Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

On 13 March Vanuatu experienced one of the most significant natural disasters in its history, with a category five cyclone, Cyclone Pam. Prior to the cyclone reaching Vanuatu, on 10 and 11 March king tides were experienced in the country of Tuvalu. On the island of Nukufetau and Nui significant flooding occurred, which has had an enormous impact and has given rise to significant health concerns in terms of infections, and a lot of concern in respect of respiratory illnesses and diarrhoea. In Kiribati the storms had an enormous impact, and in South Tarawa, which is the main population centre of Kiribati, the key causeway from the main islet of South Tarawa to the islet of Betio has had to be closed down because of the storm surges. I have gone over this causeway on many occasions. It connects the major population centres of South Tarawa.

This weather event has had an enormous impact across the Pacific. Its biggest impact has been in Vanuatu. It is one of the worst storms recorded in the history of the country. Perhaps it is summed up by the fact that a trade school on the island Tanna, which had been opened only 10 days prior to the storm, was completely destroyed by the storm.

One positive that has come out of the events of Cyclone Pam is that Vanuatu was very evidently a country and a community that was prepared. It says a lot about the progress and development of the Pacific, and in particular Vanuatu, that they were. Given the size of this storm, to date we see comparatively few lives lost—11 across the country. This is a tragedy of course, but it could have been so much worse. That is in part a tribute to much of the traditional knowledge possessed by the people of Vanuatu. There are stories of traditional cyclone shelters, which people were utilising during the storm itself, and the buildings in Vanuatu are built from the perspective of experiencing cyclones every year, albeit not of the size and scale of Cyclone Pam. It is a tribute to the Vanuatu government. And I want to pay tribute to Prime Minister Joe Natuman, a person I know well who has done a tremendous job in leading his government through this disaster. It is also a tribute to new communications. Most of Vanuatu, in a remarkable achievement, has had access to mobile phone technology. Both Digicel and Telecom Vanuatu were really important in sending emergency SMSs in the lead-up to the cyclone. And so we saw a country that was prepared.

We have now seen, as a result of the cyclone, two dozen islands affected and almost half the population—who live in a country with very lush vegetation, which has been flattened—now face significant and serious food shortages. The Pacific Institute of Public Policy—again, run by a good friend of mine, Derek Brien, whom my thoughts are with—has spoken and published a fair bit on this since Cyclone Pam. Dan McGarry described this as now representing the biggest logistical challenge for Vanuatu since the Second World War.

Australia has much to be proud of—a $5 million assistance from the Australian government, humanitarian supplies, medical teams, crisis response teams, urban search and rescue teams. But I also want to make mention of the FRANZ agreement, which dates back to 1992. It is a disaster response agreement between France, New Zealand and Australia, and it has been very important in the days since Cyclone Pam. Of course, people will be aware that Vanuatu has a unique colonial history. From 1906 through 1980, it was a condominium run jointly by France and Britain. And so both countries have a role in Vanuatu. Britain has been involved in the disaster recovery; we have seen France play an important role, as well.

I send my best wishes to Prime Minister Joe Natuman, Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga of Tuvalu and President Anote Tong of Kiribati—all of whom I know and who are doing an incredible job at this time.

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