Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence: the Pacific Ocean is the largest body of water on earth. Its name means ‘peaceful’ or ‘making peace’. It was originally named by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who described it as a calm and peaceful ocean. Many thousands of Australians have swum in its waters and travelled to its beautiful island nations. Whilst the vast majority of visitors to the islands have come away with wonderful memories of sandy beaches and warm water, most Australians are aware of the potential for the Pacific to be a danger to human life, mostly through the cyclones that batter the Pacific coastlines. We have been warned many times over the years about the dangers of earthquakes and volcanoes along the so-called rim of fire that circles the Pacific Ocean. Those dangers usually seem distant; however, natural disasters can strike without warning and with great ferocity.

In recent weeks the Pacific Ocean was anything but peaceful. Indeed, throughout South-East Asia and the Pacific many thousands of people were affected by a spate of natural disasters—typhoons, tsunamis and earthquakes. The first of the disasters, Typhoon Ketsana, lashed South-East Asia on 26 and 27 September. The typhoon flooded most of the Philippine capital of Manila. The flooding was the worst for decades. People were killed; many were injured; and there was devastating damage to cities, homes and businesses, particularly agriculture. The typhoon then hit Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. It is deeply concerning to read reports that the typhoon caused more than 1,000 deaths. I extend my deepest sympathy to the people of the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos who lost loved ones or were otherwise affected by this disaster.

There was such significant damage to infrastructure that thousands were left homeless. The devastation has been massive. Australia as a good neighbour and friend of these countries has a role to play in helping rebuild the damaged infrastructure. The damage may well take generations to repair. We have a role in providing emergency help with food, water, shelter and other essentials for displaced people. On 29 September I extended my sympathy to the people of the Philippines as they struggled to cope with the devastating floods and welcomed the government’s announcement on that day that Australia would provide up to $1 million to support response and recovery activities in the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Ketsana. I understand this assistance is to be delivered through the Philippines Red Cross and UN agencies.

I am pleased that the government has also announced $2 million to feed thousands of people affected by the typhoon in the Philippines, with this assistance to be delivered through the World Food Program. I would support the provision of further emergency assistance by the Australian government if the governments of the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos issued a request for further international support.

Just as the world was coming to terms with the devastation caused by the typhoon, another disaster befell the region when Samoa was hit by a tsunami. This brought back horrific memories of the Indian Ocean tsunami that hit on 26 December 2004. That was a most extraordinary disaster which had a profound effect on the whole region, with more than a quarter of a million people killed, including Australians holidaying overseas. The news of the Samoa tsunami was deeply distressing. On 30 September, I expressed our concern at the news then known that several Australian tourists had been listed as missing and that many local residents were also missing. I confirmed that the coalition would support the government in providing whatever assistance was necessary to Australians in Samoa, especially those who may have suffered injury. Of course, we now know that there was a death toll of 138, including five Australians. Sadly, nine people also lost their lives in Tonga. We supported the government announcement on 3 October of a million dollars in support for Tonga. I take this opportunity to extend my deepest sympathy to the affected families and communities as they cope with the loss of loved ones and the destruction of homes and businesses.

I have been to the Pacific and I have visited Samoa, and there are strong links between this Pacific nation and Australia. For example, there are 40,000 Australians of Samoan ancestry living in Australia and the Samoan community here was very active in the relief efforts. We must not forget the vulnerability of low-lying Pacific island nations to tsunamis, and the latest in Samoa is a tragic reminder of this geographic reality. Of course, Australia’s coast-loving communities are also at risk.

It is for these reasons that, following the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the Howard government announced a major initiative to establish an Australian national tsunami warning system. The system gives protection to Australia. It supported international efforts to establish an Indian Ocean warning system, and it contributed to tsunami warnings for the south-west Pacific.

And there was no end to the tragedy. An earthquake occurred in Sumatra on 30 September, which was followed by another on 1 October. The coalition supports the government’s announcement on 11 October of $17 million in recovery and reconstruction assistance. Thankfully, no Australians were killed, but I offer my deepest sympathies to all those who were affected. It is such a tragedy that over a thousand people have reportedly died and that many thousands have been left homeless. The bonds of friendship between Australia and Indonesia have again proven strong in our emergency efforts. We will continue to help Indonesia over the years it will take to rebuild this shattered region of Sumatra. With Indonesia we have one of our most important bilateral relationships. It will become even more so in the coming decades. Working together as friends in times of crisis such as these will bring us closer together.

Australia and Indonesia must coordinate our efforts with international relief and development agencies in order to ensure the recovery of the region from this triple tragedy. Australia is at the forefront of development aid programs in the region, with the EU being the second biggest donor. But I believe that we can enhance the quality and effectiveness of our aid and emergency relief programs to the Asia-Pacific. I consider that there is more scope for better international development cooperation and humanitarian and disaster relief. The need for this has been tragically demonstrated by the spate of natural disasters in our region in these recent weeks. Australia and the region are bound by our geography and shared interests. Close engagement with the countries of the Asia-Pacific has long been a high priority in Australian foreign policy and, with the rapid and ongoing economic development of our region, Australia is in one of the most fortunate positions in the world to proceed into this, the Asia-Pacific century.

The coalition is proud of its record of cooperation and constructive development in the region. The previous Howard government took us down the path of a long-term commitment to the countries in the region, with good relations with all key regional stakeholders. We contributed to initiatives to develop the regional architecture to better address regional issues and concerns and made Australia’s voice in the region welcome and respected. Australia will continue to help our neighbours in the region who are being tragically affected by this spate of natural disasters.

We are a prosperous and advanced nation surrounded by many less fortunate nations. As we have done in the past, we will help our neighbours in times of crisis and help them to develop their economies. The coalition urges the government to stand ready to offer further assistance to Samoa and other Pacific countries. Australians can feel rightly proud that they have a reputation for generosity to others who find themselves in dire straits. This has been shown once again by the overwhelming financial and other support provided for those affected by these disasters in our region. I commend all Australians involved in these worthy causes. I urge the Australian government to continue to uphold Australia’s longstanding reputation in the region as a responsible and generous neighbour.

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence: I would like to put on the permanent Hansard record a message of condolence for the tragic loss of life in Samoa last month. While Australians were stunned to hear the news of the devastation caused in the wake of the tsunami, the effects in the Ballarat electorate were direct and immediate. Vivien Hodgins, 55, a mother of two, was staying in Taufua, in the heavily hit area of Lalomanu, when the tsunami hit. She was holidaying with a friend, Claire Rowlands, also from Ballarat. Vivien’s death has had a deep reverberation across our community. Those I have spoken to in recent weeks, and in attending her memorial service last week, have described her as a loving mother and wife and an absolutely joyous teacher.

I am sure there are many in this House who were inspired into public service due to the input and energy of a teacher. For many of us, our dreams and ambitions began when we were lucky enough to have a teacher who believed in us, who pushed and prodded us to the next plateau and who, in one apt description I read, poked us with a sharp stick called the truth. For 33 years, Vivien Hodgins was a deeply involved teacher at Mount Clear College. She possessed patience, enthusiasm and love. She touched the lives of thousands of students who passed through her classroom. Viv was a bridge builder. She possessed unlimited endurance. She treated everyone like a friend. She was inclusive; she was inspired. She maintained contact with her students for years after they had left school. In short, she loved teaching and she loved those whom she taught. She was what is called in teaching circles a natural.

Vivien Hodgins was also a great traveller. She had a passion for fairness and justice. She sought out places that were exotic and hard to get to, where the local people were in struggle. She and her husband, Rod, visited Guatemala in 1983, where Indians and schoolteachers were being murdered by the military. They travelled to South Africa, where she touched firsthand the injustices of apartheid. At home she was passionate, involved and fun, conveying and sharing her appreciation and enthusiasm for the area’s natural beauty as well as for local galleries and markets. She was a film fanatic, a mother and both a teacher and a student of life. Her sudden and tragic loss has left a black shadow across her family, her school and our community. I want to send my deepest condolences to Vivian’s family—to Rod and their daughters, Stephanie and Carla. They have asked me if I can put the following message to their mother on the permanent Hansard record:

Vivien was full of love for people and the world. She was without ego and without a shred of malice. Her life was a life of service—to her family and her students.

She travelled the world and saw beauty and terror. She was deeply sensitive to both and lived her life in full awareness of its splendour and its fragility.

She was taken by nature, a nature that she communed with at every level.

She will be deeply and widely missed, but we, her family, believe she will live on in the memories of the many who loved her and were touched by her generosity of spirit.

Her legacy is one she would have never suspected, and only after her tragic death have we fully appreciated the extent of her grace and compassion.

May this woman be a model for us all who briefly walk in this wonderful world.

Rod, Steph and Carla.

I know the small central Victorian rural community of Blampied will also be mourning and rallying to offer solace and comfort to the family. In the spirit of Viv, the family emerge from their grief to encourage us all to support Samoan communities as they rebuild. They have announced the formation of the Vivien Hodgins Samoan Appeal, and I encourage people in my electorate and beyond to donate to that appeal.

Vivien was on holidays in the Pacific with another Ballarat teacher, Claire Rowlands. Claire is still recovering from her injuries, and I want to wish her a speedy recovery. I know she is a tough, brave woman, but I really want to encourage her to take care of herself and to let people take care of her. Finally, our hearts also go out to Ballarat’s Lili Aiesi. The tiny village she grew up in, Lalomanu, no longer exists. The tsunami took the lives of her sister and 10 of her cousins. Six of them were children aged between two and 14.

This year has been one marked by natural calamity: floods in the Philippines, earthquakes in Indonesia, typhoons off Vietnam, fires in Queensland and Victoria and of course the South Pacific tsunami. At these times we are all tested. Whether catastrophe happens in a far-off place or on our own doorstep, we are confronted with our own humanity, its strength and its fragility. The ties that bind us as a community, country or region become more apparent and possibly more relevant in the face of devastation and death. Long after the event, long after the headlines and the attention have moved on, families and friends continue to grieve.

I also take this opportunity to comment on Australia’s response to those recent regional events. In times of crisis we stand in solidarity with our neighbours. We acted quickly with aid, assistance and on-the-ground support in both Indonesia and the South Pacific. We worked around the clock not only to identify and help Australians but to supply help where it was needed. We did everything we could to support the rescue efforts in both Indonesia and Samoa. We stand ready as a country to act quickly and assist as future events dictate.

Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence: I rise to speak on this matter. Recently in both Samoa and Sumatra there have been some great tragedy and natural disaster. Yet this is certainly not something new in these regions. We know particularly over recent years of earthquakes around the ring of fire in the Indian Ocean and also there have been undersea earthquakes around the Pacific ring of fire. These have, for recorded history, inflicted pain and suffering on the peoples that live in those areas—no more so than back on 26 December 2004, when close to 230,000 people around the Indian Ocean lost their lives following an earthquake and then a tsunami that devastated a number of countries in that region.

It was only at the end of September that this most recent tragedy took place. I would begin by talking a little bit about Samoa and what has been called the Samoan earthquake but has wreaked havoc not only on the Samoan nation but also on American Samoa and, to a degree, on Tonga. Following an 8.0 magnitude undersea quake it has been reported by various sources that as many as 143 people lost their lives in Samoa, and 143 is a significant amount of people. There is no doubt about that, particularly when you hear that there were villages wiped out and families very badly affected. Then when you consider that the island of Samoa has a population of only 179,000, to have lost 143 in one event is a major tragedy that will no doubt be remembered for the history of that nation.

In American Samoa they had 32 confirmed dead out of a very small population of 65,000, and on one of the islands of Tonga nine people out of population of 104,000 were lost. These are very small nations but they have suffered greatly. Beyond the deaths we certainly know that the damage to infrastructure and homes has been absolutely devastating. I know, as other speakers have and will, we applaud the efforts of those involved with reconstruction and alleviating the suffering of people, the survivors, and helping those countries get back on their feet. We appreciate that.

We know that Samoa is in the Pacific Ocean and we also know that the Pacific tsunami warning system established in Hawaii has been operating effectively for many years. Apparently at the time, or shortly after the earthquake in Samoa, it was registered by the Pacific tsunami warning system that the ocean rose three inches right above the epicentre of that earthquake. That sounds so small and insignificant, but there were four tsunami waves that crashed into Samoa that were three or four metres in height. They were all from that earthquake under the surface of the sea, and the water rose only three inches. That shows the strength of nature. When the tectonic plates shift and an earthquake occurs, you had better be on your guard.

The Americans and the Japanese have done so much great work in the Pacific to be able to detect and predict tsunamis. I understand that Samoa had about 10 minutes notice of what was going to happen and the waves that were going to arrive. That of course leads us to how that information is communicated to the people on the ground. It is all very well having government informed and the experts knowing that there is going to be a tsunami in 10 minutes, 20 minutes or an hour and a half, but you must have the capacity to communicate that to the people on the ground.

Here in Australia we have not had a very significant history of tsunamis—certainly none that have caused major damage, as I understand. As the commercial radio, the ABC radio and television can be co-opted into giving warnings then we have, to a degree, extra protection. Communication is a real worry in places like Samoa, the Pacific Islands and the Indian Ocean. I think UNESCO has required that the transmission of information from the experts in the warning centres down to the people on the ground be a priority and be looked at. I think there is a fair distance to go on that.

I would also like to speak about the earthquake in Sumatra. As we know, the Sumatrans and the Indonesians have suffered mightily from the effects of earthquakes in the past. In this case I understand that some 1,300 people lost their lives. This is another warning for that nation. As their standard of living continues to increase, their building standards should be as good as they can be. The Indian Ocean rim of fire is an area of great and significant earthquake activity. On 4 June 2000 an earthquake measuring 7.9 was reported. That caused 103 fatalities and 2,000 injured people. The earthquake that caused the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 measured 9.3 and caused over 200,000 lives to be lost. On 28 March 2005 the Nias earthquake measured 8.7 and caused around 1,300 lives to be lost.

Throughout recorded history there have been earthquakes in the region that have caused damage and loss of life. There is no doubt that there is a great need for governments, particularly the local governments in Indonesia, to look at the transmission of information regarding the threats and to look at the building standards. I imagine that that has been advanced, but it should always be looked at.

The disaster in 2004 was acted on quickly, but, unfortunately, after the event. In January 2005 I think UNESCO convened a conference to look at the need for a tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean. The Australian government acted quickly and established the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre, which is operated by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and Geoscience Australia. That was developed so that Australia had an independent capability to monitor, detect, verify and warn the Australian community of the existence of tsunamis in our region. It was a four-year project, as I understand it, and it has resulted in basically a state-of-the-art facility enabling Australia to predict tsunamis and earthquakes and model their effects on the Australian coastline.

I also understand there are some 25 detectors around the Indian Ocean which serve to make sure that the threat of a tsunami following an earthquake is identified quickly and that the countries that are most at risk are warned. Obviously, it is a shame that so many lives were lost before the region acted on this, but I would like to think that progress has been very solid since 2004 and that we are in a position now where the people in the region are so much better protected than they used to be.

But I reiterate that there is a difference between detection and the transmission of that information to the people on the ground. While we can be reasonably confident about this country’s ability to make sure people are informed of the threat, the likely impact of a tsunami on the coastline of Australia, I remain concerned that countries in areas such as the Andaman Sea—India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia—are not yet in a position whereby detection is communicated to the people who are ultimately going to suffer the impact of such events.

I conclude by saying that in this world we will always run the risk of natural disasters and their realisation. It was in all our interests to take the actions that were taken after 2004 to be able to identify these threats, model their effects and take preventative action to minimise the consequences of these disasters. To those who are helping out in the most recently affected nations, including Samoa and Indonesia, whether they are locals or from other nations, I add my thanks and appreciation for the work they are doing to alleviate the suffering in those places.

Jon Sullivan (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence, Madam Deputy Speaker: I rise today to join with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in expressing my condolences to those who have been affected by the recent events in our region. This has been a dramatic time in our region, with the tsunami that affected Samoa and Tonga, the earthquake in Sumatra and the typhoon that devastated parts of the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. We have seen a fairly concentrated period of quite high activity of this type.

There are several thousand Samoans and Tongans who reside in my electorate of Longman. They are greatly valued and appreciated for what their presence adds to the community. I believe that the only Samoan architecturally designed building outside of Samoa, the Maota Fono, is at Deception Bay. The Maota Fono building has been a focal point of the Samoan expatriate community and for Australians of Samoan descent in South-East Queensland for some time now. Indeed, recently they hosted a reception for the Samoan rugby team as part of its World Cup campaign. Because of that concentration of residents in my electorate, I want to concentrate my contribution this morning on the Pacific tsunami.

At 6.48 am local time on 29 September—which was 4.48 am here on 30 September—an earthquake measuring around 8.3 on the Richter scale was felt 190 kilometres south-west of Samoa and American Samoa. That is an awful time of the morning for a disaster to strike. Most people, I suspect even in Samoa, would be simply rising at that time, weary from sleep. Your eyes would still be laden with sleep and you would be wondering more about what is for breakfast than what is likely to be approaching from the ocean.

The earthquake unleashed what we now know were devastating tsunami waves. The destruction was almost total in many areas of Samoa and American Samoa. There is an interesting piece of video available on the web, taken by CCTV cameras in the parking lot of the FBI offices in American Samoa. It shows the power of even the small wave that came through that parking lot. The footage shows a couple of people crossing the parking lot and then another gentleman leaving the building to go to his car and standing transfixed for a good number of seconds as he sees the wave approaching, before turning and running in the opposite direction shortly before the wave comes through and tosses heavy motor vehicles around as if they were plastic bath toys. There is certainly a great deal to be frightened of in the power of a tsunami wave.

The consequential loss of life has been quite severe: 140 people or more in Samoa, more than 30 in American Samoa and another nine or so in Tonga. Tonga is some 1,000 kilometres away from Samoa. Five Queensland medical students were in Samoa at the time of the tsunami. Having been aware of its approach and having run to higher ground, they then returned to the hospital to work, helping people who were injured by the tsunami. They reported early on that it was a very difficult situation for those who had been injured. Their view was that many would succumb to their injuries and that there would be a great loss of limbs as a consequence of the injuries that people had received.

Many families from Longman have lost family members. The effects of the tsunami are deeply felt amongst the aiga, or the extended family, of our Samoan community. The Samoan community is strengthened and comforted by its very strong Christian faith. The Sunday before last, I was delighted to attend with them a memorial service at the Holy Cross Catholic Church at Rothwell. They had also invited local people from the Philippines, Indonesia and other South-East Asian nations to join them. There was a very moving service, followed by, in the Samoan tradition, a fine lunch. I was not able to stay at that for terribly long because of other events that were occurring in my electorate on that day, but it was a great pleasure and a great honour for me to be with them and to participate in that memorial service. On Saturday just gone, I also attended a fundraiser put on by local Pacific islanders to raise money for the tsunami victims. That event was able to raise in excess of $2,000 in a very short period of time. I am aware that in our local community there are other events coming up.

Australia’s responses to all the events—whether the typhoon, the earthquake or the tsunami—have been swift and I know it was very much appreciated by the former citizens of those countries now living in Australia. In relation to Samoa and Tonga, for Samoa there was an initial contribution pledged of $2 million, with a further $5 million pledged later on. We had expert people on the ground within 24 hours. In Tonga we have pledged $1 million. I know, as I said, that the members of those communities here in Australia greatly appreciate the effort by the Australian government.

In my role as the secretary of the Pacific Islands friendship group in parliament, we met recently with heads of Pacific missions who had been recalled to Canberra for briefings. I met them here in parliament and we discussed issues in their various territories. Universally, they indicated to us that, from Australia, of greatest importance to these small Pacific nations were the remittances that went back to those countries from former nationals who are now living and working—or indeed, retired—here in Australia. Samoa and Tonga are going to undergo a lengthy process of rebuilding. I indicate here today that it is my intention to write to the Prime Minister with a suggestion as to how we may do something that will cost us nothing and yet be of great assistance to those countries as they proceed in that rebuilding process—that is, to waive the 13-week rule on the payment of pensions for former citizens or former nationals of those countries who wish to return there to assist their families and their communities in the rebuilding process. That would mean, for example, that aged pensioners who have not been in Australia for the 300 months that are required to be able to take their pension overseas would be able to go without having to come back to Australia within three months. Those on pensions that are restricted, such as the disability support pension, to only 13 weeks outside the country would be allowed to stay indefinitely whilst engaged in this process of rebuilding.

Australia is a generous nation. We saw that recently with the bushfire appeal for Victoria, where not only Australians but people throughout the world came to our aid. I am hoping that we will be able to show the world how much we appreciated that by coming to the aid of those in the Pacific in a large way. To do that, there are a number of processes. The member for Ballarat spoke of an appeal that is being formed in the name of a Ballarat resident who unfortunately lost her life. We are aware that there is a Red Cross appeal. The Samoan government also has established two bank accounts with the ANZ bank of Samoa, to which people can donate directly to the government and to the relief and rehabilitation appeals. I would like to read those account details into the record today. The first is the TreasuryDirect transfer account, which has account number 1200033 and bank SWIFT code ANZBWSWW. The bank’s address is ANZ Samoa Ltd at Apia, Samoa. The second account is called the 2009 Samoa Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation account. Its account number is 3826921, its bank SWIFT code is ANZBWSWW, and the bank obviously is ANZ Samoa Ltd, Apia in Samoa.

If the Australian people were to be able to make direct deposits to either of those accounts, if they felt that they would prefer to do that than to contribute to the Red Cross or to other local appeals, I would urge them to do so. As I said, this is a generous nation. We have received generosity from others during past events in this country—the recent past, as it turns out. I believe it would be really telling for us, not just as a government but as individuals, to reciprocate to others in our region who are feeling rather set upon at the moment.

Again, I wish to express my condolences to all who have lost people who are dear to them in these events, whether they be locals in any of the areas where these events have taken place or Australians who have been caught up in those events, notably the five in Samoa.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I begin by acknowledging the words of the member for Longman, which carry weight because he has worked in and given support to the Pacific Islands. I acknowledge that.

In looking at the tragedies which occurred on 30 September in Samoa and Tonga through the tsunami and, within 24 hours of those events, in Sumatra through the earthquake centred around Padang, I want to begin in my home state of Victoria. Earlier this year Victoria suffered a natural disaster in the form of bushfires. The number of souls lost was very similar to the number who perished in the Samoan and Tongan tragedy. From our community to their community we say, with every good sense and intention, that we truly understand that which you have lost. You have lost your mothers and fathers, you have lost brothers and sisters. Most sadly of all, you have lost your sons and your daughters.

There is no good answer. There is only support. That support takes two forms. First, it takes the immediate form of human compassion. That is appreciated and delivered with heartfelt intent, but it is no substitute for the second form of support, which is the grand Australian tradition of lending a hand to those in need. Successive governments from either side of the House, from either political philosophy, have lent their support. I know: I was in this parliament and I was very engaged as the parliamentary secretary when the Solomon Islands suffered their tsunami. I saw what happened there and the way in which we were able to deploy, at rapid speed, assistance from those within the RAMSI mission and assistance brought from Australia in the form of Hercules with people and material to assist with health, hygiene, accommodation, food and all the basic needs.

That same sort of support has been delivered by the current government and I unequivocally lend my support and give my congratulations and thanks for the work that has been done on Australia’s behalf. What has occurred in Samoa and Tonga has been a great human and physical tragedy, and it will take many years to rebuild. The lives, however, cannot be rebuilt. For those who remain we will simply have to be there to lend our support. We do so as friends, as neighbours and as fellow human beings who are always mindful of John Donne’s imprecation:

No man is an island, entire of itself

every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main

if a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were,

as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were

any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind

and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls

it tolls for thee.

The message is that we are all of one common humanity.

The same applies, of course, in Indonesia—Sumatra, Padang in particular. Australians know only too well the tragedy of the tsunami of Boxing Day 2004. We know of the extraordinary human devastation and that this country responded through its government and through the unbelievable generosity of its people with direct, immediate and indispensable aid. That aid, whether it was in the form of helicopters, ships, personnel, drinking water or any form of medical assistance or immediate sustenance, was vital in the early days. But it translated into a multi-year commitment which was begun by one government and which is being continued by another.

Sadly, in Pedang, where over 1,100 lives have been lost, we have now had to pursue the same course of action. The difference this time is that the numbers are far fewer, but the human tragedy for those involved is no less. So we offer again our support—firstly, as human beings and, secondly, as neighbours who are equipped through historic circumstances to provide real human and material support. We lend our best wishes, our compassion and our most profound human emotions to those who have been lost and to those who remain in Tonga, in Samoa and in particular in Indonesia, which in Sumatra and Pedang at the epicentre have seen the most tragic of consequences. I thank the government for their work. We lend them our complete bipartisan support, and we as a nation will do all that we can to assist the survivors in Indonesia as well as in Tonga and Samoa.

Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I certainly echo the sentiments expressed by the other speakers on this motion, including the Acting Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and, most recently, the member for Flinders and the member for Longman in their words and thoughts for the families and the many individuals affected not just in Samoa and Sumatra but here in Australia. I, like many members in this House, have a strong Samoan and Tongan community, particularly situated on the Redcliffe peninsula. As such a strong multicultural community, it came as no surprise when this community stepped up and supported each other through this difficult time.

The member for Flinders took us back to the Boxing Day tsunami, and I do not know of anyone who would not be able to recall exactly where they were when they heard the news of the Boxing Day tsunami in Indonesia, and particularly devastated areas such as Phuket. I do not think that we will look at situations like that ever again without absolute fear for the people who would be involved. Australia is used to its disasters. It does not make it any easier, but we have seen our fair share of disasters, and we will continue to see our fair share of disasters through cyclones and fires. However, we have not really experienced a disaster such as a tsunami. We have not really understood the horrific impact that such a disaster could have. For it to happen so close to our shores really brought home to the Australian community the risks involved for small islands and coastal areas. We are all vulnerable in our coastal areas to such occurrences.

When the news broke that Samoa had had an earthquake off its shores and consequently a tsunami had hit Samoa, we all braced ourselves for the outcome of that disaster. It has certainly touched many lives in my local community. My local community stepped up very quickly. Our local radio stations 99.7FM and Radio Pacifica held a radiothon on Saturday, 10 October of six hours—from 6 pm to midnight—and they raised approximately $6,000 just in that one night. They also had 15 volunteers staffing the phones and they ran a sausage sizzle. They were not just raising money and collecting goods; they were there to support the Samoan and Tongan community which came together to support each other at that difficult time. One gentleman turned up to the radio station not wanting to be identified and delivered a $1,000 cheque. There was such goodwill across the community that those donations just kept coming. As I walked in to make a donation that evening, there were bags and bags in the doorway of toys, clothes and blankets. People are still able to donate to that appeal through the radio station. They can call 32845000 to donate if they are local. Obviously if they are interstate it is (07)32845000.

There was also a remembrance service held for the victims of the tsunami, which the member for Longman spoke about. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend due to other commitments, but certainly my thoughts were with them on the day. That service was held on Sunday, 11 October. There were representatives from all levels of government and people from not just our Samoan and Tongan communities but also our Indigenous communities and our Filipino communities. We are a strong multicultural community and we came together on that occasion.

I wanted to specifically acknowledge both Theresa Butler, who was the organiser of the remembrance service, and Tavita Timaloa, who organised the radiothon. Mr Timaloa did not just organise this appeal; he was personally affected. At the time of the radiothon, Mr Timaloa was one of many Brisbane residents who had lost family members, with some still missing. On his mother’s side, unfortunately, three passed away. The good news is that the majority of them made it out alive. His own words were that it was tragic and they were trying to chase them down. They had a cousin go to the morgue because they could not get there. He saw the names on the board and quickly rang the rest of the family to tell them the news. So Mr Timaloa has also been personally affected, as have many, many people not just in my community but across the country.

I want to acknowledge the Redcliffe Kippa-Ring Lions Club, who hold markets every Sunday and choose a charity each Sunday to donate their money to. They donated all of their takings for the following two Sundays and raised over $1,000 for the tsunami appeal. I congratulate them on their efforts.

I have talked much about Samoa because of the large community I have in my local area, but I also want to talk about the Tongan community. Koliana Winchester, who works at the local radio station and is herself Tongan, is a strong community worker, and I want to acknowledge her great work. My husband is part Tongan and my mother-in-law is Tongan, so we were certainly concerned about the news that Tonga had been affected, and there were not a lot of reports coming out of Tonga. What we have since found out is that over a thousand people were stranded in the northernmost island of the Kingdom of Tonga, nine people were killed and five critically ill people, including a four-year-old, were transported to the hospitals. So the Tongan community was certainly affected as well, and my thoughts go out to the whole Tongan community—as well as all those affected in Sumatra by the devastating earthquake that occurred around the same time. Thousands of lives have been affected. It is a devastating situation, one that will take many, many months if not years to recover from and to rebuild from. Our communities in Victoria and in Queensland, after their fires and floods, know just how long it takes to recover from these disasters.

I am pleased that the federal government has stepped in quickly, as have state governments, to provide support. I know that not only did Queensland have an appeal but also state government rescue workers travelled to Sumatra and Samoa to help in the rescue efforts. As a number of members have said, the federal government set up the Australian government disaster recovery payment and funeral assistance payment for Australian victims and their families. There is also the one-off payment of $5,000 available to family members, as well as other crisis intervention and personal support.

I also want to acknowledge the wonderful work of aid organisations around the world that always step up, going into these areas immediately to provide support. One such very well known and respected aid organisation, World Vision, has already provided 6,000 family kits consisting of tarpaulins and sleeping mats, sarongs and personal hygiene items. World Vision have distributed more than 750 packages for children under five, consisting of powder, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, blankets and 4,000 collapsible water containers. They are setting up free, child-friendly spaces for over 400 children. World Vision continues to plan a further 10,000 family kits, 5,000 children’s kits and much more.

I cannot end without commenting on the fact that so many children have been left as orphans as a consequence of these disasters. That makes our response even more significant in how we are going to assist these young people. We know that these communities bind together and support each other when children are affected in this way. Globally we have a responsibility to do what we can to support all of the children who have been left as orphans as a consequence of the earthquake in Sumatra and by what has occurred in Samoa and Tonga and the outer region.

Wilson Tuckey (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the Prime Minister and, I might add, the Leader of the Opposition for their statements to the House. Natural disasters occur in many parts of the world, but more particularly in the Asian zone relating to earthquake activity, and tsunamis are an outcome of that. For many years, more particularly during the Howard government—although upon the election of the Rudd government, I corresponded with the Minister for Foreign Affairs in similar manner—I have questioned the fact that our response is typically, with the exception of some private donations, ‘Send the money.’ While it might be argued by some worldwide funds to be the best way to deliver assistance, I am not convinced about that. Furthermore, I think Australia misses a great opportunity to do better and to promote items of construction—for instance, water purification units. Even though it is an emergency, I think we should not ignore the opportunity to bring to the attention of the world Australian products which would be of great assistance in these circumstances and have a long-term benefit.

I have corresponded with many within Western Australia particularly. I assume in other parts of Australia there are simple manufacturing techniques that produce robust plastic shelter tunnels—the type of plastic you see on the sides of trucks. They were designed originally for livestock and are commonly used at agricultural shows and things of that nature as shelter for humans. They could be lived in for a long period by humans and made very comfortable for that purpose. They can be erected in less than an hour to accommodate 100 people. More particularly, if there is an aftershock in an earthquake zone, they will not fall down.

At the time of the North Pakistan earthquakes I had phone conversations with the ambassador, who was extremely interested in my argument that we should—as we could do—get a couple of Hercules transporters and take a stack of this stuff up there. They are simply just 50-millimetre pipes, curved and they can be slotted—you do not have to carry them as a full curve. When they are assembled the plastic is then sheeted over them and ratcheted down in the same way that you would on the side of a truck. They are very tight, very strong, very weatherproof, and they can be prepared in many different fashions. They can be as long as you wish and quite wide, certainly as wide as the room in which we now stand. They can be made big enough to put large harvesting equipment in, if you wanted one that big.

In my discussion with the Pakistani ambassador I asked him about the sizes of houses that people reside in in that area and he mentioned that they were quite large houses for what appeared to be people of low economic ability. I asked why they were that big, and he said that in the winter the people have to put all the animals inside too. Suddenly it occurred to me that these buildings, if they were put up as temporary accommodation for people, would double very adequately for their original purpose here in Australia, which is the protection of livestock. Maybe someone over there, after all the tragedy, would say, ‘What a good idea these things are. Where do I buy them?’

In Popanyinning in my electorate—getting down south towards Albany—there is a group called Bird’s company that have been making these things expertly for years. There is another group in Kondinin that make them for the agricultural sector and which was very interested in gearing up to supply them. My view in the first instance was that we erect one on the front lawn of our embassy in Pakistan for others to view. Then I ran into the brick wall called the Public Service. The Prime Minister, Mr Howard, gave me a name to ring up, and this fellow came round to see me and said, ‘No, we just send money.’ Why do we do that?

That was in the Howard era. Stephen Smith could not give me a more responsive answer when I took the matter up with him. That is not a criticism of him—I know I failed. The whole fact of life is that here is a practical form of protection, easily transported. It has no volumetric problem and could be airfreighted into these areas. They should be flying into Sumatra as we speak. And there is a roadblock in Canberra that says, ‘No, you don’t do those sorts of things.’ Yet the Pakistani ambassador at the time was delighted at the prospect and would have welcomed them. That is just one example.

Let me go a step further. One of the biggest problems in Aceh after the tsunami was drinking water. The Australian government eventually packed up what I imagine was a very large piece of equipment, utilised by the Australian Defence Forces to purify water and fluid up there. In a town called Katanning is a manufacturing company that could have provided all that equipment on the back of a car trailer. They are called AQ2 and their whole industry is built around a worldwide patent of a very small, extremely accurate measuring pump, all of which is manufactured out of solid PVC. I am proud to say that under the now defunct Regional Partnerships system—which I introduced and which was later criticised by the Labor Party—funding was made available to small business in regional areas on the principle that if your small business is prosperous, you will always find paint for the scout hall and you will always find paint for a school hall.

Making small business prosperous in small country towns is a positive initiative, and in this case the Australian government contributed to them buying some machine tools—to which their local investors made the major contribution—that allowed them to speed up their manufacturing process. That is, of course, done to very precise measurements. The machine that they make meters to the water supply a very small but measured amount of sodium hypochlorite, a liquid disinfectant. More particularly, to give you some idea of the size of this equipment, you can put two 20-litre square plastic containers of that product on top and they virtually take up the full area of the top of this piece of equipment. That is how small it is. It is fully computerised. They are marketing these units to Australian water supply authorities for remote communities. They are in Katanning, some 250 kilometres south of Perth, and they are controlling one of these units east of Derby in an Aboriginal community. When the sodium hypochlorite in one bottle runs out, they chuck one on the local overnight transport and the bloke—the driver—pulls up alongside the unit, pulls off the empty one, puts the new one on, screws the cap on and it is going again.

If in the circumstances of Aceh we had had problems of the water going saline and if there had been other contaminants, you could have added to that equipment a typical household sand swimming pool filter and some of the smaller reverse osmosis desalinators. These people could have put that package together, with a two-inch firefighting pump if necessary. They could have been supplied and flowing up there in numbers and people in many locations could have got clean, fresh and sterilised water. Someone in the aid organisations might have seen those and said, ‘What a great thing they’d be in Africa.’

Who said no? It was the Australian bureaucracy here in Canberra. They said, ‘Just send money.’ I find this very annoying. I am giving examples of two items, of which there are many. The technology in building frame houses has existed in Australia for years. I cry every time I see the media coverage, the TV coverage, of the places that have fallen down in these earthquakes. You may as well put a sign on—and I should not laugh, because it is too serious. The reality is that these buildings are designed to collapse and, unfortunately, fall on top of people. If those buildings, particularly residences, had been framed—and that can be done in a multistorey context—they might have cracked and they might have rattled, but they would not have killed people. It is technology: steel frames, BlueScope Steel. We know all about that, and we do not go up there and build houses like that for them. We did not build any in Aceh, admittedly. At the back of Aceh are thousands of square kilometres of forest. Presumably wood framing gives you a similar design, and I think the little houses they replaced there were probably of that nature. But they are not so much an earthquake spot.

The whole fact of life is that we should be out there saying to these people, ‘Here is the solution for your problem so that this doesn’t happen again.’ I have always been a great advocate for better community design. I am a bit of a frustrated builder. I have built horse stables and all sorts of things out of tilt-up concrete. It is common. Virtually every commercial building today is made that way. Yet we do not go out and teach Aboriginal people how they can make them in their communities from local materials, with the exception of a bit of reinforcing and a bit of cement. We could erect them with limited amounts of machinery.

A reasonably sized tractor with a three-point linkage that you can put a cement mixer on and a front-end loader could build that sort of construction. It is very robust but it can also be designed to be much more resistant to an earthquake. You do not, typically, use that method for floors, although I know we do in some of our buildings.

On Christmas Island, as minister, I was responsible for the construction of the staff accommodation building. Three-storey prefabricated concrete walls were designed and manufactured in Perth. They were then put on the ship that goes to Christmas Island; they were lifted out, stood up and a building was put up between them. I am not saying that is the perfect response to an earthquake, but we have all this building technology that we never export during these crises.

I welcome the government’s financial commitment. Both sides of government cannot get into the newspapers quickly enough—‘We’ve sent 10 million’ or ‘We’ve sent 20 million’. Sometimes we do not know where it actually goes, and there has been public criticism of that. Why are we not loading up these new strata cruisers—or whatever they named the bigger ones that Brendan Nelson brought—with products of Australia, even food, as part if not all of our contribution? And I have named only two pieces of equipment. There are photographs of Pakistan showing these funny little tents in which they were housing hundreds of people. They could not have been very comfortable or safe and yet we had better technology that we never sent there. I just cannot understand that.

I took this opportunity today to specifically make this point: as a parliament, why do we not start talking about what Australia could do for these people with real items. It would create work here and, what is more, demonstrate technology which—in the case of the sterilising pump—is unique to the world. Nobody else has anything as good or as small as this. These sorts of things are very suitable for small communities and, more particularly, are an appropriate response to the disasters to which the statements referred. I trust some of my colleagues in government might want to raise that issue in the party room.

David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of some of the natural disasters that have hit some of our closest neighbours in the Asia-Pacific region over the past month. I would first like to thank the Prime Minister for bringing the parliament’s attention to the impact of these disasters on literally millions of people across the region.

Since the end of September we have seen major calamities strike Samoa, Tonga, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, with thousands dead and millions more left to rebuild their lives in the aftermath. It has been a difficult time for all the communities affected in those countries and equally traumatic for those people who are now residents and citizens of Australia but who have had to watch these disasters unfold from afar—uncertain of the fate of their loved ones caught up in the strife. Each of these natural disasters—the earthquakes and tsunamis in Samoa and Tonga, the earthquake in Indonesia and the typhoons that struck the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos—have exacted a devastating toll on human life and property.

It is crucial that Australia continues to demonstrate leadership and uphold its leadership responsibilities in the region by providing the support and assistance needed to help these communities overcome the effects of these disasters. Without diminishing the seriousness of each one of these calamities I would like to take this opportunity to speak in particular about the events in Tonga and Samoa, and the typhoons Ketsana and Palma which struck the Philippines within a week of each other.

I have quite a sizeable population in my electorate who come from the Pacific Islands. In fact, just days after these disasters struck Tonga and Samoa, I had the opportunity to visit the Oxley Park Public School, in my electorate, for their South Pacific Expo. This was a tremendous example of some of the outstanding talents of the young people within my electorate. Oxley Park Public School is an outstanding local school under the leadership of its Principal, Mrs Karen Maraga. The school had on display a presentation that was put together by a number of the students but, in particular, a number of students from Pacific island communities. It was hard not to be moved by the singing of ‘I am, you are, we are Australians’ by what was a very multicultural group of students. I know that many of the students and some of the families who gathered to participate on that occasion had been affected by these disasters in Samoa and Tonga. I wish to acknowledge those families and the impact that these disasters have had.

I would also like to turn my attention to the situation affecting our good friends in the Philippines. As members would know, on 26 September, at the beginning of the fortnight of disasters in the Asia-Pacific region, Typhoon Ketsana smashed into the Philippines, hitting major population centres in the Luzon region, including the capital, Manila. Typhoons, intense storms with gusts and rain for hours on end, have been responsible for ripping off roofs, overturning cars and causing landslides and flash flooding. Ketsana dumped an entire month of monsoon season rain, almost 600 millimetres, on the Luzon region in just six hours. That is almost the equivalent of the entire year’s average rainfall in my electorate of Lindsay. The consequences of this downpour created the worst flooding in more than 40 years in Manila. Hundreds of people were stranded on rooftops and walls, scrambling to make it to high ground before the water engulfed their homes. It is estimated that three million homes were affected across Manila and the wider Luzon region.

In the immediate aftermath, Ketsana took the lives of more than 100 people and, as the days rolled on, that toll climbed substantially as communities counted the loss of those washed away in floodwaters or landslides and missing loved ones who just did not return. As the people of the Philippines reeled from the savage impact of Ketsana, which later moved on to wreak havoc and destruction on Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, another typhoon rolled in eight days after the first. Typhoon Parma struck the northern Philippines with another ferocious day of rain and winds that caused more widespread flooding and soaked an already storm weary Manila for a second time. Dozens of houses were buried in mud and rock as hillsides gave way under the weight of floodwaters, and many more hundreds of people lost their lives.

According to the latest reports from the Philippines National Disaster Coordinating Council, a total of 8.4 million people were affected by typhoons Ketsana and Parma and more than 850 people died. This is a massive loss of life, on a scale even larger than our own Victorian bushfires, one of Australia’s worst recent natural disasters, which claimed more than 170 lives. While there is now a massive relief effort underway, those same communities are bracing for a third typhoon as we speak—that is, Typhoon Lupit. Its gusts reach more than 200 kilometres per hour and it is poised to make landfall tomorrow, but its outer rings of wind and rain are already lashing the northern region of Luzon. The Philippines authorities, the United Nations and the Red Cross are all making preparations for this next onslaught, preparing people for evacuation and readying food and water supplies. I know that the thoughts and prayers of everyone in this parliament are with the people of the Philippines as they not only try to get back on their feet but prepare to fend off another threat of nature.

In the areas where there is still calm the biggest threat comes from disease. As water becomes stagnant, malaria, dengue fever and diarrhoea start to spread, and already more than 100 people have died from leptospirosis. The Rudd government through AusAID has provided $3 million in food aid, clothes, sanitation services, health care and other basic items that will help thousands of people survive the coming days and weeks. I would like to acknowledge the swift responses of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance in committing Australia to the relief effort.

I would also like to take this opportunity to make special mention of the Western Sydney Filipino-Australian community who are organising a charity concert on Sunday, 1 November at Bowman Hall in Blacktown. A group of entertainers has donated their time and talents to help stage a concert to raise funds for the relief effort in the Philippines and this is being supported by all the major Western Sydney Filipino-Australian groups. In particular I acknowledge those groups within my local community that have given voice to the situation faced by those in the Philippines and I take this opportunity to express my personal condolences to those residents within my community who have been affected through the impacts of these devastating typhoons on their family members back in the Philippines.

This last month has demonstrated how vulnerable we all are to the ferocity of nature. But it has been a testament to the cooperation among countries in the Asia-Pacific region that governments, NGOs and grassroots community organisations have all rushed to lend a hand to those affected. To the people of Samoa, Tonga, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, you have all faced a horrible month of tragedy and disaster, but you are constantly in our thoughts and I know that we are all offering our strength and support in this time of great need.

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For many years of my life I was responsible for the Torres Straits. There is great potential in this area for fish farming and crustacean farming, which lend themselves very much to development. In the Torres Strait Islands they have rock walls going out into the ocean, which are fish traps. At high tide the fish can get in; at low tide the water rushes out and they cannot get out and the people can go round in the morning and pick up their food for the day.

It gives me no joy to relate to the Houses that whilst we are here—and quite rightly so—to mourn, and to pledge our support for our northern neighbours, the tragic reality is that we are very good at crying about others but not about looking after our own. A few of us went on the Closing the Gap trip to the Torres Straits. I was quite staggered actually when I went out there at what I found—and this is our little part of the South Pacific Islands that we are responsible for and this is how we are looking after them. When I was up there the last time, in 1990—and 1990 was last year, I think, I was minister—I would say that 90 per cent of the food I ate was locally grown. It was seafood that had been caught, and taro and yam and other vegetables that were locally grown.

This time when I was up there I cannot remember having a single piece of food that was grown on the islands. AQIS, the quarantine service, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, and Queensland, had effectively stopped those people from having a source of food. The net result of this—and we were the Closing the Gap committee inquiry—is that there is a 50 per cent higher rate of diabetes and heart problems among the Islanders there than for average Australians and, as we all well know, those things are very much diet-related.

The people of the Torres Strait have no way of earning any money anymore because their crayfishing and other fishing operations have been stopped. Their chooks and pigs have been taken away from them by the quarantine service. The people say that even their farming has been taken away from them. We are still investigating whether that is true or not, but that is what they told us. When we went into the supermarket, we saw that four to seven per cent of the entire shelf space was filled with rice. This is a drivingly poor Third World country, where the death rate is 50 per cent higher than in the rest of Australia. Why? Because of the actions of this place. People are dying up there at a 50 per cent higher rate than anywhere else because of the actions of this place. And do you think anyone cares, Mr Deputy Speaker Washer? With all due respect to the chairman of the Close the Gap committee, to my knowledge the committee has still not put out a report. I am not cognisant of any report having been put out. So whilst it is very good for us to be supportive and sympathetic towards the plight of our northern neighbours, we have a responsibility to the Pacific islanders, and that responsibility is being discharged in such a way that there will be shame on this place and, unfortunately, on my nation for the historical future.

The gulf cattlemen live pretty sparsely; they live pretty hard. They do not have many of life’s good things. They live hundreds of kilometres from the nearest town. My station property was 230 kilometres from the nearest town, and that was the little town of Croydon, with 200 people. So we were right out in the middle of nowhere. Many of the people who were caught in the floods this year were in an even worse situation than we were distance wise.

For the last 50 or 60 years, the fifth or sixth biggest export item of this country has consistently been beef. We have the growing area for the beef industry. If you wipe out the breeding herd in the gulf then all Australia will suffer. When the floods hit, it was communicated to state and federal governments. There was a request for fodder drops for the cattle. No fodder drops took place. No government even bothered to reply to the people. They did not come back to them and say, ‘We’re not doing it.’ They did not even bother to do that. So these people watched in horror as their cattle were washed away into the gulf and drowned. We hear a lot of people criticise their own. There is a name for these people: traitors. I will shortly be fixing up a few of them when I get up to Normanton and Karumba. These people said that we were crying wolf.

The web and all the newspapers in Australia showed pictures of the hundreds and thousands of cattle that had died and the wildlife that had died in the great floods at the start of this year. It was the furies of February for Australia. Whilst the southern part of Australia was on fire, the northern part was under water. Once again, I make the point, as I have made a thousand times in this place: what is wrong with us as a race of people that we do not take some of the water from up there and move it south? It is quite extraordinary.

Many of the cattlemen, the contractors who served them and the employees who worked on the stations are in diabolical straits. Many of them will be bankrupt as a result of what has taken place there. These are our frontiersmen. The people who live in the Gulf Country have no restaurants to go to; they have no picture theatres to go to; and they have no friends that they can visit. Our nearest neighbours were 40 kilometres away. You think twice before you drive an 80-kilometre round trip to say g’day to your neighbours. A lot of the time the telecommunications, which are very substandard, do not work. We are completely cut off.

Sadly, many people that I know have had mostly children die as a result of that isolation because the telephone does not work or they do not have a telephone or the pedal radio is not working or the flying doctor could not fly in because the airstrips were too muddy and they had no access to a helicopter. So many of these people have died. The part that enraged me was that I could get in an aeroplane at Ingham, just north of Townsville on the Pacific Ocean, and fly all the way, 1,000 kilometres to Karumba and Normanton, and, except while crossing the Great Dividing Range, I could see water out both sides of the aeroplane. It was a flood of massive size. We have had worse but it was still a flood of massive size and all of the people have suffered as a result of this: the cane-farming people, contractors, employees and mill workers, who have had a short season because of the lack of cane. Many of them will lose their stations, their farms or their houses in the town as a result of this. But whilst this was happening the government announced three per cent interest rates from the Reserve Bank. If those people could have been able to access the three per cent that was made available then they would have had no problems. If the government is lending it at three per cent, why wouldn’t you lend it to these people at three per cent? But, no, the obsessive, stupid, brainless policies of the free market say, ‘No, you must go through the marketplace.’ Well, the banks do not compete against each other; they compete with each other. I defy anyone to point out to me where there is more than a one per cent difference between the banks. But if they can pick up three or four per cent before they send it out to you, why wouldn’t they?

There was a time when there was enlightened government in this place, when truly great men walked in this place, and let me name them: King O’Malley, Ted Theodore, Ben Chifley, Jack McEwen and Doug Anthony. Each of these people put in place a banking mechanism that enabled people, when there was trouble through no fault of their own, to take money, effectively from the Reserve Bank but in some cases not from the Reserve Bank, at interest rates of two per cent. I am one of the people that set up one of those banks. I had responsibility from a state government under the Treasurer, Bill Gunn. He and I were assigned the responsibility for the QIDC. The argument is that this costs us money, and if you are a brainless, incompetent government it does cost you money. Perish the thought that a brainless, incompetent government would go into banking!

When you are a smart government going into banking, you make an awful lot of money. Let me tell you, Mr Deputy Speaker, that we started off with a $200 million loan—it was a loan and no money was actually ever allocated—and the bank was sold for $1.5 billion some seven or eight years later. I deeply regret to say that the QIDC was sold by the National Party. It was the last of the banks to be sold. The Commonwealth Bank was sold, the Commonwealth Development Bank was sold, the Primary Industries Bank was sold, the AIDC was sold and, yes, the QIDC in Queensland was sold. Properly handled, and I have not got the time to say why nor are we canvassing the issue of banking today, a development bank makes money. But I will give you a quick hint that when you lend money intelligently to a farmer who is in trouble through no fault of his own he will give the money back to you and he will stick with you. So if you lend him $300,000, the amount of a debt to some other bank at the start and you take over that debt, then you have $300,000 worth of gilt-edged business which is secured by the value of the farm and you are dealing with a person who you know is going to pay it back when things turn around. So, Mr Deputy Speaker, that gives you a quick view of why you make money.

These people have now been languishing since the start of this year, and my understanding is that not a single dollar of any substantial assistance has gone to a single person in the Ingham area or in the Gulf Country. Neither category of people has had a single cent of assistance, and yet the government down here is telling us they have money available at three per cent. We have not seen it. Some of those people, tragically, might join the ranks of the farmers who last time I looked were committing suicide at the rate of one every four days, thanks to the deregulation of the dairy industry, probably, more than anything else—actions by this place and, I might add, the National Party in this place. If they join those ranks then let it be upon the heads of the people in this place. Heaven only knows that representatives such as me have hounded endlessly and ceaselessly the ministers involved in this, trying to get some of that three per cent money made available to the people out there. If you have it and you are handing it out, why don’t you give it to them? Name me a more deserving group of people in Australia. What we asked for was so little.

It shows the hypocrisy of this place and the hypocrisy of government as it operates at the state and federal levels that they would not give us any flood drops. They would not give us a helicopter to ferry people out of Karumba. Karumba is a little town, and it was surrounded by 15 kilometres of raging, crocodile-infested floodwaters. The airstrip was out the whole time. They do not effectively have an airstrip out there. The state government has done up the existing one in such a way as to ensure that we will continue not to have an airstrip there. So we do not have an airstrip, for about 2,000 people. The floodwaters were rising. We had no way—even if you broke a leg or broke an arm—of getting out of there except for 2½ hours in a dinghy in raging, crocodile-infested floodwaters. That is the only way we could get anyone out of there.

We went to the media with the pictures of the raging floodwaters and everything, and we told them that they had not even got a helicopter there. We showed them the airport at Normanton, and there was no helicopter there. They told us that they had a helicopter. It was all right and I did not have to worry, because they had a helicopter based at Cairns. I said, ‘Do you think we should run the emergency services for Brisbane out of Sydney?’ He said, ‘No, why would we want to do that?’ I said, ‘It’s the same distance. You could save a lot of money.’ That is exactly the same as you saying to me that you had a helicopter based at Cairns that was going to be available to evacuate people from Karumba. But when the spotlight of public attention was turned upon them, and when the pain of these people, and the dead animals—the cattle and the kangaroos—were flashed onto the national media, suddenly we had politicians parachuting out of the sky and suddenly we got money through.

But it was a bit too late for the fodder drops, because the cattle were all dead at that stage. These people did not have the money or the wherewithal to be able to get those fodder drops made to rescue those cattle. We do not do that to help the grazier. They say, ‘If they live up there, they should be able to live with these sorts of thing.’ We are not doing that to help the grazier. We are doing that to preserve the Australian cattle breeding herd. Heaven only knows! In India it is a religious belief that you are not allowed to kill the cow. The cow is the calf factory and it is the tractor. The sanction is not upon the ox as an animal. The religious sanction is upon the female ox. Similarly here: it is our belief that we should preserve the herd. That is why government should become involved.

It always amazes me to see the animal welfare people that go running around and crying about the animals. We did not hear from them. They were pretty silent. Whilst hundreds of thousands of kangaroos, wallabies and other animals drowned, and whilst maybe 100,000 head of cattle drowned as well, they did not seem too worried.

I certainly feel, as everyone in this place does, for our brothers and cousins up in the Pacific Islands. We have a very, very close relationship with those people. The Filipino people have had a western democratic system there for 60 or 70 years now, arguably longer. They have been an American colony—an Anglo-country colony, if you like—for a large part of their recent history. They have a similar religious belief system to our own—they are Christians—and we have many, many of those people in Australia. In some of the areas I represent it is a male society—we cannot get Australian women to live there. A lot of those men marry Filipino ladies and they are extremely successful marriages. One of only six people who were invited to my own wedding married a Filipino bride. I will mention their names: Col and Melinda Jenkins. They have a beautiful family—a really outstanding family. I think they are a great credit to anyone in Australia.

We have a very strong kinship with these people. Many of our rugby league teams have Polynesians and Melanesians playing in them. They come to Australia and they always will. They have always been a race that has moved in and out of Australia, and we welcome them greatly as our cousins and our brothers. But let us start with our more immediate family that has suffered greatly and has not received the assistance that they should have received. In fact, they have really received callous disregard from government. That is still the situation as I speak. To my knowledge and information, no money has been passed out at all.

Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Main Committee for this opportunity to make some brief comments in relation to natural disasters. I want to associate myself with the statements made by the Prime Minister and other ministers in the government in this regard. Natural disasters strike indiscriminately and all over the globe. They strike at home, they strike our nearest neighbours, and sometimes they strike in the most unfortunate of places. While natural disasters are very indiscriminate in the way that they occur they often, unfortunately, very much hit those least able to cope with the natural disaster in the first place. While we have heard a range of comments—and I appreciate the emotion and passion of members of parliament in terms of natural disasters around the country and also those within our own country—I note that Australia has played a significant role both at home and overseas in trying to mitigate those disasters as best as possible in the humanitarian sense and also in an economic sense.

First can I just make a few brief comments about some natural disasters at home. We have seen many of those over the years. It is something that most Australians put in the back of their minds. We see ourselves as a very lucky country, a country that is lucky in a whole range of ways, but particularly in terms of having a very small number of natural disasters. But we can easily think back to the earthquake in Newcastle, flooding and fire in different parts of the country and most recently, of course, the devastating fires in Victoria and the massive loss of life there, which was a real shock to all Australians—just how large scale that disaster was for us.

In my own home state of Queensland a number of floods have cost not only lives but have also done irreparable damage to some communities in terms of their land, their crops and, as we heard from the previous speaker, their livestock as well. I acknowledge that Australia, while it is a lucky country, has suffered probably not as severely in most cases as some of our nearest neighbours but certainly we have suffered as well. I note that governments of all persuasions have made efforts—and I believe appropriate efforts, as we have seen in the aftermath of the fires in Victoria—to assist people on the ground and also to provide services and facilities in the aftermath, because we know that natural disasters often occur quickly and they are over quickly, but the impact of those disasters on individuals and the community last for many, many years into the future.

I also wanted to make particular reference to a number of natural disasters affecting some of our nearest neighbours, including Samoa, Tonga—all the Pacific islands that have been hit recently—the Philippines and Vietnam. I wanted to make particular mention of all of those groups because not only do I have a compassionate view about the circumstances but also many from those countries live in my electorate. I know first hand from speaking to representatives of those communities just how much impact it has on them here in Australia. I had the privilege of attending a cross-community church service recently for the Pacific Islander community, in particular the Samoan community, in my electorate, and the outpouring of grief, of sadness, made me understand that the disasters that happen in those places directly affect all of us here in Australia. There is actually a direct impact. There is almost nobody in the Australian-Samoan community who has not got a friend or a direct relative—perhaps a cousin, an uncle or an aunt—in Samoa who has been affected in some way, or lost their lives.

It is very much something that we feel very directly right here in Australia. I am very appreciative of the way that the Australian government has been able to, in a very compassionate and humanitarian manner, deal with some of those issues, particularly in the immediate aid we provided by sending doctors and medical professionals, supply ships, helicopters and a range of other services directly to those hardest hit communities. We do that because we feel a kinship with our nearest neighbours. I have always been of the view, whether it is in relation to natural disasters, humanitarian aid or just those who are less fortunate than us—and I do not want to talk about immigration issues in relation to this—that often there is a link between natural disasters that take place and the immigration issues that come afterwards.

There is a role for Australia to play, a place for us, as the good neighbour and a humanitarian neighbour in many of those cases. I will always applaud governments that look at it from a wide perspective and do the best that they can. We are a small country; we are only 20-odd million people. We have a large geography and there has always been a capacity for a wealthy nation like Australia to step up to the plate and do a little bit more. That is what we have seen with natural disasters in our region and a range of other areas. We should always continue to do that.

I want to thank my local community for the way they have behaved and been able to come together as a community to demonstrate their courage, to demonstrate their ability to fundraise and to grieve within their community but to do it in a constructive way that means they can be of assistance. Many of the Samoan and Pacific Islander representatives in my community have actually flown back to their countries to lend assistance personally. That has come at a personal cost to them—a financial cost—and I am very appreciative of the Australian government’s approach in assisting those individuals. We have done that through Centrelink for a range of programs. That is an appropriate way to deal with understanding how these people—who, generally speaking, are not wealthy people—have taken a very high personal financial burden to try to assist others. Sometimes it is their own family, of course, but sometimes it is not. Sometimes it is just their broader community. This is on top of AusAID providing $3 million in the way of sanitation, food, clothes and a number of other products that we might provide.

In closing, I also want to briefly thank the minister as well as the Prime Minister. I understand and appreciate the way they and their offices have dealt with these issues. The action that we have taken is always the appropriate action in dealing with natural disasters in our region and in dealing with our neighbours. We ought to continue that when those situations arise both at home and overseas.