Jon Sullivan (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On indulgence, Madam Deputy Speaker: I rise today to join with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in expressing my condolences to those who have been affected by the recent events in our region. This has been a dramatic time in our region, with the tsunami that affected Samoa and Tonga, the earthquake in Sumatra and the typhoon that devastated parts of the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. We have seen a fairly concentrated period of quite high activity of this type.

There are several thousand Samoans and Tongans who reside in my electorate of Longman. They are greatly valued and appreciated for what their presence adds to the community. I believe that the only Samoan architecturally designed building outside of Samoa, the Maota Fono, is at Deception Bay. The Maota Fono building has been a focal point of the Samoan expatriate community and for Australians of Samoan descent in South-East Queensland for some time now. Indeed, recently they hosted a reception for the Samoan rugby team as part of its World Cup campaign. Because of that concentration of residents in my electorate, I want to concentrate my contribution this morning on the Pacific tsunami.

At 6.48 am local time on 29 September—which was 4.48 am here on 30 September—an earthquake measuring around 8.3 on the Richter scale was felt 190 kilometres south-west of Samoa and American Samoa. That is an awful time of the morning for a disaster to strike. Most people, I suspect even in Samoa, would be simply rising at that time, weary from sleep. Your eyes would still be laden with sleep and you would be wondering more about what is for breakfast than what is likely to be approaching from the ocean.

The earthquake unleashed what we now know were devastating tsunami waves. The destruction was almost total in many areas of Samoa and American Samoa. There is an interesting piece of video available on the web, taken by CCTV cameras in the parking lot of the FBI offices in American Samoa. It shows the power of even the small wave that came through that parking lot. The footage shows a couple of people crossing the parking lot and then another gentleman leaving the building to go to his car and standing transfixed for a good number of seconds as he sees the wave approaching, before turning and running in the opposite direction shortly before the wave comes through and tosses heavy motor vehicles around as if they were plastic bath toys. There is certainly a great deal to be frightened of in the power of a tsunami wave.

The consequential loss of life has been quite severe: 140 people or more in Samoa, more than 30 in American Samoa and another nine or so in Tonga. Tonga is some 1,000 kilometres away from Samoa. Five Queensland medical students were in Samoa at the time of the tsunami. Having been aware of its approach and having run to higher ground, they then returned to the hospital to work, helping people who were injured by the tsunami. They reported early on that it was a very difficult situation for those who had been injured. Their view was that many would succumb to their injuries and that there would be a great loss of limbs as a consequence of the injuries that people had received.

Many families from Longman have lost family members. The effects of the tsunami are deeply felt amongst the aiga, or the extended family, of our Samoan community. The Samoan community is strengthened and comforted by its very strong Christian faith. The Sunday before last, I was delighted to attend with them a memorial service at the Holy Cross Catholic Church at Rothwell. They had also invited local people from the Philippines, Indonesia and other South-East Asian nations to join them. There was a very moving service, followed by, in the Samoan tradition, a fine lunch. I was not able to stay at that for terribly long because of other events that were occurring in my electorate on that day, but it was a great pleasure and a great honour for me to be with them and to participate in that memorial service. On Saturday just gone, I also attended a fundraiser put on by local Pacific islanders to raise money for the tsunami victims. That event was able to raise in excess of $2,000 in a very short period of time. I am aware that in our local community there are other events coming up.

Australia’s responses to all the events—whether the typhoon, the earthquake or the tsunami—have been swift and I know it was very much appreciated by the former citizens of those countries now living in Australia. In relation to Samoa and Tonga, for Samoa there was an initial contribution pledged of $2 million, with a further $5 million pledged later on. We had expert people on the ground within 24 hours. In Tonga we have pledged $1 million. I know, as I said, that the members of those communities here in Australia greatly appreciate the effort by the Australian government.

In my role as the secretary of the Pacific Islands friendship group in parliament, we met recently with heads of Pacific missions who had been recalled to Canberra for briefings. I met them here in parliament and we discussed issues in their various territories. Universally, they indicated to us that, from Australia, of greatest importance to these small Pacific nations were the remittances that went back to those countries from former nationals who are now living and working—or indeed, retired—here in Australia. Samoa and Tonga are going to undergo a lengthy process of rebuilding. I indicate here today that it is my intention to write to the Prime Minister with a suggestion as to how we may do something that will cost us nothing and yet be of great assistance to those countries as they proceed in that rebuilding process—that is, to waive the 13-week rule on the payment of pensions for former citizens or former nationals of those countries who wish to return there to assist their families and their communities in the rebuilding process. That would mean, for example, that aged pensioners who have not been in Australia for the 300 months that are required to be able to take their pension overseas would be able to go without having to come back to Australia within three months. Those on pensions that are restricted, such as the disability support pension, to only 13 weeks outside the country would be allowed to stay indefinitely whilst engaged in this process of rebuilding.

Australia is a generous nation. We saw that recently with the bushfire appeal for Victoria, where not only Australians but people throughout the world came to our aid. I am hoping that we will be able to show the world how much we appreciated that by coming to the aid of those in the Pacific in a large way. To do that, there are a number of processes. The member for Ballarat spoke of an appeal that is being formed in the name of a Ballarat resident who unfortunately lost her life. We are aware that there is a Red Cross appeal. The Samoan government also has established two bank accounts with the ANZ bank of Samoa, to which people can donate directly to the government and to the relief and rehabilitation appeals. I would like to read those account details into the record today. The first is the TreasuryDirect transfer account, which has account number 1200033 and bank SWIFT code ANZBWSWW. The bank’s address is ANZ Samoa Ltd at Apia, Samoa. The second account is called the 2009 Samoa Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation account. Its account number is 3826921, its bank SWIFT code is ANZBWSWW, and the bank obviously is ANZ Samoa Ltd, Apia in Samoa.

If the Australian people were to be able to make direct deposits to either of those accounts, if they felt that they would prefer to do that than to contribute to the Red Cross or to other local appeals, I would urge them to do so. As I said, this is a generous nation. We have received generosity from others during past events in this country—the recent past, as it turns out. I believe it would be really telling for us, not just as a government but as individuals, to reciprocate to others in our region who are feeling rather set upon at the moment.

Again, I wish to express my condolences to all who have lost people who are dear to them in these events, whether they be locals in any of the areas where these events have taken place or Australians who have been caught up in those events, notably the five in Samoa.

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