Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Prime Minister for his fine and heartfelt words, and on behalf of the coalition I extend our thoughts and prayers to all of those affected in Papua New Guinea. As the Prime Minister pointed out, Prime Minister Marape was in this parliament only a short time ago, and in his speech he spoke about the rugged nature of the part of PNG that we now make reference to—Enga province, up in the north-west. It is a rugged country and it is very difficult to access.

The scenes of people trying to dig for loved ones who are buried by hand, trying to move rocks, and some reports of people being under 10 metres of landfill are unimaginable. As the Prime Minister acknowledged, I wrote to him earlier this morning to offer the coalition's support on any decision the government would make to provide additional effort to PNG. The airlifting of heavier equipment, if that's possible, by the Australian Defence Force or civil contractors here in Australia—we would very much encourage consideration of that effort and any ways in which we can help in the humanitarian response, in helping people to try and recover those whose lives have been lost and those who may still be trapped.

I thank the Prime Minister for the courtesy of our earlier discussion today. I want Prime Minister Marape, a dear friend to many of us, and all Papua New Guineans to hear the very clear message that Australia will always stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Papua New Guinea. They are family. In these tragic events, Australia will always come to the fore and provide support to the people of PNG.

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