Interview with Sally Sara, ABC Radio National Breakfast

Transcript, E&OE Subjects: Nepal and China flood disaster; Secret Harbour by-election. 31 August 2026 Sally Sara, Host: Matt Thistlethwaite is the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Assistant Minister for Immigration and joins me now. Minister, welcome back to Breakfast. Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs: Good morning, Sally.

What's the latest update on the missing Australians? Have any more been found located at all? Assistant Minister: Unfortunately, the number of Australians unaccounted for has risen to 43 overnight, but we remain hopeful of rescuing and returning them safely.

Our embassy staff in Kathmandu are working around the clock and we've actually sent an additional 12 personnel to Kathmandu to assist. Yesterday, our Ambassador in Kathmandu, Simon Ernst, spent most of the day sitting with and talking to the relatives of Australians who are in the region, hoping that their loved ones will be returned safely. So, we're doing everything we can to try and locate them.

And what about access for the Australian officials? Are they able to get into the flood zone itself? Assistant Minister: At the moment, no, they're not.

The region's been devastated in resources. Roads have been cut off, most of the telecommunications infrastructure is down. There's been about eight power stations that have been affected as well, so it's very difficult to get into the area.

Our officials are working with the Nepalese authorities, providing support and just trying to get as close as they possibly can. We had the extraordinary case of Cara Severino, who hiked her way out of the region and was met by Australian officials on the way out. She's now safely back in Kathmandu, so that that case provides some hope.

But obviously, every day this goes on, it becomes more difficult. And what are the mixture of situations, as best we understand, for these missing Australians, are these Australians who are on pilgrimage walking tours? Were there some at the border when it was struck?

What do we know? Assistant Minister: Yeah, most of them are on organised tours. We know who they are because we have lists from the Nepalese Tourist Board and the tourist operators and from Australians who've indicated that they have loved ones in the region.

There's been 653 calls to the emergency hotline. This area is a pilgrimage site for Hindu people to visit at Mount Kailash, which is a sacred site. And most of those people would have been on organised tours, both on the Tibetan side and on the Nepalese side.

So, that's how we know who they are. We're working with the Nepalese and Chinese authorities as best we can to try and locate them as quickly as possible. Six Australians are missing on the Chinese side of the border.

Will Australian government officials be able to aid rescue efforts there? And has it been easier to get people on the ground on that side? Assistant Minister: Unfortunately, it hasn't, because of the difficulty of the terrain and the devastation that's been caused.

But our embassy officials in Beijing are working with the Chinese authorities. We've offered support to the Chinese government. They've said at this stage they don't require that support, whereas the Nepalese government have requested additional support from Australia.

And we've announced over the last 24 hours that we'll provide an additional $3 million worth of support, taking our total support to $8 million. Most of that request from the Nepalese government was for emergency hygiene kits and solar lights. And that material will be delivered by the Australian Defence Force this week.

And that'll be delivered to Kathmandu? Assistant Minister: Yes, that's correct. It'll be flown into Kathmandu and that deployment will leave in the next 48 hours.

You're listening to Radio National Breakfast and you're hearing from the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Matt Thistlethwaite. If the Nepalese government asks for further additional aid, is the Australian government open to that? Assistant Minister: Yes, we are.

When the 2015 Nepalese earthquake hit, Australia provided over $20 million worth of support. At this stage, that's the request that we've had from the Nepalese government for those hygiene kits and solar lights, and we're providing that. But we stand ready to provide additional support if it's required to.

A separate issue. One Nation has won its first lower house seat in the WA State Parliament on the weekend, securing the seat of Secret Harbour with a big swing against Labor. How seriously is the Federal Labor Party looking at this by election result?

Assistant Minister: Well, obviously it was a state by election, and state issues would have dominated. But there's no doubt that many Australians are under a lot of financial pressure, predominantly from increases in interest rates and cost of living pressure associated with a conflict in the Middle East. We hear what Australians have to say, we know the struggles that they have with meeting cost of living pressure, and that's why most of our policy agenda has been dominated by cost of living measures.

Cheaper medicines, cheaper childcare, tax cuts. All of these policies are aimed at assisting Australians. I know that people are looking at One Nation, we would say that they don't offer the solutions that people are seeking, particularly around cost of living.

When One Nation's voting record in the Federal Parliament is to vote against improving rights for workers and ensuring that they take home more money in their pay packets. The Prime Minister warned yesterday of quote, hard right populists who he said are peddling politics that is dangerous, divisive and downright dishonest. Does he risk demonising the number of Australians who are now prepared to vote for one nation?

Assistant Minister: The Prime Minister's pointing out the facts. We know One Nation's policies and they are divisive. They're aimed at pitting one Australian against another.

They don't vote for supporting workers. They vote against extensions to paid parental leave. They voted against same job, same pay that ensures that Australian workers receive fair wages and conditions.

The Prime Minister's spot on when he points out that one nation is not the answer. One Nation is not going to assist working Australians. In fact, they're probably going to make it worse.

If a number of voters think that One Nation is the answer in a safe Labor seat, what does that say about the work that Labor needs to do? Assistant Minister: Well, we know we have a challenge and we accept that we need to make sure that we're informing Australians about all of the policies that we've put in place to support them with their cost of living and to point out just how divisive and destructive One Nation policies will be.

Matt Thistlethwaite, thank you very much for joining me this morning. Assistant Minister: My pleasure, Sally.