Bishop pledges Vanuatu cyclone aid for ‘as long as it takes’

MORE than 450 Australian defence personnel will be in Vanuatu from today, and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has pledged long-term support.

Julie Bishop meets resident Christelle Pakoa and her daughter Priscilla, 5, during a school visit in Port Vila yesterday. Picture: Mark Calleja

MORE than 450 Australian defence personnel will be in Vanuatu from today with the arrival of HMAS Tobruk as Foreign Minister Julie Bishop pledged long-term support.

Ms Bishop toured the battered capital, Port Vila, yesterday after flying from Amberley air base with Defence Force chief Mark Binskin on an RAAF C-17 transport aircraft carrying more troops and supplies.

She said Australia so far had given $10 million and committed to helping rebuild once the initial emergency phase was finished.

“It’s quite clear, driving around Port Vila, that this has been a very devastating natural disaster,” she said in a joint press conference with Vanuatu Prime Minister Joe Natuman.

“There’s massive trees been corkscrewed out of the ground which gives you an indication of the winds,” she said.

“The impact has been devastating, but I admire the people’s resilience and deter­min­ation to rebuild their beautiful island nation.’’

“We will be here for as long as it takes to respond to short- term needs, but we’re also here for the long-term recovery effort.”

Mr Natuman thanked Australians for their support.

He said the government now had a full picture of the devastation and food aid was reaching remote outer islands.

Mr Natuman said Vanuatu would need help rebuilding schools, health centres, government buildings, roads and brid­ges in the longer term.

Defence said it had flown 41 sorties on C-17 transport aircraft, 36 on C-130s, 13 P-3 reconnaissance missions and 22 King Air visual surveillance missions.

Two Australian Black Hawk helicopters, which arrived in Port Vila on Friday, will be in the air from today, taking people and supplies to remote areas that have not yet been reached.

The Black Hawks, which require a large support contingent, will be of particular use to the Vanuatu government because of the limited air strips available on the string of islands.

There were 127 Defence staff on the ground yesterday, but numbers are to be boosted significantly with the arrival of HMAS Tobruk today with another 335 people.