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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister please update the House on the earthquake in Turkiye and Syria and what the Australian government is doing in response?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question and for his support for the government action up to this point, and I welcome the Turkish ambassador, His Excellency Ufuk Gezer, here in the gallery this afternoon.

On behalf of the government, the parliament and the people of Australia, I extend my deepest condolences to all those affected by the devastating earthquakes and aftershocks in Turkiye, in Syria and in neighbouring countries. Our hearts are heavy. It is impossible to look away from the terrible and heartbreaking scenes of loss. There's a terrible scale to the devastation—whole blocks levelled and buried—but the real devastation, of course, is for people. There are the small images of unimaginable pain: a parent searching desperately for a child, a newborn girl rescued from the rubble, whose mother will never hold her in her arms. This is a disaster that at first seemed so vast as to almost be beyond comprehension, but every tragedy is happening on a very human scale—every loss, every moment of grief, fear and desperation. We know that at least 4½ thousand lives have been lost. We know those figures will continue to rise. Many more than that have been injured. So many Australians have families in Turkiye and Syria and the region, and I can only imagine the depth of their anxiety as they await news.

Our immediate priority is the safety of Australian citizens and permanent residents affected by the earthquakes. Our embassies in Ankara, Istanbul and Beirut are assisting Australians in these areas. I'm pleased to confirm that Australia will deploy an urban search and rescue team of up to 72 personnel to Turkiye to assist local authorities. These urban search and rescue specialists are highly trained to locate, deliver medical assistance to and remove victims who have been trapped or impacted by a structural collapse. Our National Emergency Management Agency, or NEMA, is working closely with Fire and Rescue NSW, DFAT and the ADF to coordinate the deployment as soon as possible, with an aim to have people on the ground by the end of this week. I want to thank the personnel and their families in advance once again. They're willing to support people wherever support is needed, and I'm sure I speak for all Australians when I wish them all a safe journey.

We're also providing an initial $10 million in humanitarian assistance to trusted partners in the region, and I thank the parliament for its bipartisan support for that commitment. This will support the delivery of food, shelter and other essential supplies. I know many Australians will want to help too. The most effective way is to donate to one of the Australian non-government organisations, such as the Red Cross, who are appealing for support.

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

On indulgence, I want to say thank you very much to the Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Defence and others within the National Security Committee of cabinet who would have contemplated these images and taken the advice from our authorities.

Australians can see, in their government and in their opposition, an absolute bipartisan position in providing support where it's needed to friends in their hour of need. It's been the history of our country—a very proud history—that we've been able to step up, through the systems, the training and the expertise that we've developed over a long period of time, to lend a helpful hand to people in efforts to recover from devastation. We especially think, at the moment, of Australians who may have been caught up in this disaster and, of course, as the Prime Minister points out, families and friends of Australians who have been affected. Thousands have been killed. The Prime Minister mentioned a figure before. I read online earlier that there are perhaps more than 7,000 people—we just don't know, but an unimaginable number of people. Their homes and essential infrastructure are in ruins, ancient historical sites have been damaged or destroyed, and, as is the case with such disasters, only in the coming days, weeks and months will a clearer picture emerge of the number of people who have lost their lives.

I saw a very confronting image online, earlier, of a man who was holding the hand of his 15-year-old daughter, still lying on her bed but crushed by a slab of concrete. Mesut Hancer was his name, and his 15-year-old daughter, Irmak, lay there deceased—he not flinching nor prepared to leave the scene until she could be recovered. There was another confronting scene of a man standing up against a wall of rubble; within his hands he held simply a sledgehammer, facing a task that would take an excavator and machinery weeks to deal with, and yet he wanted to do what he could by his family.

Those scenes and those names, whilst they're a far distance from our shore, should not be forgotten or drift from our minds. If there is more that the Austrian government is called upon to do, and sees fit to do, then the coalition will provide the support, Prime Minister. The pace at which the government has responded is to be acknowledged and recognised. When you talk about an earthquake of this magnitude, 7.8, and the circumstances that we've outlined, it is phenomenal. We have an obligation to support our friends around the world. The work DFAT does in keeping Australians, here, informed of their loved ones overseas shouldn't be underestimated at a time when there's great anxiety for many, many Australians. We stand united with the government in providing that support.