Interview with James Glenday, ABC News Breakfast

Transcript, E&OE Subjects: Nepal and China flood disaster; Pacific Islands Forum; Oscar Jenkins; Cyprus ferry; Secret Harbour by-election 31 August 2026 James Glenday, Host: Well, the Australian government has committed another $3 million to Nepal to try to assist with the recovery effort after the deadly flash flood. The Assistant Foreign Minister, Matt Thistlethwaite, joins us from Sydney.

Matt, welcome back to the program. First of all, do you have any updates on the number of Australians thought to be missing? Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minster for Foreign Affairs and Trade : Good morning, James.

Unfortunately, the number of Australians unaccounted for has risen to 43 overnight. But we haven't given up hope that we can rescue those Australians safe and well. We've got 12 additional consular staff that we've sent to the region to assist our post on the ground there to try and recover those Australians as quickly as possible.

We had that case of Cara Severino, thankfully was found safely. She managed to hike her way most of the way out of the Rasuwa district that's been devastated. She made contact with Australian officials yesterday and she's been transported safely back to Kathmandu.

So, we're doing everything we can, working around the clock to try and locate those missing Australians. Yeah, that was a brief bit of good news, of course. It's, we know that communication is really tough in this part of the world.

The Australian government's announced another $3 million is going to go to Nepal. On top of think about six that are already been spent. What's that money going to go towards?

Assistant Minster: Yeah, that came as a result of the request that we received from the Nepalese Foreign Minister when Penny Wong spoke to him on Friday afternoon. Most of that will go to funding hygiene kits. There's a desperate need for hygiene kits for people in the region and solar lights, obviously, all of the power and telecommunications infrastructure has been wiped out.

So, those kits are being put together. They'll be transported by the Australian Defence Force over the coming days. It takes our contribution to over $8 million, but we stand ready to help the Nepalese government as they try and rescue as many people as possible.

As we just heard from our reporter, Stephen Dziedzic, regional leaders are preparing for the Pacific Islands Forum. And Solomon Islands leader Matthew Wale has had to return home to prepare for a leadership tussle. Are you concerned there could be yet another change of leadership in the Solomons?

Assistant Minster: Well, obviously, that's a matter for the Solomon Islands people and their parliaments. Matthew was recently elected. He travelled to Australia and met with the Prime Minister.

It's a decision for the people of the Solomons. But the Pacific Islands Forum is a very important regional meeting. Our Prime Minister will travel there today.

Obviously, climate change will loom large as the most important issue and Australia, in holding the position of President of the COP negotiations, is hoping to bring Northern Hemisphere leaders to the region later this year to highlight the urgency around climate change and how we can work together to combat it for nations in the Pacific. Another story we have this morning is about Australian Oscar Jenkins.

He's given his first interview from inside a prison in Russian occupied Ukraine. Do you have any hope for his release? Are any negotiations taking place behind the scenes?

Assistant Minster: Yes, we're working with Russian officials. Obviously, we'd like to see him released as quickly as possible. But I think his case highlights the danger in Australians travelling to that region and being involved in this conflict.

That's why we've got a strict warning against Australians travelling to Ukraine and the conflict zone. But we'll do everything we can to work with those officials to try and have him released as quickly as possible. Could there be a prisoner swap or something like that?

Assistant Minster: Well, we can't go into that. Obviously, we try and negotiate as best we can on behalf of all Australians who find themselves in difficulties such as this. We obviously have to abide by international laws and we always uphold them.

But the Australian officials on the ground will work with their counterparts to ensure that, hopefully he's returned to Australia safely. Now, there's a lot of developing stories this morning, and we're really asking you on a whole range of issues, but we are making inquiries about this ferry that has sunk off Cyprus. Are you aware of any Australians that might have been on board that?

Assistant Minster: At this stage, we haven't been informed of any Australians, but we're closely monitoring the situation with our post in Greece and we'll make sure that we assess that situation and when news comes to hand, we'll release it immediately. Before we let you go, One Nation, of course, won this state by election in Western Australia at the weekend.

Does this mean that One Nation is going to be a serious threat in traditional Labor seats going forward, or do you think this was isolated and due to the specific and fairly unusual circumstances in WA? Assistant Minster: Obviously it's a state election, so state issues would be to the fore. But we understand that many Australians are under pressure when it comes to mortgage interest rates.

In particular, they've gone up recently. And cost of living pressures associated with the conflict in the Middle East. That's why our number one focus is providing cost of living support for Australians.

The tax cuts, the cheaper medicine, the cheaper childcare, all of our policy offerings around assisting Australians. But we know that Australians are doing it tough. Our message is that One Nation isn't the answer.

When you look at One Nation's voting record in the Parliament, they often vote against the interests of workers. They voted against same job, same pay extending, paid parental leave, providing support for Australians who are working. One Nation's not the answer.

And of course, they're trying to pit one Australian against another. And they're a very divisive party. This is the time when Australians need to come together and try and work through these difficult, challenging times.

No doubt we're going to be hearing you say much the same thing for the next couple of years. Matt, thank you very much for joining us this morning. Assistant Minster: Thanks, James.