By Jane Lee
Former speaker Bronwyn Bishop is among Liberal, Labor and crossbench federal MPs who have attended an event in Canberra to draw national attention to the ongoing search for missing Sydney toddler William Tyrrell.
More than a year after three-year-old disappeared from his grandmother's house in Kendall on NSW's mid-north coast, Crime Stoppers Australia director Peter Price stressed that police were still committed to finding him.
Lyne MP David Gillespie at a bipartisan event in support of the "Where's William?" campaign to help raise awareness of missing toddler William Tyrrell at Parliament House on Thursday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Of all the cases Mr Price has worked on in his 16 years at the agency, the father-of-three said this one had touched him most.
"Crime Stoppers will continue to try relentlessly to solve this case," he told MPs and media at Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday.
Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston with Liberal MP Bronwyn Bishop at the "Where's William?" event.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
He urged the public to come forward with any information which might help solve the mystery, and defended Crime Stoppers' record, saying that the agency helped solve a crime every 14 minutes.
The police search for William has investigated a number of different leads since it began on September 12, 2014, including questioning tradesman William Spedding, who was believed to have been at the house days earlier to give the family a quote, and more recently, grandparent support groups in the area.
The Tyrrells'' local MP, David Gillespie, read out a statement on behalf of Williams' parents. They said that the grief they felt from losing their son was "indescribable" and that they still hoped he would be returned to them.
"If you see a child that might look like him call Crime Stoppers immediately. We know somebody out there has the answer...we hope they will go to police to (help) bring him home," Dr Gillespie said.
They thanked the hundreds of police and volunteers who have helped search for William near the spot he was last seen.
Liberal MP Natasha Griggs, Labor MP Stephen Jones, Palmer United Party Senator Zhenya Wang and independent senator Glenn Lazarus also attended the event at Parliament House.
Victims' advocacy group Bravehearts helped start the pro bono "Where's William" campaign in June, putting photos of William on billboards next to major highways.
Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston said that William may no longer be in NSW, and could be anywhere in Australia.
"William's disappearance has touched the heart of every good parent in this country. This could happen to anyone of us," she said.
She asked all parents to print posters of William to spread public awareness of the search.