STATEMENTS ON INDULGENCE

Ms COMER (Petrie) (18:18): I rise today to express my deep sorrow and condolences to the people of Nepal and to the Nepali community of Petrie and to the families of the deceased and missing Australians. On 26 August, we all witnessed events on a scale we could never imagine. We all saw the footage that people filmed in the various towns that have been impacted when people were fleeing for their lives.

We've since seen footage of the rescue efforts being led by the Nepali army, and I want to commend them on the work that they're doing. I can't imagine how devastating this would be to all those impacted. It's mind-boggling when you think about the scale of the event that occurred—the flash flooding, the many hundreds of lost lives and the many thousands who are still missing.

When I was 22, back in 2016, I was working in hospitality and I saved every cent I had to take myself overseas for the very first time—and I chose Nepal. I took myself into the Langtang region and stayed in a town called Syabrubesi. It is a place that has been effectively wiped off the map.

What hasn't been wiped off the map is the history, the memories and the culture of that place. When I hiked in the Himalayas, it was a profoundly spiritual experience, with the Buddhist culture mixed with the Hindu culture. The sheer history of the place is just phenomenal.

When I was hiking, I suffered a bit of altitude sickness—and, mind you, I was on my own; I wouldn't advise anyone to do that, but 22-year-old Emma decided that was appropriate! Hiking along the river and staying in a place up there, I got altitude sickness and then had a sinus infection. I stayed in this tiny little guesthouse, and the people there looked after me.

I was there for a few days, longer than expected, and the wonderful aunties and my Nepalese sister looked after me. They fed me. They brought me soups, they brought me masala and they looked after me.

I used to do a bit of fire spinning and I had LED poi with me, and I got to play with the locals there and we had a great time, once I was feeling a bit better. I was speaking to some of the locals there. The Langtang region suffered great loss during the 2015 earthquake.

I met people who had lost 30 or 40 members of their family. Even a woman who was 75 had to start working again because everyone in her family had been killed during the earthquake. Nepal is no stranger to extreme events—but nothing like the scale we witnessed on 26 August.

I remember the bumpy eight-hour bus ride from Kathmandu to Syabrubesi, crossing bridges that are no longer there. I remember I looked out the window of the bus, and there were about six inches between the bus's tyre and a hundreds-metre drop. The scale of these mountains is incredible.

Unless you've been there, you can't comprehend the scale of this place. Another thing that I don't think people can understand is just how truly wonderful the Nepali people are. They take in strangers.

They look after you. The hospitality is just incredible. Even when I got back to Kathmandu and finally made it off the mountain—I had a few naps along the track because I kept throwing up my breakfast and didn't feel well at all.

I got back to Kathmandu and a wonderful man named Dhan Lama looked after me at his hotel. Unprompted, they kept bringing me soups and momos and masala, and checking in to make sure I was okay. They even went down to get me some more Panadol.

They were looking after me—and this was just off their own goodwill. That's an example of how incredibly wonderful the Nepali community are. To see what's happened is heartbreaking.

As you can see, I'm quite emotional because the scale of the loss of livelihood is incomprehensible. I have a number of Nepali people that live in my community—thousands of them—and they've got missing loved ones and had loved ones lost. To understand what they're going through is hard to fathom.

I even travelled to Chitwan National Park, which is now unfortunately the site of mass graves, a necessary course of action. Seeing what has happened to this town due to the scale of this event is just heartbreaking. I got to see my first wild rhino in that part of the world, and it was just phenomenal.

Nepal has always been a popular travel destination for Australians. It's a very revisited country in the world, and that's a testament to how wonderful the people are there—the food, the culture. It's a culture built on respect.

There are many different religions. There are many different backgrounds. There's a lot of acceptance of difference and ability.

Even just the little things—when you're walking down the street and you hear a lot of horns tooting, it's not to say, 'Get out of my way;' it's to say, 'Hey, I'm here, and I'm moving through this area.' I think that sort of cultural awareness and that sort of societal awareness show that the whole culture, the whole country, is built upon respect. I've been able to reach out to some of the Nepalese community leaders within Petrie to express my condolences and let them know what supports are available to them.

I still have more to contact. There are many, many more I still need to call. So, if any of them are watching this, I will be in touch.

If I'm not, please reach out to me and my office, and we'll do whatever we can to accommodate your needs and to direct you to the proper advice. During times of immense tragedy, the words of solidarity matter, but we also need to back them with action. Australia is backing our friendship with the people of Nepal with practical humanitarian support on the ground.

The Australian government has committed $11 million in humanitarian assistance to support the urgent disaster response and the recovery that follows. We know Nepal already struggles with human trafficking as an issue, and, in times like this, that's a risk, with all of these displaced people, all of these orphans, and so I commend the efforts of our Foreign minister, DFAT and the department for their work in assisting the people of Nepal to prevent further crisis from coming to fruition afterwards.

Of that funding, $5 million is being provided through the Emergency Action Alliance, and that's going to support the locally led recovery and rehabilitation efforts. The government is also matching the generosity—the extraordinary generosity, let me say—that has been shown by Australians who have donated to the appeal, and that reflects our close relationship with Nepal.

I think, for a lot of Australians, Nepal has a place in our hearts. I'm sure many members in this place have travelled there and have Nepalese community members within their electorates. I think the response to this and the number of people who have decided to speak on this condolence motion are emblematic of how much we truly care for Nepal and our relationship with the country.

Also, for what we've provided as a government, I am very appreciative of the bipartisan support. I think it's really appropriate that we do so, and I commend those across the parliament for their support and advocacy for this. So we've put in a further $2 million to the World Food Programme, and they've been leading incredible efforts, making sure people have food in their bellies.

It's not only about nutrition; with that kind of trauma, a warm meal makes a big difference. We're also supporting emergency shelters and vital logistics supporting the affected communities. Many of the roads, as I've said, have been destroyed, and communities are completely cut off and isolated.

I'll finish up in the amount of time I have by expressing my condolences to the entire community of Nepal. Thank you.