Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Hansard source

The strongest expression of common humanity which comes out of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami is that 128 nations have offered one of the wealthiest states of the modern world assistance. One hundred and twenty-eight nations recognised the tragedy which everybody has seen and decided that we were of a common humanity. That figure alone speaks volumes for what we can be at our best as well as acknowledging the extraordinary magnitude and scope of the tragedy which has struck our great friends in Japan. It brings to mind the words of John Donne in the Devotions over 400 years ago:

No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the… main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory … of thine own

          …            …            …

Therefore, never seek to ask

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

It is not a perfect rendering, but it is a remembrance that this notion of unity within a broader concept of humanity dates back and exists and will lead forward.

What we have seen in Japan I think can be summarised into simple concepts: one is common humanity and the second is courage. The common humanity is that the world looked on, they saw the pictures, and everybody recognised the sheer weight and tragedy of what occurred with the evidence of the waves, the power of the water, the simple apocalyptic destruction which followed. No person could have hoped to survive if they had been in the path of those great waters. That is, sadly, a simple fact—with so few discoveries having been made of people living. Each one of the discoveries—the man on the roof out at sea, the grandmother and her son and the baby all found within the rubble—have brought joy and a sense of hope and a sense of humanity to the world and not just to Japan. But there are 20,000 other stories which have not ended in that positive turn of events.

We know that well over 8,000 lives have been lost so far; we fear that there are another 12,000 or more still to be determined. As with the Asian tsunami, many of the bodies will never be recovered. That is the simple truth. If we as Australians have played our part, then that is a good thing. Seventy-two Australians were sent abroad. They have searched, they have done their work, they have only uncovered bad news but they have been part of the task of people from all corners of the globe putting their shoulders to the wheel to try and find those that have been lost and those that have been injured. It is an ongoing process. The next phase will be the reconstruction of Japan. But Japan will survive. Japan will recover. I hope that Japan takes this opportunity to build a new Japan, dealing with some of the economic challenges in the form of debt and economic sclerosis which have challenged this great nation since 1990. But we are with them, as is the whole world.

The second thing I want to refer to briefly is courage. The extraordinary stoicism of the Japanese people—the dignity, the comparison with how others in different parts of the world have responded to tragedies—is manifest. The sense of getting on with the task of the recovery and getting on with helping those most in need has been a great honour to witness. In the midst of the tragedy, there has been a sense of decency, dignity, honour and courage which reminds me of the spirit of Brisbane after the floods. Both stories tell us what we can be.

The usual course of history is that, as we grow in number, our connections cease. The village generally becomes a city, but what we saw in Brisbane in the days after the floods was that the city became a village. The connections were real. You would have seen this yourself, Mr Deputy Speaker Slipper. It is the same with Japan, but it is the globe which has become a village in light of the tsunami and the earthquake.

As the Japanese people have shown this courage, my last thought is reserved for the extraordinary workers of Fukushima nuclear plant No. 1. These workers have stood at their post in the belief that they may well be facing certain death. I hope that it does not come to that and that the radiation to which they have been exposed will prove to be less than we had expected. It appears that they are on track to beat the threat of meltdown. But they have knowingly placed their lives—en masse—in harm’s way. They have done so with the belief that they would pay the ultimate price. They may not, but they have placed themselves in harm’s way with the most significant valour imaginable. It is my hope and my firm belief that they will be successful in preventing the meltdown of the reactors. We have some cause for hope and positivity.

It is my hope and my belief that the Fukushima workers will be honoured and celebrated throughout the ages in Japan, because no civilians could have made a more dramatic, more courageous, more important contribution to the safety of the 20 million people nearby than they have done. Modern Japan has been a beacon of honour and decency. In that modern Japan, the highest recognition must go to those who have remained at their posts in Fukushima nuclear plant No. 1. I believe they will be honoured and rewarded, but above all else I believe they will be successful in protecting those 20 million people who rely upon their courage.

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