STATEMENTS

Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Leader of the Nationals) (10:20): I would like to briefly echo the condolences that have been provided here to the people of Nepal and to everybody who has lost their lives or lost loved ones through this shockingly tragic natural disaster—especially to the 1,300 people who did lose their lives with almost no warning and no ability to prepare.

It's one of the worst natural disasters in modern times, and the whole world has expressed its condolences, as we do here in the Australian Senate today. There are still over 5,000 people missing, showing the scale of this event. I too want to recognise the efforts of all of those seeking to find and rescue those who are missing in what are still seemingly very treacherous conditions and putting their own safety and lives at risk.

I especially want to recognise the one Australian who's lost his life, Mr Michael Keats. The thing that has struck me about this natural disaster is how many people we have lost who were in the prime of their lives. This seemingly was quite a remote and adventurous part of the world and clearly attracted a lot of people in the prime of their lives to have an adventure in what looks like a stunningly beautiful but hard-to-get-to place in the world.

Mr Keats was on his own adventure there—a spiritual retreat, apparently—in the prime of his life and leaves behind a partner and family. We express deep condolences to them for their loss. There was great news that two Australians had been found, so I thank again all those people who have been tireless in their efforts in seeking to have the better outcomes prevail.

But I do recognise, too, that 36 Australians are still missing, and our thoughts go out to those families waiting for the news. We hope very much for the best. I thank the Australian government for putting forward some humanitarian assistance and some funding.

I believe a humanitarian team of Australians are there, deployed with drones, with new technology, to seek to find people. It's great to see Australia helping out in these times of difficulty as we always do. We will, as a country, be there not just at this time—it will take a lot of rebuilding for the people of Nepal.

I'm sure we and the Australian government will do all we can to help the people recover from and rebuild after this tragic event. Once again, I just wanted to briefly express my condolences to all of those who've lost their lives and to the families that are left behind. While we're making this short recognition here today, we need to make sure we don't forget as people seek to recover in what is a tough and difficult part of the world.