Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

on indulgence—I join the opposition to the Prime Minister’s remarks of sympathy and support for the people of Haiti. What can we say about tragedy on this scale but to bow our heads in sorrow? Tragedy on this scale can do nothing but unite all of us in grief. We believe that there are 100,000 dead—maybe many, many more. This is sorrow almost beyond the scale of ordinary comprehension, but it is good that Australia has been able to do its bit to help. I acknowledge the remarks of the Prime Minister about the American effort in its own backyard, and I am sure that the people of the world, let alone the people of Haiti, are grateful for the great efforts that the Americans are going to in this respect.

It was a famous Labor man, 60-odd years ago, who spoke of a light on the hill—not to make someone Prime Minister or premier, not just to put an extra sixpence in people’s pockets, but to work for the betterment of mankind not just here but wherever we can lend a helping hand. In saying that, in one of the memorable passages of Australian politics, Ben Chifley did not just speak for the Labor Party; he spoke for Australia. Australians like to lend a helping hand wherever we can, and I take quiet pride in the strong and long arm of Australia that, even in the Western Hemisphere, makes it possible for us to do what we can to help the people of Haiti. We grieve for the dead; we feel for the living. We are resolved to do what we can to ensure that they will not be abandoned, and we admire the human resilience that they have shown, which reminds us of the great capacity of human beings to bear up even to unimaginable strain.

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