of the plane, with the driver giving a salute to cameras as it passed by.
‘Interesting’: ‘Mardi Gras CEO’ on crisis meeting with top cops
Mardi Gras CEO Gil Beckwith has shared new details about the meeting between parade organisers and NSW Police, after officers were formally uninvited to march in Saturday’s event.
The decision, made off the back of the arrest of Lamarre-Condon, was short-lived.
Police were once more invited to march, albeit not in uniform, following a last-minute summit between top brass and organizers.
As the parade kicked off, Ms Beckwith told ABC hosts Courtney Act and Mon Schafter it had been a “challenging” week.
“It has been a really challenging week for everyone. Obviously the loss of those two beautiful young men has been quite heartbreaking for so many in our community,” she said.
“Obviously we’ve had quite an interesting week in terms of working with the police and how we manage that, how we also managed our community’s expectation about what is actually happening, so it has been challenging and I’m really glad that we are here tonight. “I’m glad we can be here and do it in the best way we can possibly do it.”
Beckwith said the conversation, which also coincided with the handing down of the special commission of inquiry into the police response to gay hate crimes, was a positive step for the LGBTQI+ community. (Int’l News Desk)
