Everyone remembers the tropical storm that swept through Northern Queensland in 2006, destroying that year's banana production, flattening houses and creating widespread misery. Now imagine if that hurricane had:
•Struck 30% of Australia
•Damaged or destroyed all new housing stock built over the past 12 years
•Irreparably damaged 50% of houses in Northern Queensland, and up to 80% of houses in a major centre like Townsville
•Seriously damaged 15% of hotels on the Sunshine Coast
•Destroyed 70% of agricultural production in a food-producing area like the Riverina
•Displaced 4 million people
•Wiped out 70% of a crucial export
•Completely destroyed the electricity distribution system for two entire regions
•Destroyed hospitals serving half a million people
•Caused $75-$100 billion in damage
Impossible to imagine? That was the cataclysmic impact of the two recent Caribbean hurricanes, Ike and Gustav, on Cuba. Former Cuban president Fidel Castro wasn't exaggerating when he compared their impact to that of a nuclear bomb without the radioactivity.
Luckily, only seven people have died in Cuba as a result of Ike, because of the Cubans' excellent early warning and civil defence system against hurricanes.
Anyone who has been in Cuba during the hurricane season cannot but be impressed at the organisation set in place to ensure no lives are lost. As a hurricane approaches the island, national TV and radio broadcast full information as to its course and emergency evacuation and defence plans are set in motion as needed. Everyone knows what they must do in order to protect themselves, their families and, if possible, their property.
The comparison with the devastating impact of these storms on other Caribbean islands couldn't be more dramatic. While Gustav claimed no lives in Cuba, it and three other tropical storms have killed more than 700 people in Haiti, with dead bodies still appearing as floods finally subside.
The storms and mudslides also devastated Haiti's crops, worsening an already dire food situation in a nation whose average worker makes less than $1 a day. The country's rice-growing areas have all been destroyed and if something is not done soon famine is imminent.
What Cuba and Haiti have suffered is the equivalent of the impact of the 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami on Sumatra, but without the horrendous death toll. In the case of Indonesia, the Howard government (partly shamed into action by the spontaneous generosity of "ordinary" people) put up a $1 billion aid package.
The Rudd government should develop a similar aid package for the two Caribbean islands. Now is the time to forget about geopolitics and show that the Australian government is capable of disinterested generosity. This is especially so because what would be small change in the Australian federal government aid budget of $6 billion would make a big difference in Cuba and Haiti.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has reported estimates of damage in Cuba from Ike and Gustav at US$3-4 billion, around 10% of the island's gross domestic product. Australia could contribute up to 20% of the repair bill without making a huge dent in its own federal aid budget.
Australia owes Cuba. In East Timor Cuba has been doing the job that was really our obligation — helping build up the newly independent country's health system from scratch.
Cuba currently has 300 health workers in East Timor, including 230 doctors — over 80% of those practising in the country. There are also 800 Timorese medical students in Cuba, with 1000 scholarships being offered.
When East Timor heard about the hurricane damage, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao announced that his country would donate US$500,000 to Cuba as cash assistance to help in the recovery effort — that's 0.125% of the country's GDP. An Australian equivalent donation would be $1 billion!
A note published by Cuba's Granma newspaper on September 5 reads that the Cuban people "are all moved by this gesture as East Timor is a small country of the Third World with very limited resources that, with this decision, shows its fraternal feelings and encourages our internationalist spirit".
It would be very nice to read that rich Australia were capable of one-tenth of this moving solidarity.
Dick Nichols
[Dick Nichols is the national coordinator of the Socialist Alliance.]