Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker Causley, as you would be aware, over the weekend we had a devastating flood in our region of the Hunter and the Central Coast. The media reports that the cost of this massive flooding and devastation could be in excess of $1 billion. But it has not only had an impact on homes, businesses and individuals; it has had a massive impact on infrastructure. For example, our all-important coal industry has suffered. In the Hunter the coal industry has already lost hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. Once our rail system is up and running again, coal shipments will resume, and if they resume this week the loss of shipments just since Friday will amount to some $115 million.

Some families have lost their homes. They have lost their livestock. Their furniture has been destroyed. The precious food for their livestock is gone. It is estimated that 6,000 families had to be evacuated from the township of Maitland. The floods have also led to a tragedy: 62-year-old Robert and 50-year-old Linda Jones were killed after their four-wheel drive was washed off the Wallaroo Creek bridge, which had flooded near Clarence Town. The couple were my constituents. They moved to the area in 1984 and they were both members of the Clarence Town Bowling Club. Following the news of their death, the bowling club has been flying their flag at half-mast. Our town is in mourning.

Insurance companies have so far received over 18,000 calls about claims, and most have come from people in the Hunter and Central Coast, but insurance companies will continue to receive thousands of calls over the next few days. I congratulate the federal government on offering immediate assistance to the families who have been struck in the flood disaster. Financial assistance was distributed straight through to the bank accounts of flood victims last night and it will continue. I congratulate the Prime Minister, who is absolutely committed to helping those who are injured, have lost their home or have been unable to occupy their home for a period of 48 hours, and this cash will go to them. Each adult victim of the flood will receive $1,000 and each affected child will receive some $400. A Centrelink hotline was set up on Sunday and it has taken over 2,000 calls already. In particular, I pay tribute to the hardworking volunteers—those in the SES, and particularly Greg Perry, who is Regional Controller of SES Headquarters at Metford, and Alan Williams, the controller from Raymond Terrace. I also pay tribute to our rural fire services, New South Wales Police, council workers, all of the volunteers and the Army, which came to help and did their bit for our area. The Prime Minister visited on Monday and that gave a great morale boost to not only our volunteers but also our community. I congratulate the hard work, effort and dedication of those people determined to make it easier for those in our community.

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