- Hon Peter Dutton MP, Minister for Defence
- Senator the Hon Zed Seselja, Minister for International Development and the Pacific
HMAS Adelaide arrived in Tonga today with additional humanitarian and medical supplies, engineering equipment and helicopters to support logistics and distribution as Australia continues its support in partnership with the Tongan Government following the volcano and tsunami.
Australia is widening its support, including through the restoration of power and communications, the storage and effective delivery of relief supplies, and further recovery efforts on the outer islands most affected.
To date, Australia has delivered to Tonga more than 40 tonnes of emergency relief supplies, including shelter materials, water and sanitation supplies, equipment to restore communications and personal protective equipment for people clearing ash.
The Australian Government will provide an additional $2 million in humanitarian funding to assist Tonga as it moves to the next phase of its recovery from the 15 January eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano and subsequent tsunami, bringing Australia’s humanitarian commitment to date to $3 million. We stand ready to provide further assistance to meet Tonga’s needs.
We appreciate the decision of the Government of Tonga to enable HMAS Adelaide to dock and offload the humanitarian and medical supplies, and the high priority it has placed on COVID safety throughout the recovery process.
Australia continues to take every precaution and are delivering our assistance to our partners in accordance with the COVID-safe practices that we have put in place with the Government of Tonga. The ship is undertaking an entirely contactless delivery of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief supplies.
The Australian Government continues to work closely with our Tongan partners to mobilise resources to best support the Government and the local community. We are also coordinating our assistance closely with other partners, including France and New Zealand under the FRANZ Pacific humanitarian response partnership, as well as Fiji, Japan, the United States, United Kingdom and non-government organisations.
Tonga is part of our Pacific family and we will continue to support the Government and people of Tonga in their response and recovery efforts.
