Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I want to take this opportunity to recognise the work of DFAT staff and the crisis response teams who have been supporting Australians throughout the Middle East. Officers of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are working around the clock in challenging and often volatile circumstances. Nine of our posts have experienced missile and drone attacks. Some debris has fallen within a few hundred metres of our missions. Many of our staff are sleeping or attempting to sleep in bomb shelters or basements with dozens of others. Ambassadors are working many hours and very lengthy days to arrange travel for Australians—particularly when airspace was closed. One of our ambassadors speaks of telling her young children that the sound of air defence interceptors being deployed is a good sound because it means they are being kept safe. We have many weary but proud Australian representatives are supporting each other to do the best they can for Australians, and I thank them.