Transcript, E&OE
14 August 2009
Nine AM with David Reyne and Kim Watkins
Subjects: Plane crash in PNG
DAVID REYNE: This week the nation has been saddened by the tragic aeroplane crash that occurred in the rugged and inaccessible mountain terrain near Kokoda in Papua New Guinea. More than 6000 Australians walk the Kokoda Track each year and now the question is being asked: are there adequate safety measures in place?
KIM WATKINS: To discuss what Australia can do and to update us on the recovery effort, we're joined this morning by Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith. Good morning, Stephen, thanks for your time.
DAVID REYNE: Morning, Stephen.
STEPHEN SMITH: Good morning.
DAVID REYNE: It's got to be such a nightmare for the families who lose family members overseas. What can a government do, what can our government do for these families?
STEPHEN SMITH: In this case it's been terrible for them. Firstly, just the tragedy of being told that the plane's missing and then not knowing for nearly a day after that and, in some respects, this is now going to be the most difficult period for them. As I said in the House yesterday, we've now got a very difficult recovery task. Conditions are difficult, the terrain, the weather itself, so recovering from the site back to Kokoda or straight to Port Moresby and then getting their loved ones home is going to take much more time than they would wish.
KIM WATKINS: What is that process, Stephen? What has to happen to get those bodies out?
STEPHEN SMITH: Physically we've got to get the bodies out. Earlier this morning we've just got news that one of our Black Hawks was able to get in a second team to help on recovery of the bodies and to start the process of identification. We couldn't get them in yesterday because the helicopter could neither land nor hover and lower ropes. So that will be of some assistance but it's a complicated, methodical process. International standards have to be met. Papua New Guinea law has to be met. There's also the complication that we've got people from three different countries, PNG, Australia, Japan, and we've got to be very careful about the identification process and the proof of that, to international standards. It always takes more time than families want, or we would want, and this is going to be compounded by the difficulties of access and the terrain and the weather.
KIM WATKINS: What actually happens in this situation with the families? Do you call and directly help organise flights, what?
STEPHEN SMITH: The first the Government became aware of it, I got a note in Question Time which said a PNG Airlines plane has gone missing, it's from Port Moresby to Kokoda, so immediately you say there will be Australians on board. The first estimate was the correct estimate, which they thought as many as nine. You've then quickly got to do everything we can to try and confirm the people on board, through the manifest and the like, and then we contacted the families. By that evening we'd contacted all of the families to alert them and since then they've been in contact with our consular officials in Canberra pretty much on a very regular basis. And we keep them constantly informed so on the time they were told that PNG police had got on the ground and there were no survivors, that was the fourth or fifth time that there'd essentially been a ring-around. That's a very difficult time for the families but also a very difficult job for our officers who do it. And now we just keep in constant contact with them, feeding them all the information, explaining to them what the processes are but also some of the families don't want to go to PNG, some have said, look, we may, and we'll of course facilitate that and if they do decide to go, give them every access on the ground. People, as you'd expect, respond differently to the grief and how they want to be involved in getting their loved ones home. So we just do everything we can in what are just terrible situations. You know, your heart really goes out to them. It's just awful.
DAVID REYNE: I'm sure that the one question on their mind, all of the families, would be when we can we get these bodies home? Do you have any idea when you might be able to get those bodies home?
STEPHEN SMITH: In these things I never put a timetable on it because as soon as I put a timetable on it people make that the focus point. What I've been saying and what our officers have been saying to the families is the first difficult process we've got is actually physically retrieving the bodies from the site in rough and rugged terrain in bad weather. We're making, you know, progress on that. As I say, a second team got in today. Then we've got to get the bodies to either Kokoda and then to Port Moresby or direct to Port Moresby. Then we start then the formal identification process to satisfy the international requirements and PNG legal requirements. So all I can say it will take more time than the families would want.
KIM WATKINS: Yes. Okay, let's move on now to the crash. I mean, everyone wants to know, you know, how and why it happened and anyone who's been to PNG knows that's just wildly mountainous, extremely gusty, difficult, difficult terrain. What do we know about the accident?
STEPHEN SMITH: Difficult aeronautical conditions and that can be exacerbated by inclement or bad weather. And again, I've seen a lot of speculation. I never join that. There'll be an exhaustive formal examination of the accident. The PNG authorities will do that. Our own aviation authorities and the Safety Transport Bureau have said essentially we're ready, willing and able to render whatever assistance that you might want or need. We're confident that there will be very close cooperation.
KIM WATKINS: So that can be our only role? We can't - Australians can't or the Australian government can't in any way make suggestions or...diplomatically, I know it's tricky.
STEPHEN SMITH: We've got a very good relationship with PNG and we've been working - well, the two Prime Ministers spoke and Prime Minister Somare essentially said whatever assistance Australia can render, you know, please supply it - which is why you saw our maritime rescue assets, our helicopters and aircraft and teams go. The same applies with the transport safety and civil aviation phase. But formally, as a matter of PNG law, they have to do the investigation but there'll be cooperation and assistance there if required. Once that's occurred, we'll then have an assessment of what was the cause of this accident and see whether there's anything systemic or structural that we can do. But we know that for as long as airplanes have been flying in PNG it is very difficult aeronautical conditions and whatever, if any, changes are made, that will continue. It's rugged terrain and can be difficult weather conditions but, for the Papua New Guineans, flying in those light aircraft, the single and the twin engines, has been one of the things which has opened up the country. So that is going to continue. What need to make judgments about down the track, once we've recovered the bodies and seen the loved ones brought home to their families, is then do those exhaustive assessments and see whether there's anything that PNG or Australia can do to try and stop these things occurring.
DAVID REYNE: As I said in the introduction, 6000 Australians walk the track each year now. I've walked the track myself. It is rugged but that's its appeal, but we're losing people every now and then there. Do we need to tighten - tighten safety up there and what advice does the department give travellers that are going there to do the trek?
STEPHEN SMITH: Firstly, we've got now - we signed this up last year in Papua New Guinea at our formal Australia-PNG Ministerial Forum - Peter Garrett as Environment Minister, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding over the track. So we've now got a formal process where we can deal with all of these things. We've had a couple of deaths, tragic deaths, on the track itself in the course of this year and so people are constantly looking at are the trekkers and the groups that are going, are we maintaining and keeping the highest standards in terms of safety and rigour.
DAVID REYNE: Operators.
STEPHEN SMITH: Operators and the like. So all of that is essentially under ongoing review but when something like this occurs then you stop and you take stock of all of those things and that will occur naturally.
KIM WATKINS: Look, we're out of time but we need to know, there are trekkers still up there and we're hearing reports that they're stranded. What will happen?
STEPHEN SMITH: There are reports. My office and the department spoke to our High Commissioner this morning and his officers. We've got nothing to base that on. We've seen the reports but we've got no information that's come to us that we've got 50 people stuck in Kokoda or on the track itself, but literally as we speak, one of our aircraft, a Caribou, is flying from Port Moresby to Kokoda. We've got people on the plane so they can make those inquiries.
KIM WATKINS: So they're there to pick up people if there...
STEPHEN SMITH: They're there to see whether there's a problem. If there's a problem we'll do our best to deal with it. We haven't, for example, received any call or suggestion from anyone that there's a difficulty but, given what's occurred in recent days, of course we're onto it and we'll get people on the ground there pretty quickly and just see if there is a problem but we've got nothing currently to base that suggestion on.
KIM WATKINS: All right, look, we know it's been a hell of a week for you and certainly a hell of a week for the families. Thank you for joining us.
DAVID REYNE: Appreciate your time, thank you very much.
STEPHEN SMITH: Thanks. [END]
[ENDS]
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