PM Tony Abbott announces a memorial will be erected in the Federal Parliament gardens for the victims of the MH17 disaster.

A MEMORIAL for victims of the MH17 disaster will be erected in the gardens of Federal Parliament, Tony Abbott has announced.

The Prime Minister told Parliament it will be finished ready for the first anniversary of the tragedy, which cost the lives of 38 people who called Australia home.

It will serve as a “reminder that we will never, ever forget them,” he said.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten said the memorial was “a very worthy” idea.

MPs stood silent at the beginning of Question Time during a condolence motion for those who were killed last month.

“This was not just a tragedy, this was an atrocity,” Mr Abbott told the Lower House.

RUSSIA: MH17 crash investigation stalled

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over the Ukraine on July 17, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.

Russia-backed separatists are accused of shooting the passenger plane down but Moscow is blaming Kiev.

Dutch investigators leading the probe said early this month that they would release an initial report “in a few weeks.”