Harry Jenkins (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to be here in the Federation Chamber to add my remarks to these statements on the anniversary of the Japanese disaster, the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear incident at Fukushima. I was lucky enough to visit Tokyo in May of last year, some two months after the incident, on the way to the G20 Speakers Consultation in Seoul. One of the things that I found interesting was that this gave an insight into the way that this had affected the Japanese community. The Japanese community was aware of the continuing aftershocks some two months after the major incident. They were on heightened alert. One of the things we should remember is that this incident knocked their confidence. What they were looking for was people to engage with the Japanese community to bring back that confidence. One of the gestures that was so important and so significant was the Prime Minister's visit so early after the incident. From time to time, we might hear some churlish remarks in the political argy-bargy about the level of leadership that our leaders show on the global stage. The fact that Prime Minister Gillard was the first world leader to visit and go to the affected areas and witness the devastation was well and truly appreciated. That visit was a significant thing.

The other thing I want to take the opportunity to do here is to thank and congratulate those who worked in the Australian mission in Tokyo on our behalf in the post-tsunami period. Their work was significant and was acknowledged. Whereas other overseas missions closed down and sent personnel away from Japan, Australia's mission was open for business. That was again significant. Sometimes the importance of these kinds of gestures is overlooked.

I was intrigued that upon arrival and when you entered hotels the major thing you saw was a warning about what to do if there was an earthquake. People were very conscious of appropriate behaviour. And this was, as I said, some two months after the incident. Another thing that struck me—and I am reminded of this by some diary notes I took at the time—was what happened when I met members of the Diet and members of the Japanese House of Councillors who had interest in international relationships. They were accepting of the condolences that were offered. But I made a note of something that was said to me—something that struck me—in a general discussion about the incident and about the safety of nuclear power plants by one of the members of the House of Councillors. That member said, 'I'm sorry that we have caused concerns to the people of the world.' This sort of selfless behaviour characterised what we witnessed in the Japanese response to their disaster.

They were very grateful and thankful for the support they received from around the world. It is hard to imagine a toll of 19,000 killed or missing, 6,000 injured and more than a million buildings destroyed. Coming to grips with something of that magnitude is difficult. And then there is the continuing uncertainty as they try to come to grips with the failure of the Fukushima nuclear plant and try to understand what long-term damage might have been done by that incident. These types of incidents make the world a much smaller place. It brings us as members of a global community together. I join the many contributors, including the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, in yet again expressing sorrow to the Japanese people and our condolences for their losses, but also our admiration for the way in which they have come together and worked with a spirit of defiant stoicism to bring back their lifestyle in those areas. We can also reflect that this has happened at a time when over the last 12 months political activity in Japan has been heightened and has continued, but there is still a sense of that national purpose—and I think that is something that should characterise any political debate in the community. Once again Australia's response was appropriate; it was appreciated. We do not look for the gratitude of a country like Japan but they were very grateful for what we did—we stood shoulder to shoulder with them and that was appropriate. From time to time there are more important things about the way we engage globally.

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