STATEMENTS ON INDULGENCE

Mr WATTS (Gellibrand) (16:33): I, too, rise to convey my deepest condolences to the people of Nepal and Tibet, China, following the catastrophic flood disaster on their shared border. The loss of life and destruction of local towns and villages that we've all seen on our mobile phones and television screens has been utterly devastating. I know that there are so many people dealing with this devastating loss of friends, family, loved ones, homes, villages and livelihoods.

It's been heartbreaking to witness from afar, and I know that hundreds of thousands of Australians are sharing this terrible, agonising heartbreak. It's heartbreaking to know that thousands of people remain missing. Among those thousands, 35 of them are our fellow Australians.

To all of the families and friends anxiously, agonisingly awaiting news of your loved ones: our thoughts are with you. I acknowledge that it's an uncertain and distressing time for my community in Melbourne's west and for Nepali Australian communities across Australia. Australia's Nepali, Tibetan and Hindu communities in particular are grieving for their family and friends.

Amidst the tragedy, there have been glimmers of hope. So far, extraordinarily, nine Australians have been located safe, and Australian officials are working hard to find Australians who remain unaccounted for and to support their loved ones as they wait, agonised, for news. They're continuing to gather as much information as possible to provide to the families of missing Australians.

I want to thank these consular officials and the search and rescue teams working in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. The consular work of officials at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade—working with people in the most extreme circumstances, far away from home, at the highest stakes—is about the hardest thing you can do in diplomacy. Our thoughts are with all of these teams too.

There's been an overwhelming response from Australians, who have donated more than $5 million to the Emergency Action Alliance appeal in response to this disaster. Additionally, individual alliance members have raised another $4 million in direct donations. This display of generosity, compassion and, yes, mateship shows values that are typical of Australians.

In response to this generosity, the Australian government has pledged $5 million to the Emergency Action Alliance to match these public donations, bringing Australia's total ongoing humanitarian support package in response to this disaster to $11 million. This funding supports the provision of emergency shelter, food, clean water, sanitation, health care and other essential supplies.

In addition to this funding support, the Australian government is doing all that we can to assist in the disaster response through search, rescue and recovery efforts. A total of 49 Australians have been deployed to Nepal to support the crisis response and to bolster humanitarian capabilities. This includes specialist drone operators, who are supporting Nepali authorities with search operations and with mapping and imaging, and disaster victim identification specialists from the Australian Federal Police.

It's a grim job, but one that provides much-needed resolution to those agonised family and friends waiting. Australian officials are engaging daily with Nepali authorities to seek information on search, rescue, recovery and identification efforts. They're also contacting hospitals, tour operators and other organisations that might hold relevant information.

DFAT and AFP case officers are a consistent point of contact for next of kin, and two social workers from Services Australia are also assisting to set up a family support hub. I want to thank the Australians who are working around the clock against crucial time pressures to locate unaccounted for Australians, support their loved ones and support the Nepali authorities through this disaster.

I reaffirm the foreign minister's message that Australians requiring emergency consular assistance or those concerned about family or friends should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's 24-hour consular emergency centre on 1300555135 from within Australia or +61262613305 from overseas. Australia and Nepal share a strong and enduring partnership underpinned by deep personal relationships.

It's part of the reason why this tragedy is being felt so deeply here in Australia. I've seen firsthand the depth of these ties between the Australian and Nepali people. When I travelled to Nepal in 2023 as the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, I met with dozens of Nepali people with longstanding relationships to Australia.

Many had family members here, many had lived here, many had studied here, many had worked here, and many, if not most, were themselves Australian alumni who had returned to Nepal to contribute to their countries with the knowledge and experience that they'd gained from Australian education institutions. There are now over 200,000 Nepali people working and studying in Australia.

The Nepali community is a valued part of modern Australia. I see this in my community in Melbourne's west. I see it in our schools, our hospitals, our businesses and our community service centres.

I particularly see it in MOMO Fest every year. Australians love Nepal and the Nepali people. For years, Australians have been an enormous source of tourists in Nepal.

Many Australians have spent formative days there. They feel a deep personal connection to the country and its people. It's a difficult time, and we acknowledge the scale of what Nepal faces to recover from this devastation.

Australia stands ready to support Nepal along the long road of recovery and to provide further assistance where needed.