Interview with Iskhandar Razak – ABC News Breakfast

ISKHANDAR RAZAK:

Now, let’s get more on the other main stories we’re following this morning, and an Australian reconnaissance flight bound for Tonga has been delayed this morning after volcanic ash remains in the air after a huge eruption at the weekend. For more, Australia’s Minister for the Pacific Zed Seselja joins us now from Canberra. Good morning to you, minister.

MINISTER SESELJA:

Good morning.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK:

What more do we know about the damage that’s been caused?

MINISTER SESELJA:

Well, in terms of the damage, we are getting some more assessments on the ground overnight. The AFP reports from the Western beaches region that there was some significant property damage in that area and including roads and houses as well. So there are some concerning reports of property damage. At this stage, fortunately, we have no reports of any sort of mass casualties, which is obviously very good news. But there is still very limited, if any, information coming from the outer islands. And so that will be the focus in the coming hours.

So you referenced the fact that the P-8 surveillance flight from Australia had been delayed. I anticipate that that will now be taking off at 8am Australian time. So we hope that that will be in the air very soon. There is also a P-3 Orion flight from New Zealand which is in the air at the moment. So between those two aircraft we hope that in the next several hours we’ll have a much better assessment of the damage in those outer islands where communications continue to be cut off.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK:

Apart from reconnaissance flights, is there any other support being launched today?

MINISTER SESELJA:

So what we’re doing is we’re preparing for other support and having it ready to go. So out of Amberley we have a C-130 which has been loaded with supplies, humanitarian supplies, particularly supplies to provide shelter for individuals and families, so that’s things like tarpaulins, things like water and sanitation kits. That has been prepared and will be ready to go. Obviously that is subject to the ability to fly over the region and land.

We have received reports that the airport appears to be in relatively good condition, so we have no reports of any major damage to the airport. So once flying conditions allow, obviously we would be able to deploy that kind of support.

We’re also working on other contingencies, so HMAS Adelaide, which is currently in Sydney, I understand will be deploying to Brisbane where it will be preparing humanitarian supplies out of Brisbane and obviously ready to be deployed as needed.

So we’re obviously looking to get as much information as we can on the ground. We have some information. We hope to have significantly more information in the next few hours and then there’ll be those further discussions with the Tongan government to determine how we can support the people of Tonga at this very difficult time. But we stand ready to do much more. We are preparing, we are working. But at the moment it’s also trying to assess the exact extent of the damage.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK:

Minister, I mean, this eruption did happen on Saturday and we know that ash flew 15 kilometres in the air, and it feels like, perhaps, some of the supplies should have been launched already, by ship at least. Why is there a delay? Why are we still waiting, essentially?

MINISTER SESELJA:

Well, it’s just not possible to turn around something like the HMAS Adelaide in that short space of time. And obviously the quickest way to get supplies will be through the air. And so we’re working on all of those contingencies. So, really, from as soon as we had those reports that work was being done by our ADF personnel and others to make sure – and our humanitarian personnel out of DFAT to make sure that’s there.

We also have pre-positioned supplies which will be being distributed as we speak in country. So we work with NGOs such as the Red Cross to have pre-positioned supplies. So there are many ways that we can support the people of Tonga. We’re obviously working on the assessment of the damage, which is very important. We have those pre-positioned supplies which will be distributed as needed. And we continue to have discussions as we can with the limited communications we have with the Government of Tonga to assess what needs they have and what additional support we can be providing.

We’re also talking to a number of partner countries. I understand that the US has ships in the region and obviously we’ve been chatting to our US, New Zealand, French partners and others about how we can coordinate a response going forward.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK:

Zed Seselja, the Minister for International Development and the Pacific. Thank you so much for your time.

MINISTER SESELJA:

Thanks very much.

[ENDS]