"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday decided that Indonesia would provide a donation worth one million US dollar to Australia," Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said here Wednesday.
Minister Marty had called his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd on the phone to tell him about the Indonesian government`s relief aid earlier Wednesday.
"The aid will be given to `Family Appeal Fund` established by the Queensland state government to help flood victims," Marty said.
Australia had previously given a lot of donations to Indonesia in the aftermath of natural
disasters such as tsunami and earthquakes.
"This is a solidarity of a fellow nation," the minister said.
AFP reported Australia confronts its worst flood disaster in living memory, with 10 people confirmed dead, half the victims children, and about 78 went missing in southeast Queensland.
The water bearing down on Brisbane, the third largest city in Australia, threatens to engulf 6,000 of homes and put about more people at risk, as the Wivenhoe Dam, built to spare the Queensland capital a repeat of devastating floods in 1974, is at its limit.
Around 60 Indonesians were forced to evacuate themselves safer areas. They are currently being accommodated in 12 houses of fellow Indonesians in Queensland.
Support was pouring in from around the world with offers of help for Queensland as it battles with floods, Australia`s Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd said on Wednesday.
Countries including Indonesia, the U.S. and Britain, along with European and African nations, had offered support to battle Queensland`s flood.
"We`re just inundated with expressions of support from around the world, offers of material assistance," Rudd told the Nine Network on Wednesday. "So this has captured the world`s imagination."
He said the Brisbane River was a violent one and warned people to heed warnings about when to evacuate, AFP reported.(*)
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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