Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend my private member's motion relating to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, to reflect the fact that the Australian government, commendably, has increased its aid from $10 million to $30 million.

Leave granted.

I move the motion as amended:

That this House:

(1) extends its sympathies to the people of the Philippines who have been affected by the devastating super-typhoon Haiyan;

(2) acknowledges the anxiety and concern this terrible event has caused for the Filipino-Australian community, that is worried about the safety and well-being of family and friends in the Philippines;

(3) in particular, has regard for the:

(a) officially estimated 2,500 casualties reported to have been caused by the super-typhoon;

(b) growing concern about the possible widespread outbreak of disease along with the lack of food, clean water and medical supplies; and

(c) displacement of 800,000 people as a result of a complete destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, roads and infrastructure; and

(4) welcomes the Australian Government’s provision of $30 million in assistance to the Philippines, and urges the Australian Government to maintain close dialogue with the Philippines Government to ensure that further meaningful support may be extended in a timely way, where required.

Just over a week ago, Supertyphoon Haiyan—one of the worst storms in recorded human history— swept over our good friends in the Philippines. In numerical terms the sheer strength of this category 5 catastrophic storm, with gusts of just under 400 kilometres an hour, is beyond belief and compare—its impact more so, as it cut across nine regions, 44 provinces, over 536 municipalities and 55 cities, an area home to 50 million Filipinos, just over half of the country's 92 million citizens. Coron, Tacloban, Ormoc, Palo, Kinan and Cebu—all major population centres that lay directly in the path of Haiyan—were gravely affected by it. A combination of 310-kilometre-an-hour winds and surging seas, with waves over 10 metres in height, levelled cities and turned scrub into barren land.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates over 11 million Filipinos were directly affected. Between 2,500 and 5,000 Filipinos have lost their lives. Around 13,000 are injured. Nearly one million people have been displaced. These are staggering numbers and numbing pictures. One of the more difficult sights over the weekend was that of emergency personnel from Tacloban forced to bury their friends. Unidentified bodies lay atop each other in long, deep ditches. The only solace ahead of this undignified departure was provided by priests who read the last rites to these poor victims.

While Haiyan has quickly come and gone, people are now racing against the clock to save lives, because victims who miraculously survived this onslaught are now literally dying from thirst. The hungry are becoming the sick. In weakened states, survivors are unable to resist the disease that comes from exposed wounds, contaminated water and airborne infection, all worsened by humid conditions. The focus now is on providing clean water and food, combined with vital medical help.

Long term, there is a need to rebuild the 250,000 ruined homes, along with the roads, telecommunications and utilities that serviced them. UN agencies have called for help to bring forward over $300 million in assistance, and many countries have stepped up: the US pledging $20 million, the UK $16 million, Japan and the United Arab Emirates $10 million. I am proud to say Australia has made $30 million of assistance available. I congratulate the Australian government for this assistance and restate the Leader of the Opposition's commitment to stand with the government and signal that both sides of politics are joined to help our friends during this tragedy. Through Australia's assistance, we will be able to meet serious nutrition, child health and protection needs. Critical Australian know-how—doctors, nurses, paramedics, other medical specialists and ADF logistic support staff—will make a difference. Globally, non-government organisations such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent, UNICEF and Save the Children are tending to the needs of Filipinos while collecting further assistance from countries across the planet.

Overseas, there have been some incredibly generous donations from the corporate sector, notably from the IKEA Foundation, which has donated €2 million to UNICEF, almost double the contribution made by some governments. Back home, companies such as BHP Billiton, ANZ, QBE Insurance, Optus and Telstra should all be congratulated for extending roughly $1 million in support and assistance. However, Australia's corporate citizens can do much, much more. I urge our other major corporations, particularly those with business links in the region, to quickly make a contribution to a regional neighbour in great need.

If you grew up in Blacktown, you grew up knowing a Filipino. Around 10 per cent of the electorate I represent are Filipino-Australians, who have become great residents and warm neighbours across the suburbs of Rooty Hill, Plumpton, Oakhurst through to Minchinbury. While the Filipinos are normally recognised for their humour; it is the other attributes they are known for that will help them most right now: their capacity for hard work, loyalty, love of family and a deep faith that fuels their strength.

Many Filipinos that I have spoken with are deeply concerned about the welfare of their kababayanscountrymen and women. They have moved quickly to lend a hand. Filipino Australian small businesses and community organisations are coordinating support and supplies. On Saturday I visited a Rooty Hill small business run by Jas and Gil De Leon. They have turned their cafe into a collection point for canned food and bottled water, all to be shipped next week. Filipino media such as Ang Kalatas, Ausinformer, Bayanihan News, the Philippine Community Heraldandthe Philippines Sentinel are providing desperately needed updates for the community. SBS Filipino Radio ran a telethon last week to help raise funds for charity and a range of other fundraising events are being organised. The member for McMahon, who was quick to second this motion, and I will be involved in coordinating an event for 1 December to raise funds.

Finally, this is a chance for Australian parliamentarians to send our best wishes to our friends in the Philippines, and, most importantly, send them the word mabuhay'long live'.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the amended motion be agreed to.

Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support the motion by the honourable member for Chifley and I thank him very much for his motion. I would also like to add, as I rise to speak to this motion, that this House extends its sympathies to the people of the Philippines who have been affected by Typhoon Haiyan.

President of the Philippines Benigno Aquino has declared a 'State of National Calamity' and the United Nations Relief Coordinator has declared a level 3 emergency, the highest possible level for a natural disaster. There has been extensive and widespread damage. Eight-hundred thousand people have been affected by Supertyphoon Haiyan and tragically thousands of lives have been lost.

One cannot imagine the absolute devastation felt by those who could not escape Haiyan's path of destruction—homes were lost, livelihoods destroyed and so many people today are grieving for the loss of their loved ones. My thoughts and the thoughts of the House are with them all. My thoughts are also with those Australians who have lost family members and loved ones and to those who are terribly concerned about family and friends and who are waiting on information about their welfare. I also want to pass on my support to the many Filipinos who live in the electorate of Brisbane.

Communication in many areas of the Philippines is difficult. The Australian government is working hard to reach out to Australians in those areas affected via email, phone and social media. Flights are available out of Tacloban and Guivan airports and to date 400 people have been evacuated from affected regions. The government is also working with consular partners to facilitate the departure of Australians. Australians have been able to depart affected areas on US aircraft. The Australian government is providing consular assistance to the families of an 86-year-old Australian woman and a 49-year-old Australian man who died during the typhoon. Because communication is so difficult in areas affected by the typhoon it is difficult to ascertain just how many Australians have been affected. Sadly we can expect further cases of grave concern.

The government is also working very hard to support the Philippines to meet critical needs, including food, clean water, health care and logistics support with the $30-million package. Australian officials were amongst the first international personnel to arrive in Tacloban area, including an Australian medical assistance team, officials from our embassy in Manila, DFAT rapid response team members and consular staff.

Current support for the relief effort includes an AUSMAT field hospital, which commenced operations on the 16 November; HMAS Tobruk, which departs Townsville today; two RAAF C130J aircraft; and an Australian Federal Police disaster victim management team. Aid is being targeted to meet the needs of those in the worst affected areas by our most experienced and trusted partners.

I want to also use today's motion to thank the NGOs that are on the ground, including the United Nations, Australian non-government organisations and the Red Cross. At the moment they are assessing the situation and providing essential food and water in these areas. As the member for Chifley said earlier, it is a difficult operation and one that requires incredible support in so many areas.

The Prime Minister has written to President Aquino to pass on his thoughts and prayers to the Filipino government and to offer further disaster support if needed. The Australian government will continue to respond to the immediate requests of the Philippines government to ensure that Australian resources are being used to meet their most urgent priorities.

Again I would like to express my sincerest sympathies to those who have been affected by this national calamity. I will continue to hold those affected in my thoughts and prayers in the coming weeks and months as the people of the Philippines mourn the loss of loved ones and attempt to rebuild homes, hospitals, housing and schools. Australia stands ready to help the government of the Philippines in the months and years ahead. I would also like to thank all those who have provided support.

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the member for Chifley's very important motion and his amendment. These days, with the world being subject to so many tragedies and calamities, it is easy to think, to assume, that we are somehow inured and desensitised to the devastation that we see regularly on our television sets—that somehow Australians and people around the world are used to these tragedies. Tragically, of course, we are used to them. But Typhoon Yolanda, as it is known in the Philippines, and Typhoon Haiyan, as it is known here, has impacted I think on Australian citizens and on the world by the sheer devastation it has wrought to a wonderful people who are in need of economic development, not in need of the sort of devastation they have seen in recent weeks.

We know that the death toll is almost 4,000 and rising, with 1,500 people remaining missing. It is predicted that that death toll will rise further in coming weeks. More than 12,000 people have been injured; more than half a million people made homeless; almost one million displaced in other ways; 55 cities have been affected, and more than 50 million people affected in some way in the area that was hit by these winds of 314 kilometres an hour, and the chaos and destruction that they wrought.

The Filipino community, tragically, is subject to these events all too often. Four out of ten Filipinos live in storm-prone cities with populations in excess of 100,000 people. For an island nation with the world's 12th-largest population, this is very concerning indeed. The Philippines is the third-most vulnerable country in the world to national disasters. When earthquakes, volcanoes or severe typhoons occur, the poor are the worst affected. One in three people still live below the global poverty line. The typhoon caused considerable damage to the public water system, which will take a long time to fix, resulting in minimal availability of public water in the city of Tacloban and the surrounding suburbs.

The impact on food production has been very real as well. The United Nations World Food Program released an emergency operation document requesting $88 million to support an estimated 2.5 million typhoon affected people who are likely to require food assistance in the next six months.

So this is a tragedy of the first order, which has affected so many in the Philippines. Australia's Filipino community has responded as you would expect them to. In my own community of McMahon, money was raised. On the weekend I was speaking to leaders of the Filipino community, who were on assembling hampers and rescue and support materials that they were having sent to the Philippines. The Australian Filipino community has been very directly affected indeed. Under the leadership in my community of Father Nards Mercene, the Filipino pastor in the local Catholic Church, the community is responding, of course, as you would expect them to.

As the member for Chifley flagged, he and I, and the member for Greenway and other honourable members, are coordinating a fundraising effort which will occur on 1 December. We are inviting prominent Filipino Australians to come and help raise those funds with us. It will be a day that will be bittersweet. We hope to have fun—there will be community and fun activities for children, like face-painting and all sorts of things—but of course it will be a day of tragedy as well. It is appropriate that we raise as much money as we possibly can. I am confident that the entire community, not just the Filipino Australian community, will be turning out on that day to help us raise the necessary money. We will provide more details to the community as the event is being organised, but it will occur on 1 December and it will be a very important day for the Western Sydney community to come together to raise funds for this crisis.

The Filipino community, as the member for Chifley indicated, calls deeply on the two fundamental elements of its community and society: faith and family. Faith and family are so important to the Filipino Australian community. I know that they have called on their faith and their families even more than they normally do over recent weeks. As they do so, it is important that they know that the thoughts of every single member of this House, and the thoughts of the Australian community more generally, are with them as they deal with this tragedy which has beset their beautiful island nation.

Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a privilege to contribute to this debate today and recognise Australia's strong connections to the nation of the Philippines, which is an extraordinarily resilient and wonderful country of 98 million. It is a near northern neighbour of ours, yet many of our links could be far further cultivated than they have been over the last 10 years.

The tragedy and the devastation that was wrought with the supertyphoon is something that is only witnessed maybe once a decade, if that. I understand that these were the strongest winds to hit land ever recorded. And, by virtue of a large population, the damage was enormous to the agricultural central parts of the Philippines. My message is simple: Australia as a developed economy plays a large and significant role in natural disasters. We have often helped. We offered significant help to Fukushima, with the tsunami and it will be no different for the Philippines. My message today, having worked in East Timor and assisted in Afghanistan post-conflict, is that these are highly complex and fast-moving environment and the issue of coordination of relief efforts comes to the fore between 10 and 30 days after an incident like this.

I want to make the initial observation that this typhoon struck in the early hours of the morning; very few people were expecting it; it was almost impossible for authorities to convince many people to evacuate from low-lying areas. Some were proposing using gunfire to warn people of the impending damage. Over half a million people are affected, according to the latest estimates: 3,637 people killed, 12,500 people injured and 1,800 still missing. These are calamitous numbers; almost impossible for us to conceive.

As Carlos Romulo, the former Filipino statesman said: 'Brotherhood is the very price and condition of man's survival', and this will be tested by this great people in the coming days and weeks. No doubt, as everyone would be aware, the emergency response—providing water, food and sanitation—is essential. I want to make a brief point about health service delivery, which is that even those most vital antidiarrheal kits, the ability to filter and clean water, is prevented by a lack of infrastructure, security, transport and fuel. We have outlying barangays, as they are called in the Philippines, which are yet to be adequately visited and are relying on airdrops from the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, and on water purification by a UK destroyer.

There are now, I think, at least 11 field hospitals on the ground, including Norway's and Israel's. But the complexity of this is emphasised by probably the first international relief effort, B-Fast a Belgian group, arriving just two days after the disaster but unable to get their operations working until five days later. It is a combination of actually landing on the ground and actually having the precursors to get things moving that it is a great challenge. But I am obviously relieved that surgical work by MSF and Red Cross started on the weekend; even that, 10 days after the disaster, is quite a feat in and of itself.

As Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the 14th president of the Philippines, said:

The power of one, if fearless and focused, is formidable, but the power of many working together is better.

This was a fearless and formidable natural event, but I am confident the people of the Philippines will pull together. This will not be an effort over days, weeks or even months. The scars will be there for years but these people can survive and can rebuild. On behalf of the nation, I wish them all the best at this difficult time.

Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today in support of the motion moved by the member for Chifley, and I commend him for bringing it to the attention of the House. In this place, he and I are privileged to represent the City of Blacktown, a city of over 300,000 people, nearly 10 per cent of whom have Filipino ancestry. In our respective electorates and beyond, the Filipino community is coming together to assist their brothers and sisters in the Philippines through many fundraising efforts, and I commend the work of everyone involved in that.

In the immediate aftermath of typhoon Haiyan, we have seen the tragic images of human suffering and devastation. As Tim Costello writes in today's Age:

Typhoon Haiyan was more than a typhoon. In Tacloban, it was also a tsunami. Collecting so much water as it hurtled towards land, Haiyan formed an eight metre wall of water, smashing the city flat, drowning people even as they sheltered in their homes.

Philippine authorities and international aid agencies face a mounting humanitarian crisis, with the number of people displaced by the catastrophe estimated now at four million, up from 900,000 late last week.

As remarked by aid workers in the country, along with the elderly, young children are the most vulnerable at the present time. On our TVs over the past few days we have seen many images of parents with children. The sense of helplessness and human devastation is almost unbearable to watch. An assessment by the charity Save the Children suggests that some 3.9 million children are in the area devastated by the storm, and that is across a huge geographic area. They urgently need basic supplies and reaching them is proving to be more difficult than experts had initially assessed. I particularly want to bring to the attention of the House not only the magnitude of this disaster but the very disturbing issues that have been raised by the potential for profiteering by traffickers on the orphaned children of this terrible typhoon. I want to quote a section from agency Agenzia Fides, who have written the following article:

They are already called 'orphans of Yolanda' … There are thousands of children who have become orphans after the storm that struck the province of Leyte. And they are most vulnerable victims, as they find themselves alone, wandering through the rubble, looking for someone to take care of them.

These children are the main victims of jackals who seize them for child abuse or human trafficking. It is a horrible prospect, but it is extremely realistic in the case of natural disasters. 'These children are in need of immediate attention, to be saved from the clutches of traffickers and paedophiles.' This is the complaint launched by Fr. Shay Cullen, a missionary from San Colombano, who has been living in the Philippines since 1969, known for his social and pastoral commitment, especially for child victims of sexual exploitation. The missionary explains the phenomenon to Fides: 'Under the pretext of saving or taking care of children, kidnappers traffickers kidnap them and sell them to paedophiles. Or they earn large sums of money by providing the children for illegal adoptions. Even worse, they introduce them into the world of prostitution, making them slaves of sexual exploitation.

So it is not enough that these defenceless victims lose their whole families and everything they own but they can potentially be condemned to a life of permanent misery.

In response to the disaster, Australia has provided a medical assistance team of professionals who have been working on the ground saving lives. I congratulate this government and urge them to continue this great work and also to implement a more long-term plan for the Philippines, which will continue to suffer not just in the coming months but in the coming years. They will need a long-term rebuilding plan for social services as well as for infrastructure. I will be making formal representations to the Foreign Minister regarding this. This is an issue that has been directly raised with me by Filipino Australians in my electorate over the last couple of days, particularly highlighting the concerns for the many orphans who have become victims of this tragedy.

Last week I had the opportunity to meet with the Philippines Ambassador to Australia, Ambassador Anota, who was visibly and understandably upset by what is happening in her homeland. She asked for all our thoughts and prayers during this time as did Consul-General, Anne Jalando-on Louise—one of the hardest working diplomats in Australia and someone with whom both the member for Chifley and the member for McMahon have a close working relationship with. We know that she will be doing her best to assist her country in its time of need.

In closing, I join with some 25,000 Filipino residents of the Blacktown government area and the wider community to grieve for those who have been affected that this tragic situation. And I urge anyone watching this or reading this transcript to donate to the cause through a variety of organisations including World Vision, Oxfam or UNICEF. I want to stress the importance of Australia needing a long-term role in rebuilding in our region. In conclusion, I offer my deepest sympathy and prayers to all the victims, all the families and all their compatriots of the Filipino community in Australia.

Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the past week we have seen horrific images coming out of the Philippines. Australians have been shocked by the what they have seen and yet in a very small way they understand a little of what the people Philippines are going through. In my electorate of Hinkler earlier this year, homes and businesses were destroyed by the remainder of tropical cyclone Oswald. Roads were washed away leaving behind only trenches full of raw sewage. There were no services, no pipes, no cables, no poles and no wires. People stacked their filthy possessions on the kerb. Very little was salvageable.

Events like Supertyphoon Haiyan remind us just how lucky we were in Hinkler. All but a few families were reunited quickly. Some residents may have been frustrated by the time taken to restore services. But the rescue and initial recovery effort was swift in comparison to the devastating situation in the Philippines. In Hinkler, people had immediate access to shelter, medical supplies and clean drinking water. The generosity of our fellow Australians helped us through. I am proud to live in a country that so willingly helps others in their time of need.

So far, the federal government has committed $30 million to address nutrition, child health and to provide logistics support. This support is commensurate with what other nations have provided. The funds will go towards the United Nations appeal, the international Australian Red Cross as well as Australian and local NGOs. With the help of the Australian Defence Force, we have deployed a medical team, AFP disaster management specialists and DFAT humanitarian consular experts. With the rescue and retrieval efforts still underway, we stand ready to provide further assistance when it is needed. The statistics continue to rapidly change, with often conflicting reports. The UN puts the number of fatalities at about 4,500 but the Philippines government says the number is closer to 3,600. Just this morning, news reports indicated a further 50 bodies had found overnight in one town alone. The Philippines government estimates 12,500 people have been injured and 1,200 remain missing. Almost 73,000 families are being assisted at 1,500 evacuation centres.

Debate adjourned.