Ms LAWRIE - 2002-10-16
Could you please bring the House up to date in regard to the response to the Bali bombings?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is hard to believe in a way that such a short time after the bombings in Bali, services in the Territory are returning closer to normality, especially for the hospital and police. Let me make it very clear, though, that the Territory is still on standby in case there are any further demands on the services that we have already offered or others that maybe we haven’t predicted as yet. So even though things are returning to normal, we are on standby.
The focus is now on families and friends of those who died and the very sad task of identifying bodies, and then making sure that those bodies return home. Indonesian authorities at this stage have said that the death toll is still at the figure that we have had for the last 24 hours, about 180 people. Australians confirmed dead in that number are 30 but, very sadly, we do expect that figure to go higher. There are still about 160 Australians unaccounted for.
The situation right now at Royal Darwin Hospital is that there are seven injured from the Bali bombing still in care from earlier evacuations. Four of those seven are in intensive care and, because of their condition, there is no plan at present to move any of those seven. We had some arrivals this morning on the scheduled commercial flight, five came on that flight. They were able to get themselves to the hospital or they didn’t need stretcher assistance. They have been treated as outpatients at the hospital. Two have already been discharged and three are still receiving treatment.
Extraordinarily, though, on current information, none of these are Territorians, and we have still not established whether there has been even one Territorian injured in what happened on Saturday night in Bali. Of the five who came in this morning, one was from Queensland, two were British, two from Sweden. None of those have been admitted to hospital for further care.
As I indicated, the hospital is returning to normal service today with some elective surgery to be carried out tomorrow and Friday. They will be mostly day cases not requiring overnight stays. The outpatient clinic will resume tomorrow, and the hospital says that all services will be fully operational from Monday.
Gary Lum, who is Acting General Manager of Royal Darwin Hospital, has said thank you to this House for our support of what they did yesterday, and that the staff at RDH have been very grateful for the words and the support generally coming from the parliament and from the community for the work they did.
The situation for the Territory now is that we are still on standby as far as the hospital is concerned, and our offer from the Police Commissioner to assist in disaster victim identification and crime scene examination is still there but, as yet, it hasn’t been taken up. Police, Fire and Emergency Services are remaining in contact with Emergency Management Australia and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Darwin to be across any other requirements that may be asked of us. The police had established a 24 hour Emergency Operation Centre. That was closed as of yesterday at 3 pm.
On the wider level of security, as I mentioned yesterday, the public sector security is being reviewed, specifically because of the shooting of a senior public servant in Adelaide, and that reassessment of our public sector security is taking place. We expect that to be an ongoing process.
Moving forward, a national day of mourning is to be held on Sunday. What we are looking at is having an ecumenical service in Darwin, but any other parts of the Territory that would be thinking about having such an ecumenical service, and we are working with the churches involved to establish where that would be and at what time. It is very important that all over Australia on Sunday, we will be marking the appalling tragedy in Bali, and that national day of recognition of the hurt and injury and the undermining of trust associated with when a bombing like that happens. I know many churches, as well, will be having special prayers for Bali victims during their regular Sunday services.
On an associated issue, Leigh Hillman, who is with the Council on the Ageing, is flying to Bali on Friday and is collecting items for a hospital treating local Balinese who were injured in the bombings. They are Balinese who simply do not have the money to be able to afford the important things that they need. That includes everything ranging from lip salve to mouthwash, Strepsils, throat medicines, eye drops, ear drops, antiseptic soaps and liquid soaps, face washers and tissues. Leigh has said that if people can help with donations of any of those items, they should get them to the COTA office in Nightcliff.
The priority for the Department of Foreign Affairs is to be able to reconcile all cases reported by families with information available on the ground in Bali. Just listening to reports overnight of families who still can’t find a member or a relation who was there – it is such a tragedy, and such a dreadful situation to be faced with. The Consulate in Bali, though, says to the best of its knowledge, there are no Australians remaining in hospitals in Bali.
To finish on a federal note, the Prime Minister has said that the federal government will pay the entire cost of repatriation to Australia of the remains of all Australians who were killed in the bombings, and that government would also pay the cost of any Australians who needed to go to Bali in order to assist with identification. Even though the immediate urgent task for the Territory in terms of medical services is tapering off, that work is continuing, and the focus at this stage is now on Bali.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is hard to believe in a way that such a short time after the bombings in Bali, services in the Territory are returning closer to normality, especially for the hospital and police. Let me make it very clear, though, that the Territory is still on standby in case there are any further demands on the services that we have already offered or others that maybe we haven’t predicted as yet. So even though things are returning to normal, we are on standby.
The focus is now on families and friends of those who died and the very sad task of identifying bodies, and then making sure that those bodies return home. Indonesian authorities at this stage have said that the death toll is still at the figure that we have had for the last 24 hours, about 180 people. Australians confirmed dead in that number are 30 but, very sadly, we do expect that figure to go higher. There are still about 160 Australians unaccounted for.
The situation right now at Royal Darwin Hospital is that there are seven injured from the Bali bombing still in care from earlier evacuations. Four of those seven are in intensive care and, because of their condition, there is no plan at present to move any of those seven. We had some arrivals this morning on the scheduled commercial flight, five came on that flight. They were able to get themselves to the hospital or they didn’t need stretcher assistance. They have been treated as outpatients at the hospital. Two have already been discharged and three are still receiving treatment.
Extraordinarily, though, on current information, none of these are Territorians, and we have still not established whether there has been even one Territorian injured in what happened on Saturday night in Bali. Of the five who came in this morning, one was from Queensland, two were British, two from Sweden. None of those have been admitted to hospital for further care.
As I indicated, the hospital is returning to normal service today with some elective surgery to be carried out tomorrow and Friday. They will be mostly day cases not requiring overnight stays. The outpatient clinic will resume tomorrow, and the hospital says that all services will be fully operational from Monday.
Gary Lum, who is Acting General Manager of Royal Darwin Hospital, has said thank you to this House for our support of what they did yesterday, and that the staff at RDH have been very grateful for the words and the support generally coming from the parliament and from the community for the work they did.
The situation for the Territory now is that we are still on standby as far as the hospital is concerned, and our offer from the Police Commissioner to assist in disaster victim identification and crime scene examination is still there but, as yet, it hasn’t been taken up. Police, Fire and Emergency Services are remaining in contact with Emergency Management Australia and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Darwin to be across any other requirements that may be asked of us. The police had established a 24 hour Emergency Operation Centre. That was closed as of yesterday at 3 pm.
On the wider level of security, as I mentioned yesterday, the public sector security is being reviewed, specifically because of the shooting of a senior public servant in Adelaide, and that reassessment of our public sector security is taking place. We expect that to be an ongoing process.
Moving forward, a national day of mourning is to be held on Sunday. What we are looking at is having an ecumenical service in Darwin, but any other parts of the Territory that would be thinking about having such an ecumenical service, and we are working with the churches involved to establish where that would be and at what time. It is very important that all over Australia on Sunday, we will be marking the appalling tragedy in Bali, and that national day of recognition of the hurt and injury and the undermining of trust associated with when a bombing like that happens. I know many churches, as well, will be having special prayers for Bali victims during their regular Sunday services.
On an associated issue, Leigh Hillman, who is with the Council on the Ageing, is flying to Bali on Friday and is collecting items for a hospital treating local Balinese who were injured in the bombings. They are Balinese who simply do not have the money to be able to afford the important things that they need. That includes everything ranging from lip salve to mouthwash, Strepsils, throat medicines, eye drops, ear drops, antiseptic soaps and liquid soaps, face washers and tissues. Leigh has said that if people can help with donations of any of those items, they should get them to the COTA office in Nightcliff.
The priority for the Department of Foreign Affairs is to be able to reconcile all cases reported by families with information available on the ground in Bali. Just listening to reports overnight of families who still can’t find a member or a relation who was there – it is such a tragedy, and such a dreadful situation to be faced with. The Consulate in Bali, though, says to the best of its knowledge, there are no Australians remaining in hospitals in Bali.
To finish on a federal note, the Prime Minister has said that the federal government will pay the entire cost of repatriation to Australia of the remains of all Australians who were killed in the bombings, and that government would also pay the cost of any Australians who needed to go to Bali in order to assist with identification. Even though the immediate urgent task for the Territory in terms of medical services is tapering off, that work is continuing, and the focus at this stage is now on Bali.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016