Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on indulgence, on behalf of the government I want to extend our thoughts to the victims of the severe flooding that commenced in Mackay on 14 Febru-ary. The Bureau of Meteorology has reported that that was the biggest rainfall in 90 years—624 millimetres of rain fell in just 10 hours. The joint state-Commonwealth natural disaster relief and recovery arrangements were activated on the weekend. That has made it possible for local residents, small business, primary producers and councils to access a range of assistance measures, including personal hardship grants, concessional loans, freight subsidies and cost recovery for restoring certain assets. On Saturday, the Minister for Human Services, Senator Ludwig, toured the areas affected with the Queensland Premier to survey the extent of the damage firsthand.

As I announced on Sunday, in addition to the natural disaster relief and recovery arrangements, the government has decided that the Australian government disaster recovery payment, the AGDRP, will be made available to those people adversely affected by the storms and associated flooding. The Australian government disaster recovery payment will provide financial assistance to people whose principal place of residence has been destroyed or significantly damaged and to those who have been seriously injured and hospitalised for more than 48 hours as a direct result of the floods. Those eligible will be able to receive a one-off payment of $1,000 for adults and $400 for each child to help relieve their hardship. In addition, the Minister for Human Services announced that the so-called drought bus, a mobile Centrelink office and communications centre, will arrive in Mackay on Thursday and will be there for one week to help residents to access their entitlements. There will be much work to do over the coming weeks to help these communities to fully recover. The federal government will do its bit to help families, small businesses and local communities get back on their feet as soon as possible.

This has been a kick in the guts for the people of Mackay. It was a huge flood, and with very little warning. People in Mackay have coped remarkably well in the circumstances. They are a robust, resilient community. They will bounce back, but we intend to do whatever we can to provide assistance on the way through. The member for Dawson, James Bidgood, is now in Mackay assisting in ensuring that assistance which is promised by government is actually reaching those who need it most.

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