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

UTTON (—) (): I thank the Prime Minister for the update in relation to the situation. We extend our condolences in particular to the families in Java who have lost loved ones and those in the Solomon Islands that will be panicking with about where their loved ones are in some circumstances right now.

It was a harrowing experience in 2018 in Lombok where there was an earthquake there. To see the devastation to the local people, to the infrastructure—which, of course, in many cases is just not built to the standards that we would see here in Australia—the loss of life; the loss of livelihood for many of those people in villages and in the cities was quite devastating.

We don't know the extent of the damage yet, but it will require assistance from Australia no doubt. As the Prime Minister rightly points out, our country will always stand with our near neighbours, with people in our region, in particular those from the Solomon Islands, from Indonesia and from elsewhere. We will always provide them with support in their hour of need. We have many staff, of course, in Solomon Islands at the moment, so we wish them safe passage, and I'm sure that they will be part of the response and recovery, and support to those within the community. We will lend any support to the government to make sure that we can respond in an appropriate way—as I say, as we have done in the past and as we will always do.

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