Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The tsunami in the Mentawai Islands in late October and concurrent eruption of Mount Merapi near Yogyakarta remind us all how people anywhere can suddenly be overtaken by events of such terrifying magnitude that we can scarcely comprehend them. Indonesians live in a naturally volatile place and their current sufferings follow hard on the Boxing Day tsunami and the earthquakes in Yogyakarta and Padang. Anak Krakatoa, the child of the 1883 cataclysm, has been unusually active, convulsing up to 700 times daily. Merapi volcano is one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes, having been active for 10,000 years. Millions of ordinary people live near these phenomena but must go about their daily business knowing they are powerless to prevent them, relying often only on the prayers of spiritual guides like Mbah Marijan, who was himself killed by the recent eruption on the slopes of Merapi.

A member of my staff has studied in Yogyakarta and I know he is concerned for his friends there and in nearby Solo who have been living with uncertainty in a deluge of grey rain and ash. Hundreds of Indonesians have already perished in these events; more than 320,000 people are housed at evacuation centres. We hope they can be spared further tragedy. Australian agencies such as Save the Children and UnitingWorld are working closely with affected communities to provide emergency food, shelter and health services. It is important that Australians continue to be generous in assisting one of our closest neighbours in this difficult time.