Michael Atkinson, HOST: Welcome back, more on breaking news from Nepal this morning with dozens of Australians among the missing.
Alison Piotrowski, HOST: For more, I want to bring in Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite, live in Sydney. Matt, thanks for your time this morning. The number of missing Aussies has been fluctuating, so I wanted to know, where are we at this morning? How many Australians are currently unaccounted for?
Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade: Good morning, Ali. Unfortunately, the number of unaccounted for Australians has risen to 41 overnight. We're in contact with the next of kin of family and loved ones who have unaccounted for Australians. If there are any Australians who know of loved ones and relatives in the area, we're urging them to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on the emergency hotline, 1300 555 135. Our officials on the ground in Kathmandu are working around the clock to try and locate those Australians who are missing and to work with their families.
Atkinson: Can you tell us a little bit about the work that those officials are doing? How do they go about trying to locate these missing Australians?
Assistant Minister: Yeah, obviously, the region has been devastated. The roads have been cut off, the telecommunications infrastructure is down. 10,000 homes have been destroyed and power is out. So, it's very difficult to get into the region. So, our officials in Kathmandu are working with the Nepalese authorities. We work particularly with the Nepalese Tourist Board, who have listed of Australians who are on tours to the region. We've also overnight sent eight personnel to the region. Four crisis response team members and four consular staff. These are experts in humanitarian assistance and consular support. So, they're getting as close to the affected area as possible to provide that support and hopefully locate Australians.
Piotrowski: Gosh. There is an enormous task ahead for them, Matt. Half of the cellular network is down in that region. Reporter James Wilson has been telling us that. Matt, could there be a chance that some of these missing Aussies could be safe but just be unable to get a signal out of that region?
Assistant Minister: Yes, we're hopeful that that is the case. We saw that great story overnight of Cara Severino. Her family have put out a statement to say that she has made contact. She is attempting to get out of the area. Unfortunately, because of the road closures and telecommunications infrastructure being down, she's attempting to hike out of the area. But Australian officials are working with her family to get as close as they possibly can with transport to pick her up and get her safely back to Kathmandu. But we're continuing to work to hopefully find more Australians.
Atkinson: On that note, there has been a little bit of criticism about the support being offered by the Australian Government. You just mentioned that more officials have been sent over. Are there plans to provide more assistance, put more boots on the ground or any other ways you can help?
Assistant Minister: At this stage, we've provided $5 million worth of humanitarian support. Most of that goes to the World Food Programme to emergency, provide emergency food and water kits. As well as that, we've provided support for the Emergency Action Alliance. That's a group of 15 Australian NGOs, like Oxfam and others that provide shelter, provide hygiene and medical supplies. That's based on the request of the Nepalese Government and we're working closely with them. When the 2015 earthquake hit Nepal, Australia provided over $20 million worth of assistance. So, we'll work with the Nepalese authorities. If there's further requests, we'll consider those so that humanitarian assistance may grow in the future.
Piotrowski: Matt, finally and just quickly, we have heard from our Brisbane team this morning that perhaps the Brisbane father of two, Narayan Panthy, may have made contact. Have your officials had any news on him?
Assistant Minister: Look, I can't confirm that at this stage. Obviously, we need to respect the wishes of family members and protect their privacy. But our officials are in touch with each and every one of the families who've indicated to us that they have loved ones in the region. So, we'll work closely with that family over the coming days to hopefully rescue that Australian and get them back to safety.
Atkinson: Matt Thistlethwaite, great to talk to you this morning. Thanks for your time.