Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also take the opportunity to express my deepest condolences to the people of Japan. I do so on behalf of my family, of the community where I live and of all those people of this country who have been taken, just as I have been, by the unbelievable scenes of carnage that they have witnessed on their TV screens.

It is quite overwhelming to witness the number of natural disasters that we have seen in recent times—our own floods in Queensland, the cyclone, the earthquake in New Zealand and now the devastation in Japan. No doubt everybody in this place has felt these calamities personally through what they have witnessed on their TV screens, and we know from our own electorates that the earthquake in Japan has had a very wide impact on the psyche of the Australian people. We have witnessed a disaster of major proportions. It was something that was truly unpredictable and very much an unstoppable force of nature. I find it incredible to think of what we saw: a tsunami coming through, at some points 30 feet high, and taking out towns. Those towns are like towns we have. They have schools, pre-school centres and places where people work and live. In the short space of time when there were glimpses of images on our TV screens we saw those towns devastated. We did not witness it personally, but we know the effects of what occurred.

Presently, we understand that the casualty count is somewhere in the vicinity of 15,000 and likely to rise to over 20,000. Not included in that are the incredible injuries that have occurred, both physical and psychological, and the effect that this is having on the future of mums, dads and children who all crave the same things as we do: just normal living and the wellbeing of our families. The Japanese have not experienced something of anywhere near this magnitude since the last World War. From that time we have seen a stoic people who have worked with their natural resilience and rebuilt a country and have played a significant role on the world stage ever since—very industrious, very innovative and enterprising. They have made much of their country and their country has contributed much to the world stage socially, politically and economically.

I have always had a great appreciation for the ingenuity of the Japanese people, a people who lack natural resources, who certainly lack land space as we would understand it, and yet they have made their country strong to the point where, prior to this disaster, it was the fifth largest economy in the world. As a consequence of that, this disaster has obviously had significant impacts on their economy and also on the way they can relate to the world as such.

It seems paltry, but we have already committed and we are donating in the order of $10 million, I think it is, to help support immediate Japanese efforts in rescue and reconstruction. We have people who have been dispatched there, and rightfully so, to assist. Unfortunately, much of it is in victim recognition. As I have mentioned, we now believe there is a death toll which will be over 20,000. Something over half a million people have been left homeless and lives have been truly devastated. Despite what we have contributed, I think it should really fall to all of us to pledge our position to the Japanese people that we will be there not only for this immediate period but to assist wherever possible in the reconstruction and the normalisation of Japan itself. As I said, the Japanese people have played such a significant part over the last 60 years on the world stage, and we have all been the beneficiaries of their energy, their enthusiasm and their ingenuity. I just hope that this again comes to the fore. These qualities will help rebuild their nation to the position of strength that it had immediately prior to this earthquake.

With all the political debate that occurs in this place and the matters of difference that we may have, where we think we are strong and accuse others of being weak, when it comes to standing in front of Mother Nature I think that shows us our vulnerabilities. I think it behoves all of us to look at the world as being not as big as we might have once thought. Whilst we are all independent people, we are all interdependent on one another. Particularly at times like this, that requires countries and people of various backgrounds to work together.

We cannot all contribute and we are not advocating that this is another means for lending assistance to another country, but I think it is important to make sure that, in the light of these events occurring on a world scale, we do hold the wellbeing of all people—and particularly in this case the people of Japan—in our prayers. They have much work to do and much recovering to do before they can start moving out of this calamity.

Could I conclude where I started. On behalf of my family and those people that I represent in the electorate of Fowler, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the people of Japan. Through our thoughts and prayers we will keep them in the forefront of our minds and, where we can, be of assistance now and into the future.

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