STATEMENTS

Senator DAVID POCOCK (Australian Capital Territory—Independent ACT Whip) (10:24): I rise to add my condolences about the floods in Nepal and Tibet. We have seen extraordinary images of water taking everything in its path: whole villages, roads, bridges, homes. More than a thousand people have died, and we know that many thousands more are still missing.

A loss of this scale is hard to take in. We know that there are many Australians still unaccounted for. Many family and friends will be sitting with deep grief at the moment, and this grief is being felt here in Canberra, home to thousands of Australians who have Nepali family and friends.

The Nepali community is woven right through this city now. For a lot of those families, this has been an awful week, one spent getting on with normal life on the outside while quietly waiting for news from home, desperately worrying about loved ones and not knowing whether the people they love have survived. Over the past week, I've spoken with members of the Nepali community here in Canberra.

They are desperate for news. They have watched the devastation from afar with a real sense of helplessness, of wanting to be able to help out but knowing that they simply cannot. They are trying to get in touch with loved ones and sending their prayers and hoping for the best but really grappling with the reality of the scale of the devastation.

One of the things that were raised with me is the huge impact on communities and the environment now, but people are aware of the long, long road ahead when it comes to some sort of recovery and rebuild and the uncertain future that people in this part of the world and indeed across the world face with our changing climate, as the climate begins to break down and we see more and more of these events happening.

They've urged me to relay to the government concerns about being there as the rebuild happens and ensuring that there is ongoing support for a country that, on its own, will very much struggle to rebuild after this sort of event. The thing that stayed with me is how much people are holding each other up. Families who are frightened for their own loved ones are still checking in on neighbours still sitting with those who have had the worst news and are still finding ways to raise money for people back home.

Many senators have talked about that spirit. It's at the hardest of times that we see the human spirit rise and people looking after one another. That is who this community is here in Canberra, and we are lucky to have them.

To the Nepali community here in Canberra, on behalf of Canberrans, I say we are deeply sorry. You're not on your own in this. If you're worried about someone caught up in the floods, please get in touch with DFAT.

Those numbers are online. Get in touch with my office, and we'll do everything we can to help point you in the right direction. Obviously, the Senate's thoughts are with the people in Nepal.