Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

The storms and floods in South Asia and the Americas have devastated and displaced millions of people. We extend our condolences to the victims, and our thoughts and prayers are with them. The impacts of hurricanes Irma, Jose and Katia continue to be felt in Mexico, the Caribbean and the United States, compounded of course by the 8.1 magnitude earthquake that struck Mexico. In South Asia, heavy rain during the monsoon season has resulted in widespread and significant flooding and landslides across Nepal, Bangladesh and India.

The Australian government has responded by providing $2 million to the international relief effort, including $1 million through our humanitarian partnership with Australian non-government organisations and $1 million through the World Food Programme. Our assistance will deliver emergency shelter, food, clean water and health care for those who have been affected by the disaster. Our contribution to the World Food Programme will enable it give assistance to almost 6,000 children under the age of five and over 1,500 pregnant and nursing mothers for moderate and acute malnutrition in the worst-affected areas. In addition to this support, Australia is providing essential hygiene supplies and vital health services to over 6,000 women and girls. Australia commends the government of Nepal for its leadership in coordinating response efforts across the country.

As Minister for International Development and the Pacific, I want to say that the Australian government is committed to supporting nations in our region to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters, and to be able to do this themselves to the greatest extent possible. So I say to Senator Urquhart: can you please get your facts correct before you make wrong assertions? Of course, why let the facts get in the way of spin and a few lies!

In our region, the Australian government is working very hard. We live in one of the most disaster-prone areas of the world. Seven out of 10 of the most disaster-prone countries are in our region. So we are working in a whole range of different ways, especially across the Pacific, to build the important resilience that communities need to meet the next disaster. And that includes helping remote Pacific communities diversify their crops to help them respond better following natural disasters. It includes providing scholarships and education, supporting our NGO partners and deploying technical assistance through mechanisms such as the Australian Civilian Corps.

The Australian government has also launched a new $50 million Australian humanitarian partnership to assist Pacific countries and communities better prepare for and manage disasters. Support for strengthening resilience in the Pacific includes: $33 million over five years in climate and weather services; $17 million over seven years in disaster and climate risk governance; and $2.3 million over two years to assist countries to better access and manage global climate finance, including with the focus on the Green Climate Fund. In a challenging budget environment, we have increased our humanitarian funding by $60 million to almost $400 million, which includes an increase of $20 million in the emergency fund up to $150 million and an allocation of $32.2 million to strengthen Australia and our region's preparedness to respond to disasters.

During a response, we work closely with governments and partners to ensure our efforts meet their needs and supports local action. Australia was also the first and one of the largest supporters when Tropical Cyclone Pam devastated Vanuatu in March 2015. It caused 11 deaths, impacted almost 200,000 people and resulted in $600 million in damage. In the wake of Pam, we committed a $50 million package of assistance, which included: an initial $15 million for immediate relief and early recovery; a further $35 million to support longer term recovery and reconstruction, including aiding economic recovery and repairing and rebuilding critical infrastructure and restoring health and education facilities.

Australia was also the largest contributor to the response to Tropical Cyclone Winston, which hit Fiji in February 2016, causing 44 deaths and impacting over half a million people. Our $35 million assistance package included an initial recovery of immediate relief of $15 million. The rest of it will support longer term recovery and reconstruction to rebuild schools, repair and rebuild health facilities, restore water and sanitation services, and rebuild and repair damaged markets and accommodation facilities for vendors—75 per cent of whom are women.

We are investing over $100 million through bilateral and global partnerships for disaster risk reduction programs. In 2017-18, we will invest $200 million to support the government's five-year $1 billion commitment to addressing climate change. This will support developing countries' climate actions to, most especially, build resilience. Additionally, at last year's Pacific Islands Forum meeting Prime Minister Turnbull announced $300 million over four years for building climate resilience in the Pacific. We are also pleased to support Fiji as part of its COP23 Presidency with a contribution of $6 million—again, demonstrating our commitment to the framework for resilience building and building partnerships in our region.

Irrespective of what one's views are on the issue of climate change, the reality is that in our region we need to deal with the next cyclone; the next climate event which will have catastrophic consequences. The Abbott government committed Australia to a 26 to 28 per cent target as part of our commitments under the Paris agreement, in accordance with a domestic agenda, and the Turnbull government is continuing to work to meet these targets. Our focus is on building practical, day-to-day resilience building.