Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to inform the House of a flood fundraising appeal for the Serbian community following the recent devastating floods in Serbia. This will take place on Sunday, 1 June from 1 pm at the Serbian Cultural Club in Middleton Grange. These recent floods in Serbia have been some of the worst on record; they have seen three months' worth of rain fall in just three days. Many lives have been lost, not only in Serbia but also across the region in Bosnia and Croatia. As I speak, rescue efforts continue in that devastating flood where more than 50 people have been killed and more than two million people affected.

But there is an upside in this disaster. I would like to quote the comments of Bosnia's first ambassador to the United Nations, Muhamed Sacirbey:

What I'd really like to highlight is how the people of the region have been good neighbors to each other. That is one of the great mercies coming out of this terrible disaster. It's more than a silver lining—I'm of a generation of people who are remembered for the war. Hopefully the people here will be [remembered] for a disaster in which they helped each other.