Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Financial Services) Share this | Hansard source

COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on many of our Pacific neighbours. Not only has it put enormous pressure on what are already struggling health systems in the Pacific but it's also damaged the Pacific's largest industry, and that of course is tourism. A number have also had a major blow associated with Tropical Cyclone Harold, which devastated their communities. It's clear now that the Pacific needs our help more than ever. We must return the favour. During the summer bushfire crisis, many Pacific nations, including Fiji and Vanuatu, sent donations, and members of their defence forces came to Australia to assist in our time of need. This is what good neighbours do.

I must say that the Prime Minister's comments last week—that Australia had no slavery—haven't gone down well in our Pacific neighbourhood. Dan McGarry from the Vanuatu Daily Post tweeted in the wake of the Prime Minister's comments, 'That whole "no slavery in Australia" line is not playing well here in Vanuatu.' Many people from those nations have been saying that the Prime Minister's comments were disrespectful—particularly the ancestors of many that were involved in blackbirding, which many parliaments of Australia have apologised for because it was wrong.

While the government likes to talk about a step-up in the Pacific, the fact is that the coalition's been out of step with Australia's track record of being a true leader in this region. This region is critically important to Australia—to our physical security and to our economic security as well. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the vulnerabilities of our Pacific partners' healthcare systems. This comes after several years in which the coalition government's official development assistance cuts have fallen more heavily on health care than on aid programs in physical infrastructure, trade facilitation and international competitiveness. Healthcare systems in most Pacific countries suffer from a lack of resources, health professionals, basic equipment and infrastructure. As a former Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, I can vouch for the fact that the healthcare systems in many of our Pacific neighbours' countries are simply not up to scratch. That's why many of these nations fail the Millennium Development Goals that are associated with health care in their countries. In many countries, poor logistics, transport infrastructure and geographic isolation add to the challenges in providing health services in remote regions. Inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure and limited fresh water supplies in remote communities also reduce the effectiveness of basic containment measures. Development assistance needs to build greater capacity in health care to support economic and social resilience. In health care, there's a need to improve resources, skills and capabilities in responding to health emergencies to tackle the region's ongoing challenges in non-communicable diseases and preventative health interventions.

The other area where the Pacific needs Australia to show leadership and needs our support is in stronger action on climate change. Whenever I used to meet with Pacific leaders in the role of parliamentary secretary, I'd ask them how Australia can help. Always the No. 1 answer, the No. 1 concern of Pacific nations is the damage that climate change is doing to their communities and their economy. Sea levels are rising, inundating infrastructure. Wells are becoming salinised and no longer able to be used as a source of water for communities. Stable crops that they have relied on to feed their populations for years are becoming salinised and damaged in irreparable ways. That is why we've seen some Pacific nations actually start to buy land in other countries—because they know the prospect of climate change ruining their countries and making them uninhabitable is just around the corner. They're actually talking about moving populations to other countries so they can survive.

The one area where the Pacific needs Australia's support and help is in stronger action on climate change. That's the one thing that this government is not showing leadership on when it comes to supporting our Pacific neighbours: stronger action on climate change, making sure that Australia is a leader, and ensuring that we're doing our bit to support our Pacific neighbours around climate change.

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