Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate:

(a)

express its deep shock and sorrow at the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear emergency that have struck Japan;

(b)

extend its profound sympathies to the many families whose loved ones have been lost in this tragedy;

(c)

express its gratitude and admiration to the Australian emergency response personnel who are assisting in the recovery effort; and

(d)

pledge the support of the Australian parliament and community as Japan comes to terms with the immensity of this disaster and the long costly process of reconstruction that lies ahead.

Australians have been shocked and saddened by the humanitarian crisis that has engulfed Japan since it experienced a powerful earthquake and tsunami on 11 March. We have all watched in horror the TV images that have been sent around the world.

In addition to the aftershocks, the risk and uncertainty associated with damage to the Fukushima nuclear power plant has further tested the Japanese people during the past two weeks. This has been an unspeakable tragedy for the people of Japan. More than 8,000 people are dead, more than 12,000 people are missing and more than half a million people are homeless. Millions have been affected by disruptions to power, communications and transport and a shortage of food and water. Even as the search and rescue efforts continue it is clear that this powerful earthquake has extracted a terrible toll.

Australians have all been deeply affected by the suffering of the Japanese people as a result of the 11 March earthquake and tsunami. Our two nations enjoy close diplomatic, security, trade and people-to-people relations. We share more than 100 sister city relationships. I note there was a delegation of Australian parliamentarians in Japan, and we welcome back Senator Cash. I am glad to see that she came through unscathed but, I suspect, impacted by the terrible circumstances around that delegation when the earthquake hit. Many thousands of Australians travel to Japan each year on business and on holiday, including young Australians who participate in Japan’s working holiday program. Many Australian students are there on Endeavour Award scholarships and other scholarships. My department has been active in ensuring they are all safe, and I am pleased to say they are. There were 11,000 Japanese tourists and more than 6,000 Japanese students in Australia when the disaster struck. Obviously, that has deeply affected them and the tragedy has been felt in every part of Australia.

On behalf of the Australian government, the Australian Senate and the Australian people, I extend my deepest sympathies to those who grieve for family members and friends lost in the devastating natural disaster. We hold out hope for those still missing and we sympathise with their families who are awaiting news.

Japan will be tested severely in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. Australia stands prepared to provide the assistance Japan needs as it deals with its immediate challenges and begins the task of rebuilding damaged lives and infrastructure. Australia has already provided more than 70 search and rescue personnel to support the search and rescue effort. The nation is proud of the contribution they have made in the search for survivors, and I know they have been greatly appreciated and valued by our Japanese friends.

Today the Prime Minister announced the Australian government will make a $10 million donation to support the recovery effort in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. The donation will be made to the Red Cross Japan and Pacific Disaster Appeal on the advice of the Japanese government.

Japan has recovered from disaster before. This great nation recovered from the 1923 earthquake which killed more than 100,000 people and devastated Tokyo. Australia and Japan are friends in good times and bad, and we will stand by Japan as its government and people respond to the immediate challenges of this crisis and begin the task of recovery and rebuilding.

In the wake of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the number of unaccounted-for Australians now stands at five. I want to acknowledge the anxiety felt by the family and friends of those Australians whose safety is yet to be confirmed and join them in wishing for the timely confirmation that their loved ones are safe and well.

I also want to acknowledge the staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade who have provided consular support to Australians in Japan. Led by Ambassador Murray McLean, their support in the long hours they have worked and the way that they have gone about their business are a great credit to them and to the department and the other departments who are represented at the embassy. I know our own education counsellor, Karen Sandercock, has been flat out supporting Australians in Japan and providing what information and support she can. Often Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials serving overseas do not get enough credit for the job they do in these circumstances and there is often some criticism around as they struggle to deal with extraordinary circumstances where communication is difficult, where information is hard to get and where we have large numbers of Australians ‘in country’, many of whom are not registered. So it is an enormous task and I think they have done a fantastic job and we thank them for that effort.

In moving this proposed resolution, I think I can speak on behalf of all senators in saying this shocking event has really moved Australians. We extend our deepest sympathy to the people of Japan. The scale of this disaster is quite incredible. We will do everything we can to support the Japanese people as they recover from this awful tragedy. I thank the Senate.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With more than 8,000 people confirmed dead, 2,700 injured and 12,200 still missing, our neighbour and friend Japan has been subjected to one of the biggest natural disasters in living memory. Never before, through the marvel of modern communications, has the world witnessed horror of such an unfathomable scale. As though a magnitude 9 quake was not enough, we witnessed the consequent tsunami, a 10-metre wall of water with its irresistible force. But even in this disaster, devastation and desperation, hope remained and was rewarded with a miraculous discovery and saving of an 80-year-old woman and her 16-year-old grandson nine days after the disaster. I am sure this discovery will provide a much needed fillip, much needed support and a renewed sense of purpose to their emergency workers.

A characteristic which has served the Japanese well is their sense of stoicism. Their tradition of rebirth as a nation is well documented. That tradition runs deep, as Rowan Callick, the Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor, noted on the weekend. As our Japanese friends tap into that rich vein of tradition, they can be assured of our help as a people individually and as represented by our government, our defence and emergency personnel and departmental officials. We have provided air support, we have provided search and rescue support, we have provided nuclear scientific support—our people are doing us proud. Apart from this practical display, we provide what the Japanese describe as kanashimi, or sorrow, a word I learnt only this morning—one that I trust I have not mangled too much—courtesy of His Excellency the Japanese Ambassador as I signed the condolence book at the Japanese Embassy. If there was any doubt of the world community support for Japan, the line-up of ambassadors from around the world to sign the condolence book this morning would erase any such doubt.

My office received a poignant first-hand eyewitness account from an Australian in Japan. Her email read in part:

Despite the devastation, what we have seen is the undeniable strength and calm of the Japanese people. We were in a hotel lobby at the time of the original ‘9’ quake and its subsequent aftershocks. The staff remained professional, all continuing to do their work and even offering tea, coffee and biscuits in between the tremors. The supermarkets may be fast depleting in their supplies but there is a general understanding that there should always be something left for the next person, with no-one taking more than they need. The Japanese people are taking every day as it comes. They are doing so with calm and resilience. They do not look to the future and feel sad for what they may not have. Instead, they are banding together, helping and housing their neighbours and maintaining calm. There is no sense of panic, even with a constant and looming nuclear threat. This is not something that they are thinking about or, if they are, they do not show it nor speak of it.

What a wonderful testament that is to the resilience, sense of purpose and sense of community of the Japanese people.

Japan as a nation has a pivotal role, both strategically and economically, in global terms but especially so in our region. It is therefore within our—that is, Australia’s—interests but also our region’s and the world’s interests that we combine to assist to rebuild Japan, apart from the obvious and overwhelming humanitarian obligation to do so. Our wish is for another tsunami, but this time a tsunami of gigantic global goodwill to overwhelm the Japanese people with comfort, support and assistance. I congratulate the Australian government on its contribution of $10 million announced today. It is for these reasons that the coalition joins with the government in supporting the motion moved by the Leader of the Government and to express our ‘kanashimi’ to the people of Japan.

Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will be brief. I concur with the remarks of Senator Evans and Senator Abetz. Many people in regional Australia have not been to Japan but it was most poignantly put to me by a lady who walked down the street in St George and said, ‘It looks like the end of time.’ I tended, after watching the television, to agree with her. What Japan has been through with in excess of 21,000 people either killed or missing has been horrific and apocalyptic. The Japanese people are sustained by their stoic nature. It has been amazing for all to watch the television and see how the Japanese people have quietly taken their burden on their shoulders and are going about as best they can to restore their nation.

Restoring their nation is vitally important not only to the people of Japan but most definitely to the people of Australia. Japan remains our second biggest trading partner, only just after China, and as such is one of the greatest markets for our coal. If Japan as an economy were to stumble then the effects on Australia would be absolutely devastating. It is well within our own interest to make sure that we shoulder as much as we can the burden of the Japanese people because basically a lot of where Japan goes is where we go.

Strategically, they are a strong ally. The Japanese have been a very kind benefactor throughout the world. People note that Japan is one of the greatest donors to areas of distress throughout the globe, and now Japan itself is requiring others to turn their eyes towards it. Even now there is hope, with an 80-year-old lady, Sumi Abe, rescued yesterday with her grandson Jin. This is an example of the hope and perseverance that people still have at this point of time.

We carry with the Japanese people concerns over how they are dealing with the issues, as seen on the television, surrounding the nuclear power plant. We hope that that issue can be brought quickly to heel and that there are no long-term ramifications from it. More than anything else I think of my daughter. At 10 years old, after watching the television, she said, ‘What can we do to help?’ That is what is occupying so many Australians’ minds: what can we do to help? The Japanese people should know that even in the more remote parts of Australia where I and my other colleagues come from we are very concerned about Japan. Our hearts and our prayers go towards the Japanese people. Whatever we can do in Australia to help the Japanese people they should just give us a call and we will do it.

Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is appropriate that the national parliament should pause and offer our condolences to our friends in Japan, and I thank the government for scheduling this time. I also congratulate the government for the announcement this morning of the aid and note that we were among the first responders, as Japan was, right after the earthquake in Christchurch. That spirit of generosity now is being more than repaid and I am proud to be a part of that. This condolence is unusual in that we are not paying our respects to a disaster in the past tense but one that is still unfolding. All of us here are aware of the unthinkable magnitude of this disaster—the compounding horror of quake, tsunami, the crippled nuclear power complex and heavy unseasonal snowfalls—so I wish to add the condolences of the Australian Greens to those who have spoken already. Our thoughts are with those who have lost family and friends, those made homeless, and those who still endure the fear of not knowing if their loved ones are safe with so many still missing.

It would be easy to dwell on the unbelievable suffering that overtook the Pacific coast without warning the Friday before last. But what shines through are the moments of courage and resilience that show up the true character of the Japanese people. The website prayforjapan.jp hosts translations of messages from inside the disaster area. I have just picked out two. The first:

An old man was rescued after being stranded in a house for 42 hours. He smiled at the camera, ‘I’ve experienced the tsunami in Chile. I’ve seen everybody get back on their feet. I know we can do it.’

Another one:

Nights were never this dark, and I never realised how beautiful the stars were. Sendai, look up and keep your heads high.

That was overheard in an evacuation camp. Yesterday, we saw a young man and his 80-year-old grandmother rescued from the freezing ruin of their house where they had been surviving on yoghurt and soft drink while they waited for the Self-Defence Force to arrive.

A day after the quake shook Tokyo and stopped the city the trains were back in operation. I have seen an image of a road in Ibaraki prefecture torn in half and displaced several feet in either direction and a photo that was taken four days later showing the road repaired. The nationwide energy-saving crisis was dubbed Operation Yashima, from a famous Japanese animation. On 14 March, in the face of extreme power shortages, people cut 40 per cent off demand for electricity.

We must acknowledge those at the centre of the exclusion zone: engineers, technicians, emergency services workers and SDF personnel who, as we speak today, are taking extraordinary personal risks to prevent the meltdown disaster from escalating to something truly unthinkable. We do not know the names of those people cycling in and out of the plant on 10-minute shifts, but we owe them our gratitude nonetheless. One of them wrote to his wife:

Please try to be well. It’s important at least you do. I won’t be able to come home for a while.

It is too soon to know what lessons will be learnt from the meltdown at Fukushima, even as the invisible killer of radiation stalks northern Japan and complicates rescue efforts. That is not a debate for right now, but one day soon there will be a reckoning.

I have been fortunate to travel to Japan on several occasions and must admit I love the place dearly, the warmth of the people and the sheer crazy energy of the place. It is deeply distressing to see our friends there put under such awful stress. My partner, Rico, who is in the gallery today, has already taught me a lot about the resilience and the stoic courage of her people and has shown enormous courage and love herself. She emphasises that spirit of ‘what can I do?’ and she just got to work. I am in no doubt at all that this country will rebuild stronger. This is a country that does what it sets out to do. For the moment, we focus on disaster recovery and relief for those in the midst of suffering; tomorrow thoughts turn to rebuilding. Another useful word to add to our lexicon that Senator Abetz introduced is ‘Ganbare,’ which translates roughly as a combination of ‘take courage’ and ‘keep your chin up’. Ganbare, Nihon. Ganbare, Tohoku.

Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of Family First, I would also like to echo the thoughts and prayers of other senators on this motion. Like many Australians, I was shocked at the images coming out of Japan following the earthquake and tsunami. It was hard to imagine that it was real and actually happening. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those families who have lost loved ones and also those families who are still missing family members. Also, we think of the dangerous work that the workers at the nuclear power plants are going on with. We hope that that is brought under control very quickly and there is no further damage there. Again, our deepest sympathies are with those families who have lost loved ones and those who are injured. We hope they have a speedy recovery. We know that the Japanese people are resilient and we are with them standing strong in this time of need.

Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to offer my condolences to the people of Japan, following the series of catastrophes that they have faced in recent days. I echo the remarks of my colleagues before me. As Senator Ludlam has said, these series of catastrophes are still unfolding. We should pause to reflect on the thousands of lives lost due to the earthquake and resulting tsunami, and the thousands of lives threatened by the emergencies at the nuclear power plants. It is important we also think about what now faces those who have survived. Entire communities have been lost. Rebuilding will be a long, difficult and painful process, but I have no doubt about the resilience, courage and strength of the Japanese people to undertake what needs to be done. We must do all we can to help Japan rebuild.

I would like to take the opportunity to express my admiration for the Australian emergency response workers who have travelled to Japan to assist in this crisis. It is more than just the assistance which we are giving them that is important; it is also the moral support that we are giving that is important. Motions such as this are an important part of that to make clear how strong the bond is between our two nations. All disasters by definition are terrible, but the earthquake and tsunami followed by the nuclear crisis seem to be in a different category of terrible. Our thoughts are with the people of Japan now and in the future, and I support this motion.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask senators to stand in silence to signify their assent to the motion.

Honourable senators having stood in their places—

The motion is carried.