Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On indulgence: I am very pleased to have the opportunity to join with my Queensland colleagues, and of course chief among them the Prime Minister and the Treasurer, in speaking to this matter. It is nice to have such a big group of Queenslanders in this term of the parliament to join with. In speaking to the matter, I want to echo their words of comfort and support for our fellow Queenslanders in places like Ayr, Ingham, Karumba, Tully and everywhere in between who have endured so much in recent weeks and who will live with the slow, frustrating and expensive job of clean-up and recovery for many weeks and months to come.

It was two weeks ago that I was first scheduled to stand here and speak of the floods affecting my home state of Queensland. Since then, thankfully, the floodwaters have receded in some of the worst affected areas, particularly Ingham, but other parts of the state such as Longreach and the central west have had to deal with flooding rains in the interim and the floodwaters continue to cause enormous hardship and economic damage to those communities that have been cut off for a month now in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The extent of flooding and the scale of damage is something we have not seen in Queensland for many, many years. Even as a lifelong Queenslander, it is hard to comprehend the scale of the flood zone. It is one thing to quote the figure of 60 per cent of the state being under water but quite another thing to grasp the on-ground reality of what that means in a state as vast as Queensland. In Ingham alone the floodwaters reached a height of 12 metres, leaving 3,000 houses inundated. That is just one town across a flood affected area the same size as South Australia.

Of course, we cannot forget our friends in New South Wales because that state has not been spared either in the last two weeks. Northern New South Wales coastal towns and the western town of Burke were declared natural disaster zones as well, with a mounting damage bill and dozens of people evacuated.

In North Queensland, the devastation has reached catastrophic heights, with people missing in floodwaters. I think three people have lost their lives in this flood event, and there is a damage bill that was last estimated at $210 million and growing. And we know that it will grow. It is too soon yet to assess the full extent of damage to large outback properties—the damage to fences and infrastructure and the loss of stock that will be revealed when the waters recede. As we have heard from previous speakers, there is also an enormous infrastructure repair job that needs to be undertaken across so much of the state. Even places like Central Queensland that have not experienced the kind of floods that they have had further north are seeing massive potholes and damage to roads, bridges and culverts, so it will be a big job repairing the damage right across the state.

Central Queensland is very fortunate, I have to say, to have escaped the worst of the damage, but we know how tough floods can be. In fact, it was one year ago that I rose in the House to speak of the floodwaters that swept through Emerald and Mackay and made their way down the mighty Fitzroy River to my home town of Rockhampton. As I said then, flood gripped all corners of the Capricornia electorate, but the community rose together through the turmoil. Countless volunteers and emergency relief workers toiled on the massive preparation for the floods in Rockhampton and the clean-up in those Central Queensland towns.

This same process is now taking place in the north of Queensland and in New South Wales, and that will continue. Volunteers and emergency service workers are putting a huge effort in up there and I congratulate them. I do not think anyone here in the parliament could praise the emergency and volunteer workers in our country enough right at the present time, if indeed ever.

There is a big job ahead, not just cleaning homes but also fixing roads and infrastructure, as I mentioned, and getting our freight and transport services moving again. The full clean-up could take six months or more, and the risks of disease and problems with mosquitos will linger even as the waters recede.

Sixteen emergency services personnel from Central Queensland flew north during the worst of the flooding to assist with the recovery effort. The specialist team went equipped with flood boats, trailers and equipment. They worked on emergency management, doorknocking, a general clean-up and the loading and unloading of helicopters. I am told by the acting area manager for emergency services in Rockhampton that at that time a further 75 workers were on standby to assist. I am pleased and proud to know that those people in Central Queensland were putting their experience of flood recovery to work and putting their hands up to assist their fellow Queenslanders in the north. In the last couple of weeks we have received some minor flooding in parts of Capricornia—some big falls of over 100 millimetres near places such as Nebo—but nothing like what has fallen further north.

Fortunately, farmers in my electorate will be welcoming this summer rain and what it will mean for their crops and pastures. I certainly hope that they do not have to face the same challenges that are being felt in the north. Those challenges include destroyed crops, drowned and malnourished livestock, fences swept away and sheds destroyed. In the Gulf, where the floods have been occurring for a month, the threat of stock dying from malnutrition is real, with no sunlight to grow adequate grass for feed. It is estimated that upwards of 100,000 stock could die from the floods, and graziers need help to keep that toll as low as possible.

I was pleased to hear the announcement that the federal and state governments are working together to pledge $3 million on fodder drops. We are doing our best to save all the cattle that we can in areas—like the lower reaches of the Norman, Flinders and Cloncurry river systems—that have been hardest hit. The government is also providing financial assistance to residents of North and Far North Queensland affected by the floods. There is a one-off lump sum payment of $1,000 for adults and $400 for each child to help support their recovery.

Cane growers have been particularly affected by this flood. Cane growers in the north are looking now for sunshine, to let them get on with the recovery process. The growers in my electorate near Sarina and in the Pioneer Valley will have watched the events in the north with heartfelt commiserations. According to the Canegrowers organisation, the worst affected areas are around Ingham, Tully, Innisfail and Babinda. The Burdekin has also suffered flooding, while to the south, near Mackay, they have so far escaped the damage. Ian Ballantyne, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Canegrowers organisation, says that the full extent of losses in the sugar industry will not be known until the crop is harvested later in the year, but there is no doubt there will be an impact.

When a sugarcane crop is lost, the financial impact is not limited to the individual farmer. Whole communities are built around the sugar industry. It sustains many jobs and small businesses, and the links between farm, industry and community are very strong. When something like this hits, it hits hard. Farm workers, harvesting contractors, mill workers, train drivers and small business suppliers to the industry will be facing an uncertain time as they watch the skies for more rain and watch for signs of recovery in the cane fields. I sincerely hope they find what they are looking for.

Thankfully, we know now that the floodwaters are dropping quickly. We can only hope that those affected have some extended relief from the rain so that they can begin the clean-up in earnest and get their lives back on track. Let us remember that, in the first 10 days of February, Ingham received 999 millimetres of rain—more than most places receive in a year. And I am sure that the people in North Queensland would be very well aware that the wet season may have more in it yet. I keep remembering that Cyclone Larry, which caused so much devastation to Far North Queensland in 2006, hit on 20 March—and that is still some weeks away. I hope for the sake of North Queenslanders that there is no repeat of that kind of cyclone activity or further monsoonal rain. They have had enough.

In concluding, I extend my heartfelt condolences to all the families whose homes and lives have been thrown into chaos by these floods. Our thoughts especially extend to the families of those whose lives have been lost in the floodwaters.

It made me very proud in the last few weeks to hear the stories about people in North Queensland who had been so badly affected by the floods whose first thoughts were for those people who had suffered in the bushfires in Victoria. The stories that we heard, about people sloshing through floodwaters in places like Ingham to actually hold fundraisers to raise money and to donate goods to people recovering from the bushfires in Victoria, were a real testament to the spirit and the enormous heart of the people of North Queensland. I am very proud of my fellow Queenslanders when I hear those things.

But now it is time that we, here, must share their hurt and loss, and pledge ourselves to assist in all ways that we can to help them with the work of recovery and rebuilding what has been left by the floodwaters. We will be there for the long haul, and we hope that we can just get some sunshine so that we can get on with that job.

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