Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on indulgence, I join the Prime Minister in extending our thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims of these natural disasters in our region—as he stated, in the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and, of course, in Samoa and in Sumatra on 30 September. These have indeed been heartbreaking days in our neighbourhood. We have been reminded of nature in all its fury; reminded of the relative powerlessness of we humans when the giant plates beneath the ocean floor shift and shudder, unleashing forces of massive, even incomprehensible, ferocity.

We live in a region notorious for this seismic activity—the Pacific ring of fire. In both the Samoan islands and Sumatra the devastation and loss of life has been horrifying. Early on the morning of 30 September a huge wall of water ripped through villages and resorts on the southern coastlines of Samoa and American Samoa, with the tsunami also reaching as far as Tonga. For the people in these small coastal communities there was little or no time to run. And then, less than 24 hours later, large parts of Padang in Sumatra were reduced to rubble by an earthquake measuring a terrifying 7.6 on the Richter scale. In both cases the loss of life was appalling. In Samoa the tsunami claimed 179 lives. In Sumatra the earthquake has left at least 1,100 persons dead and many more injured. Whole families have been lost to these disasters and villages destroyed.

Tragically, we have lost Australians too. Two of them were tiny children on holidays in Samoa with their families. Can there ever be a sadness more despairing? Their parents will need our love and support. We also pray for the families of Maree Blacker, the Tasmanian horse trainer in Samoa to celebrate her 50th birthday; Vivien Hodgins, the Victorian school teacher having some time off in a beach hut on a picturesque island; and Anita Nuualiitia, the science student who grew up in Sydney’s Eastwood and who was helping her ageing grandfather run a beach resort on Samoa’s southern coast when the tsunami struck. Today I join the Prime Minister in expressing our heartfelt sorrow to these families and, indeed, to all the families who have suffered a loss of loved ones in these terrifying events.

All Australians will have supported wholeheartedly the emergency relief efforts undertaken by the Australian government: the urgent dispatch of RAAF Hercules, medical teams, humanitarian supplies, police and forensic experts, along with tents, tarpaulins, blankets, mosquito nets and water containers. Australians expect our governments to respond generously in times of crisis such as these. While the peoples of Samoa and Sumatra have responded bravely, stoically, in the face of these catastrophic events, their local economies have been shattered. We must consider what support we can provide for the longer term reconstruction required to help our friends in Indonesia and the Samoan islands through these tragedies. We in the opposition stand shoulder to shoulder with the government in our readiness to help our neighbours in their hour of need.

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