Global Reaction

Australian gov't to donate $9.95 million to Japan

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-21 15:06

CANBERRA - The Australian federal government on Monday announced to donate $9.95 million to support disaster-struck Japan.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the money will be given to the Red Cross to provide emergency relief and equipment to devastated communities, in order to help Japan get back on its feet after the March 11 earthquake and tsunamis, which believed to have killed an estimated 20,000 people.

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"It is hard for any of us to come to grips with the scale of this disaster," she told parliament in Canberra on Monday.

Earlier on Monday, Gillard joined Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to sign a condolence book at Japan's embassy in Canberra of Australia.

Abbott said Australians were "united in grief" for the people of Japan.

Meanwhile, Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Monday said five Australians remained unaccounted for in Japan.

The number has come down from more than 140 a week ago, and Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said embassy staff were working hard to bring it down to zero.

"The team have been doing a fantastic job," he told ABC Television on Monday.