Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Would the minister please provide an update to the House on Australian and international efforts to assist Burma in the wake of Cyclone Nargis?

Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. Firstly, on behalf of the Australian government can I again express condolences to the people of Burma for the terrible loss of life and the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis. The situation, of course, remains grim. Official estimates are of over 78,000 dead, with other estimates of anywhere between 100,000 and 200,000 dead and UN estimates of anywhere between 1.5 million and 2.5 million Burmese people adversely affected.

But we may be seeing some progress. Yesterday the ASEAN-UN international pledging conference was held in Rangoon to discuss Burma’s and the international community’s response to Cyclone Nargis. Australia was represented by the Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, the member for Fraser, Mr McMullan. The government congratulates ASEAN and the UN for co-hosting this conference. We regard it as a positive step forward and a good example of constructive multilateral diplomacy.

The conference was jointly chaired by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, and the Singapore foreign minister, George Yeo—Singapore, of course, chairs ASEAN at this point in time—together with the Burmese Prime Minister, General Thein Sein. I think all members of the House will appreciate that effectively from day one the single biggest problem has been the Burmese regime’s resistance to international assistance, in particular denying access for international expertise and international aid workers to the most adversely affected areas.

The Australian government has used a range of diplomatic channels to persuade, both directly and indirectly, the Burmese regime to allow the international community to assist the people of Burma—for example, the Prime Minister has raised this matter in discussions with his counterparts from Indonesia, Singapore and Japan, together with the UN Secretary-General himself. And I have raised it similarly with foreign ministers from China, Japan, Indonesia and Great Britain. Our post in Rangoon—and posts elsewhere—have made similar representations both direct to the regime and to neighbouring countries.

We welcome the unanimous agreement from the ASEAN-UN conference yesterday ‘on the need to scale up urgently and very significantly the current relief efforts’. The Australian government very much believes that this is a correct analysis. We also strongly support the agreement from the conference yesterday of the indispensable requirement for a rapid joint UN-ASEAN assessment of recovery and assistance needs. We also welcome the agreement between the UN Secretary-General and the Burmese regime on increased access for international humanitarian workers, including the establishment of so-called logistical hubs in the most adversely affected areas. We regard this, as well, as a positive development and we look forward to these changes being implemented effectively.

The government also welcomes the commitment of ASEAN—together with UN involvement—to coordinate and monitor the delivery of the international relief efforts. Australia, as the Australian public would expect and require, has been amongst the most generous of international donors. The government will provide $25 million in humanitarian assistance. At the conference yesterday Australia announced the offer of a specialist medical team to work in partnership on the ground with ASEAN medical teams. As well, members would recall that the Minister for Defence has announced that the Royal Australian Air Force will assist the World Food Program by transporting helicopters from South Africa for use in Burma. This follows upon the earlier delivery by the RAAF of a C17 aircraft containing over 30 tonnes of humanitarian supplies to Rangoon in the middle of May. We hope very much that the weekend shows a turning point in the Burmese regime’s resistance to much needed international assistance. The government continues to examine what further options it can make available to the people of Burma but of course this will be predicated on the basis of the Burmese regime genuinely and truly opening up for international assistance in this humanitarian disaster.