00:01As I said this morning, the loss of life and the scale of the destruction is devastating.
00:07I wanted to say first our thoughts and condolences with those who have lost loved ones and those
00:15whose loved ones are missing and to all affected by this disaster.
00:20I wanted to give an update which confirms what the Prime Minister has said.
00:27We, to date, understand that at least 34 Australians are amongst those missing.
00:34We understand these Australians are part of separate pilgrimage and tour groups.
00:40I'm not in a position to provide any further details about them at this stage.
00:46The Government's priority is to confirm the whereabouts and welfare of these Australians
00:53and DFAT officials in Nepal and also China are seeking to do that.
01:01Obviously, the situation is a difficult one.
01:05I've spoken this morning to the Ambassador for Australia to Nepal, Simon Ernst,
01:11and I have also spoken to Scott Dewar, our Ambassador in Beijing.
01:15I've conveyed to them my support, my request that they do everything they are able to to ascertain the whereabouts
01:24and welfare of any Australians and invited them to contact me if they need further assistance.
01:33We are currently deploying further DFAT personnel, including crisis response experts to the region.
01:39I've asked DFAT to ensure that we do provide the support needed to these posts, particularly our post in Nepal.
01:49The Department will continue to engage with local authorities and tour operators.
01:54I would say this, I'm sure there are many Australians who are very concerned about friends or family who may
02:02be in this region.
02:05I would say to you at this stage, access and information are very limited given the scale of disaster.
02:11We will do our best to ascertain whatever information we can.
02:16We are urgently seeking to confirm the welfare and whereabouts of Australians and we will be in touch with their
02:25next,
02:25their loved ones as soon as we have any confirmed information that we can share.
02:32We are coordinating with the Nepalese government, the UN, the Red Cross and other organisations in the,
02:38on the humanitarian response and I will have more to say about that in the, in the coming days.
02:46First to Australians in the area.
02:49If you are in the area, can I ask you to follow the advice of local authorities and monitor media.
02:56Australians in Nepal and China, please subscribe to Smart Traveller.
03:02Australians in need of consular assistance should contact our 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre.
03:071300 555 135 or plus 62613305 if calling from overseas.
03:19If there are Australians in Australia who have friends or family who they believe are in the region,
03:26you can provide that information also to those numbers that I have outlined.
03:32Today they are the Consular Emergency Centre numbers.
03:36Our travel advice has obviously been updated to reflect the disaster and I will continue to provide updates to the
03:43Australian community through the media,
03:46including when we have more information about the Australians who are unaccounted for.
03:51I would say to those friends and families, all Australians are thinking of you at this time.
03:58As I know this is a very worrying situation for you all.
04:02We are also thinking of the people of Nepal and of China and the diaspora communities in Australia.
04:10This is a very distressing time for those community members, particularly those who have family members in the area.
04:16I know that the government is in contact with leaders in those communities and we will continue to update them
04:22as directly as we are able when we know more.
04:26...
04:27You
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