Steve Gibbons (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is something of a cruel irony that we are debating this condolence motion almost exactly two years after parts of Victoria were devastated by bushfires. Last weekend’s unveiling of the Bendigo Bushfire Memorial was an occasion for those who had lost their homes and possessions to meet again with the emergency service workers who toiled so tirelessly on that hot summer’s day. It was a time to remember Mick Kane, the wheelchair-bound Long Gully resident who lost his life in the fire, and to remember that, for the survivors of tragic events such as this, recovery takes years, not weeks or months.

While not as dramatic or tragic as some of the scenes we have recently witnessed in Queensland, there has nevertheless been extensive flood damage in recent weeks across the electorate of Bendigo. The weather events causing the flooding have been truly extraordinary. For example, 228 millimetres of rain fell in the Central Goldfields Shire in four days during the week of 10 January. The floods in the township of Carisbrook exceeded the forecasted once-in-100-years level and were the highest in living memory. Macedon Ranges Shire received more than 230 millimetres of rain in some places. Some communities have been inundated more than once since last September. Our emergency services workers have once again shown their bravery and fortitude, sometimes in the face of very dangerous conditions. Fortunately, we have so far seen no human fatalities in my electorate, but the list of damage to properties and infrastructure makes appalling reading. There has been significant inundation of homes and commercial properties and the resulting disruption is likely to last for months, not weeks.

The township of Carisbrook was hit particularly hard, with more than 200 homes and businesses inundated and hundreds of residents evacuated to higher ground. Towns outside my electorate, such as Charlton, Rochester and Bridgewater, were also severely affected. I am sure their respective members will inform the House during the course of this condolence motion. Rural local councils that already have the burden of maintaining thousands of kilometres of country roads and ageing bridges will clearly be unable to meet the additional cost of repair and reconstruction from their own budgets. Complete sections of sealed roads have disappeared and hundreds of driveway culverts were simply washed away. There are gravel roads with scouring up to a metre deep and a kilometre long. By way of example, here are some numbers from just the Central Goldfields Shire: five kilometres of sealed road has been washed away; 200 kilometres of unsealed road needs repair; shoulders need resheeting on 600 kilometres of sealed roads and on 150 kilometres of unsealed roads; and 140 bridges and major culverts need debris removed and 90 require major repairs. In the City of Greater Bendigo, while final figures are not yet available, the council estimates that repairs to road infrastructure alone will cost more than $2 million. Many parks, reserves and botanic gardens that are picturesquely located at rivers have been badly hit, with major damage to vegetation and the complete loss of pathways and boardwalks. In Castlemaine’s historic botanic gardens there has been extensive damage to recently completed, and federally funded, refurbishment works. Some 10 or 12 houses in Gingle Street were inundated as a result of flash flooding. Almost every community in the Loddon Shire has been affected by riverine or flash flooding.

There has been widespread impact to rural properties, including loss of stock, loss of fencing and inundation of farm buildings and houses. In many cases, the assessment of fencing losses will be a significant task and will take some months to complete. Of course, the loss of boundary fences in particular severely inhibits the operation of a farm. This is an urgent issue facing the agricultural sector in Central Victoria. As I said, although we have seen no loss of human life, stock losses have been significant. One farmer in Loddon Shire reported the loss of 800 sheep and another reported the loss of in excess of 1,000 sheep. These losses will not cease with the receding floodwaters. Stressed animals are more vulnerable and likely to succumb to illness and there is an increased risk of flystrike on wet sheep in warm weather. Indeed, Loddon Shire Council tells me that sheep losses from flystrike could exceed those lost in the floods.

While the grain harvest was almost completed in many parts of my electorate, there are estimates that about 30 per cent may be lost due to flooding, which will represent a significant loss to the agricultural community. A large number of public buildings, some with significant heritage value, have suffered inundation. Recreation facilities have been badly affected in some shires, including sporting pavilions in Newstead and Castlemaine, and swimming pools have been inundated. Kyneton’s new sports and aquatic centre was under water, as were several bowling greens across the electorate. Public caravan parks are often located alongside waterways or in low-lying areas, and many cabins and caravans have been inundated, severely damaged or simply washed away. In some cases, park infrastructure has also suffered damage that will take a long time to repair.

On a more positive note, I must commend the extraordinary outburst of volunteer support to help communities clean up. Donations of goods and services have been pouring into the area. Recovery centres are now replacing relief centres that were established in towns across the electorate. However, the widespread nature of the flooding across Northern and Central Victoria has put a significant strain on the resources of government agencies, and in some locations it is proving difficult to get the required information to residents. As we saw in the aftermath of the Victorian bushfires, recovery from major disasters can take years rather than months, and the emotional and psychological effects can often continue well after rebuilding is complete. It is important that support services are available as the recovery effort continues.

Although we have our own challenges in Victoria, at this time we naturally offer our condolences to those who have lost loved ones in Queensland. Indeed, I commend the member for Wright for his very powerful and deeply moving contribution earlier today. We must not forget those who escaped with their lives but lost their homes and livelihoods. Houses can be rebuilt and furniture, televisions, carpets and curtains can all be replaced. Even important documents such as passports and drivers licences can be reissued. Whether a house or a caravan is owned or rented, it is more than just a dwelling; it is a home. When we lose a home and precious mementoes, we lose a part of ourselves. Photographs, old school reports, letters, childhood toys and family heirlooms are all part of who we are. The scars of losing them can run very deep indeed. Our thoughts are with those who have survived this ordeal but lost their homes and precious possessions. We will continue to think of them as they go about the often slow process of recovery.

While the focus of today’s debate is on the victims of the floods, I want to take this opportunity to make a more general point about the way we deal with extreme weather events in this country. We have known that Australia is prone to extremes of weather since long before Dorothea Mackellar penned her famous lines. Modern science now gives us much greater warnings about cyclones, storms and droughts so that we can no longer regard them as unexpected events. In recent years, governments of all persuasions and at all levels have undertaken considerable effort to improve emergency response and recovery capabilities in Australia. This has involved investment in training and resources for our emergency services organisations, as well as improvements in emergency and recovery planning. These investments often resulted from lessons learnt from previous disasters, and great progress has been made. I think there can be no doubt that we are better placed to respond to natural disasters today than we have ever been.

But one area in which we, as a nation, have made very little progress is in how we deal with the financial risks involved in these events. There is virtually no part of the community that is not exposed to financial loss from extreme weather events. Homeowners and businesses, landlords and tenants, governments and the private sector are all exposed to the cost of damage and replacement of assets for which they are responsible. The public sector’s risk exposure is significant not only though the billions of dollars of public infrastructure it owns on behalf of taxpayers but also through the relief programs it offers to disaster victims. Yet the pattern in the aftermath of natural disasters is depressingly repetitive with people not insured, or misunderstanding the terms of their insurance policies; with governments pressuring insurance companies to be generous in their payouts; and disaster victims left to argue about the fine print of policies through their lawyers.

And then there is the political point-scoring over how the recovery effort should be funded. Surely, as one of the most developed economies we can do better than this. It is in our own interests to do better than this because we are so exposed to the economic impact of bushfires, cyclones, storms, drought and flood. All these events are expected to increase in frequency and intensity due to climate change, whatever the cause of that change may be. We are vulnerable to rising sea levels and coastal inundation and erosion which are also expected to occur as a result of climate change. Between 1970 and 2006, 37 of the 40 largest losses from catastrophic events around the world have been weather related. In Australia, 19 out of the 20 largest losses since 1967 have been weather related. The largest was the 1989 Newcastle earthquake, although it appears that may now be exceeded by the Queensland floods. Our immediate focus must be on the recovery from the recent floods. But as soon as those processes are under control we, as a nation, need to have a good hard think about the risk exposure of our public and private sectors to the catastrophic weather related events that will continue to occur in the future.

An inquiry is needed, involving all levels of government and the private sector, to recommend an appropriate mix of private sector insurance and public sector funding to provide for the cost of future disasters. This is a serious issue and it requires the participation of serious people to find a solution that is in the country’s national interest. We cannot afford the distraction of political point-scoring on this, and I think the community will expect its elected representatives to take a bipartisan approach in finding a better way forward.

I would just like to close by reiterating my condolences to those affected by the recent events in Queensland and Victoria and encourage all members of the community to continue offering their support throughout the difficult weeks and months that lie ahead. I would also particularly like to offer my condolences to those affected by the cyclone and by the fires in WA. I know I speak on behalf of all of the residents of Central Victoria in hoping that the people affected can get through those events and rebuild their lives knowing that we are all thinking of them.

See this speech in context