Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) commends the role of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in recent humanitarian aid missions; and

(2) congratulates:

(a) the Government on taking the decision to acquire two additional Boeing C-17A Globemaster III aircraft which will assist in future humanitarian and ADF operations; and

(b) the ADF on its rapid deployment of air assets, including C-17s, which supported the provision of disaster relief in Vanuatu and Nepal in 2015.

The people of Solomon include a very high proportion of men and women of the Australian Defence Force—around 5,000 uniformed defence personnel. I note that you, Madam Deputy Speaker Prentice, also have a very large defence contingent in your electorate. Within my electorate all three services are represented with major bases, including the Royal Australian Navy at HMAS Coonawarra, the Australian Army at Robertson Barracks and Larrakeyah Barracks, and the Air Force at RAAF Base Darwin.

Over the last decade, the sailors, soldiers and airmen of my electorate—and indeed yours Madam Deputy Speaker, and that of the member for Canberra—have served with distinction in a wide variety of combat and humanitarian functions around the world. It is one of those humanitarian missions which has prompted me to bring the motion to the House today.

On 25 April this year a violent earthquake shook the Himalayas near the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu. The earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, left around 8,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Infrastructure, including power plants, transmission lines, water pipes and the sewerage network, was left in ruins. Roads and bridges that are needed to transport food from the fields to the cities were destroyed. Within hours of the earthquake striking, I was contacted by representatives of the Nepalese community in Darwin. They were obviously very distressed and were asking what could be done to assist. The Nepalese Association of the Northern Territory called an emergency meeting that afternoon, and I was absolutely honoured to attend. Within a few hours of that meeting we had raised $14,000. They went on to raise another $60,000, and they should be commended for their effort. The Australian government extended an immediate offer of emergency funding but as a clear picture emerged of the scale of the disaster and the need for the aid, it was the C17 and the RAAF crews that were turned to. By 29 April, two C17s had taken off from Amberley bound for Kathmandu, with six tonnes of tarpaulins, six tonnes of medical supplies, five tonnes of woollen blankets, two RAAF aero-medical evacuation teams and 80,000 water purification tablets. On their return trips, the planes carried hundreds of Australian citizens out of the mountains to begin their journeys home. Among them were two very grateful constituents of mine, Suyana and Siraj, and it was great that they were brought back home safely.

The story was similar for Vanuatu, after Tropical Cyclone Pam—the third most intense storm ever recorded in the southern hemisphere—smashed the Pacific nation. The C17 and the professionals of the Royal Australian Air Force who operate these monstrous aircraft were able to deliver helicopters from Australia to Vanuatu within hours, rather than the days it would have taken by sea. These helicopters, in turn, were able to get to the remote islands and to areas cut off by flooding to evacuate people and deliver crucial aid.

It is important that we commend all of the men and women of the Australian Defence Force who were involved in these works and to acknowledge the foresight displayed in the acquisition of two additional Globemaster C17A strategic airlift aircraft. It has not gone without notice in my electorate, particularly among the uniformed men and women who I am so proud to represent, that they are much better off under a coalition government. The previous Rudd Labor government reduced Defence Force spending to its lowest level as a percentage of GDP since 1938. Under the coalition government, $7.2 billion is being invested in defence equipment in the coming financial year, for new C17 aircraft and associated equipment, P8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, Triton unmanned aerial vehicles and 58 additional joint strike fighters.

As I said, I am so proud to represent the sailors, soldiers and airmen of my electorate here in this place and I commend them for their professionalism and contribution to these valuable humanitarian missions.

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