Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Would the minister update the House on developments in Zimbabwe?

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

I thank the member for his question. Can I start on a sad note. Today, of course, is the funeral in Zimbabwe of Mrs Susan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister Tsvangirai’s wife of 31 years, who was killed in a car accident on Friday. Over the weekend I asked our high commissioner to relay to Mr Tsvangirai, through his chief of staff, our deepest condolences at the death of his wife, and I am sure that sentiment is shared by all members of the House and by the Australian community.

Mr Tsvangirai, of course, is Prime Minister of the so-called inclusive government. Australia’s preference, of course, would be that Mr Mugabe walk off the stage, but like other nation-states we are forced to deal with the cards that are dealt. The fact that Mr Mugabe’s presidency is ongoing is reflected by Australia’s ongoing sanctions arrangements in both the financial and the travel area, which we are not proposing to disturb. By our view that, whilst to date Australia has rendered humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe, particularly in the food and health area so far as cholera is concerned, given the desperate need to rebuild Zimbabwe’s social and economic fabric, the time has come for Australia to render additional assistance. Some might say that we are now moving into areas that go beyond strictly humanitarian assistance, but I think that, provided we take the appropriate balance of circumstances into account, we can render Zimbabwe development assistance and help to build their capacity and to support Mr Tsvangirai at what is a very difficult time for him and the people of Zimbabwe.

I spoke to Prime Minister Tsvangirai in the middle of February and indicated that to him. As a consequence, I have indicated today that Australia will provide an additional $10 million of development assistance to the people of Zimbabwe. Five million dollars of that will be in the water, water sanitation and water infrastructure area and $5 million in the health area. The water contribution—the $5 million for water—will be made through UNICEF. Recently Zimbabwe’s local authorities took control again of responsibility for the water infrastructure, and UNICEF dealing direct with local authorities, in our view, minimises the prospects that that money will be diverted for insidious purposes by Mr Mugabe or his associates.

Secondly, so far as the $5 million for health is concerned, this contribution will be made through the United Kingdom Department for International Development, or DFID as it is known. The health system of Zimbabwe has collapsed and they are in desperate need of finding health professionals and health workers. DFID has recently introduced a program where they provide health workers and professionals with additional incentive payments. As members would appreciate, being on the salary of the government of Zimbabwe in the health area is not a reliable income. So we will contribute, through the United Kingdom Department for International Development, $5 million for payment incentives or incentives to health professionals and workers to rejoin what is effectively a collapsed Zimbabwean health system.

We will look for further opportunities in the future to see what additional assistance we can bring by way of development assistance and capacity building, particularly in these social areas—health, water, water sanitation, education, food and agriculture—and we will do that bearing in mind the risks which are attendant upon the Zimbabwe situation given Mr Mugabe’s ongoing presence.

I conclude where I started. I think that, on the day of Mrs Tsvangirai’s funeral, we send our deepest condolences to the Prime Minister. We wish him well at this difficult personal time but we also wish the people of Zimbabwe all the best for the future as they seek to rebuild their society, their economy and their social infrastructure.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.