Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to contribute to the Prime Minister’s condolence motion on this summer’s natural disasters and in particular the recent flooding in my home state of Queensland. It is fair to say that rarely has the Brisbane River risen so quickly and with so much force and fury. Sadly, in the weeks just gone, this was another occasion. In my electorate of Ryan people’s homes, businesses, cars, personal belongings and treasured possessions have, in so many cases, been ruined with little trace that they ever existed. People are devastated and Queensland is a state that will never be the same. So many thousands in my electorate were affected by the flood in some way or another. I want to put on record my deepest regret that so many in my electorate lost everything. Years and years of building a life and, in many cases, a home were wiped out as the Brisbane River unleashed beyond imagination. River water, dirty brown mud, rose and subsequently ran into streets, homes, garages, parks and businesses and, in some cases, destroyed everything in its path.

It is fair to say it was one of my community’s darkest hours and, indeed, darkest weeks in a very, very long time. People from all over the electorate were left wondering why. But what makes me so proud to be a Queenslander and Brisbane resident is that this disbelief was turned to determination very quickly. The courage and tenacity of Queenslanders was on display even before the water had reached its peak. The word ‘inspiring’ is often thrown around these days, but the response from the electorate of Ryan and from across Brisbane was truly inspiring. An international visitor from America commented to me how amazed he was to see the traffic jams going into Brisbane, after the floods, with volunteers rushing to help—not people rushing to escape the city.

My heart goes out to the Ryan residents who have had to go through this ordeal. If Ryan residents had not personally experienced these trying times, a family member had or they knew someone who had. Those who were lucky enough to escape the floodwaters went to the heart of the disaster and helped those who were less fortunate. People from near and far pitched in, every day. I am confident in saying that everyone in Ryan helped in some way.

I would like to take this opportunity to put on the record my appreciation and admiration for Brisbane Lord Mayor, Campbell Newman. The Lord Mayor’s leadership throughout this challenging experience has been the reason Brisbane stayed so strong. Campbell chaired the local disaster management group and coordinated the flood relief and recovery process. As you would appreciate, this could not have been an easy task. The Lord Mayor’s commitment to Brisbane and determination to see our city continue to prosper could never be doubted before the flood, and certainly not after. On behalf of the people of Ryan I would like to thank the Lord Mayor and Brisbane City Council for the way in which the aftermath of the flood was handled and for the amount of communication there was between the council and the community. The importance of this communication can never be overlooked, and it certainly was not under the Lord Mayor’s watch.

As residents who lived through the 1974 flood commented, on the clean-up of Brisbane, what took three months to achieve in 1974 was achieved in three days in 2011. This, in no small way, was due to the wonderful contribution made by the men and women of our Australian defence forces. Listening to the condolence messages today I have been struck by how lucky we are, as a country. How many places in the world can say their people rejoice when they see columns of their military forces rolling into their towns? How many countries have a history which makes it far more likely that the people would hide in fear at the sound of armed vehicles rumbling towards them, while in Australia we automatically say, ‘Thank God, the army is here’? This was certainly the case in Ryan and around the state of Queensland.

Moving away from my electorate of Ryan for a moment, I want to also say a few words about my experience in Emerald, in the electorate of the member for Flynn, Mr Ken O’Dowd. Just after Christmas Day I was activated by the Queensland Red Cross as a disaster volunteer to go to Emerald. By the time we got to Emerald Airport we had to be helicoptered in to the rapidly reducing town centre, which became known as ‘Emerald island’. This was a community virtually cut off from the rest of the state and a community torn apart by floodwaters and devastated by nature, but it was a community determined to survive. But my time in Emerald was as inspirational as it was heartbreaking. The strength of the community and determination of Emerald volunteers, like Sue and Ian Johnson, inspired me and made me even prouder to be a Queenslander, whilst the looks of despair and disbelief on people’s faces coming into the Red Cross centre broke my heart. The people of Emerald and all affected Queenslanders knew that the Red Cross was working for them and their families, day and night. Its volunteers—from all over Australia—cared for people’s safety and wellbeing enormously. The Red Cross has a proud history of supporting communities and people in need and this was once again on show in Emerald, and I was very proud to be a part of the Red Cross team.

I also want to make mention of the mayor of Emerald, Mr Peter Maguire, who led by example throughout the ordeal in Emerald. The people of Emerald benefited not only from Red Cross but also from so many other outreach services working together to maximise our effort: the Salvation Army, Anglicare, Lifeline, QFRS and SES, to name just a few. As my shift in Emerald came to an end, it was incredibly heartening to welcome the next wave of emergency leaders—who included Queensland police officers Richard Symes and Don Amos, from my local Indooroopilly police station in Ryan.

Returning to my electorate of Ryan, community groups across the electorate all pitched in and worked together to help those in need. So many volunteers and community groups assisted in the recovery and clean-up—certainly too many to name. But I would like to take the time to recognise the work and effort of some of our local community organisations who went above and beyond the call during these heartbreaking times: the Holy Family Church and parish at Indooroopilly; the Lions Club of Brisbane Inner West; the Mandalay Progress Association; the Chinese Christian Church at State Lucia; the University of Queensland’s student union; the Moggill Uniting Church, the Rotary Club of Karana Downs and Mount Crosby; the Bellbowrie Community Association; the Moggill-Mount Crosby Lions; the Kenmore Rotary Club, which assisted greatly in the evacuation of the Riverview retirement village; the Mount Crosby school; the Moggill-Mount Crosby SES; the Kenmore Uniting Church; the St Vincent de Paul branch of Our Lady of the Rosary; the Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church at Kenmore; the Rotary Club of West Brisbane; and the Salvation Army at Toowong.

In addition to the many community groups in my electorate who helped in so many ways I would like to place on record my appreciation to our elected representatives in Ryan, who were constantly out and about and helping in every way they could, and to Brisbane city councillors Julian Simmonds, Margaret deWit, Geraldine Knapp and Peter Matic. A special mention should also be made to the state members Dr Bruce Flegg, the member for Moggill, and Scott Emerson, the member for Indooroopilly, for their dedication to their local communities.

I would also like to make special mention of the University of Queensland’s student union, who, after seeing firsthand the devastation that had been caused to the highly student-populated suburb of St Lucia, took it upon themselves to contribute to the clean-up of the area. I believe their efforts are best done justice through the words of Ben Riley, a long-time student leader of the University of Queensland Union:

We decided to open the stall on Saturday morning at 9am with 300 sausages and 50 bottles of water. As the person who co-ordinated where the volunteers were to go I was ambitiously expecting to get 20 volunteers for the day. However, I knew we were going to be in for a big day when after only four hours our online video had been shared by over 250 people and viewed by several thousand. I never expected that by the time I was setting up the stall at 8.30 am thirty people were already waiting on the side of the road ready to help. By 10am we were completely out of sausages and water and the place was a hive of activity. As time went by complete strangers were turning up to donate food and drinks.

By the end of the day we had over 200 volunteers register directly with us, hundreds more from Volunteering Queensland, three bus loads of volunteers from the Brisbane City Council, and army workers. It was also very impressive to see that many of the people who lent a hand were from a vast array of backgrounds including UQ clubs and societies, colleges, a variety of international groups, the Young LNP, churches, sporting clubs, and many others who banded together through their own networks and helped out. After only expecting to help out a few houses in the area, we ended up becoming the central organising body for the St Lucia area. Given the overwhelming response we received (and the vast amount of work still required) we decided we had no choice but to open up again the next day.

My family and I and some of my staff, along with Senator Russell Trood, spent all of Saturday and Sunday as part of the University of Queensland Union effort, alongside volunteers from all parts of South-East Queensland. The individual stories of loss and devastation were heartbreaking, including that of my own staff member Emma Yabsley, who, rather than save her own possessions, instead helped other residents escape the rapidly rising water from a block of units where she lived. These efforts by the University of Queensland Union saw St Lucia back on its feet far sooner than would otherwise have occurred, and they were repeated by many different volunteer groups across the electorate. In addition to their efforts on the ground, the University of Queensland continues to provide support and relief for flood affected students, which is of particular relief to international students, who on top of having to overcome language and cultural barriers in the wake of the flood itself are, in most cases, not entitled to any government assistance. I commend the work of the University of Queensland Union and see it as a shining example of the mateship and hard work that the youth of today are so often accused of lacking.

Ryan responded to the call. We responded as a community and as a family. To those thousands of volunteers who put aside everything to help their neighbours, friends and total strangers, I say a big thank you. As I drove and walked around Ryan with state member Scott Emerson on what was a nice summer’s day just hours before the Brisbane River was expected to peak, in some places the water was rising as fast as we were walking. People were in their neighbours’ homes, streets and garages helping to sandbag, to move furniture and evacuate elderly residents. The sense of community was literally breathtaking and it will never be forgotten.

We, of course, had our fair share of daunting moments throughout the electorate, with elderly residents in nursing homes evacuated in police boats. Many of our local residents were stranded without power, cut off from family and friends and, in some cases, cut off from food and drink. It was a trying time but, like any family, we stood by each other not just in the good times but also in the bad. It makes me so proud to be a representative in this parliament for the electorate of Ryan—an electorate where your neighbours are your friends and your friends’ friends are your neighbours. It really is a special place to live, work and raise a family, and I commit myself in this place to making sure it always remains that way.

On a sombre note, I want to send the thoughts and prayers of my family, my staff and the people of Ryan to those families who lost not only their homes, their possessions and their livelihoods but also in some cases their loved ones. Our hearts go out to my colleagues—in particular the member for Wright, Scott Buchholz; the member for Groom, Ian Macfarlane; and other members in this place who have had constituents lose their lives. These communities will never be the same and they will never forget those who lost their lives. They died in a devastating tragedy. It was unprecedented and unexpected. But these men, women and children will be remembered in the highest regard. Throughout the flood, I spoke with each of my colleagues that I just mentioned, and they too were devastated for their communities and for the people in their electorates who had died or who had lost everything. I know these members not just as colleagues but as friends, and I want to place on record how much I admire them for how they have led their communities through this horrific time.

I also want to make mention of my colleague and Ryan neighbour the member for Oxley. I spoke to the member for Oxley, Mr Ripoll, during the floods, as his community had been devastated, along with his electorate office. The Bellbowrie community in Ryan, although affected themselves by flood, wanted to help the residents of Goodna. The rebuilding stage will not be easy for any community no matter which electorate they are in, but as a community no task is ever too great, and the 2011 floods have proven this over and over.

Working around the electorate in the aftermath of this disaster I saw the pain and devastation in my constituents’ eyes. I heard the heartbreaking stories of a mother who had lost her baby’s first day of walking photos; of a young child who lost not only their favourite toy but all their toys; of a newlywed who lost their precious wedding day photos; and of a widow who lost the home she had shared with her loved one for 40 years or more. The stories could go on, and they are not necessarily less painful or easier to recall, but they are just some that reflect the magnitude of the loss in Ryan and, indeed, around the whole of Queensland. Whilst thousands of my constituents lost their homes, precious possessions and memories, we did not have any loss of life like some of my colleagues. To the families, friends and loved ones of the 23 Queenslanders who lost their lives, I say: the hearts and thoughts of every Queenslander are with you.

In conclusion, I want to thank my colleagues who have come to Ryan in recent times to assist me and our community with the flood recovery and massive clean-up effort. The Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, joined me and the member for Brisbane, Teresa Gambaro. Thank you, Tony, for your support, assistance and presence in Ryan. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Julie Bishop, joined me and the Queensland Leader of the Opposition, John-Paul Langbroek, and assisted with evacuations; the member for North Sydney, Joe Hockey, met with local residents and the members of the Indooroopilly Canoe Club, who had lost everything; the member for Wentworth, Malcolm Turnbull, met with local people in the electorate who are struggling to put their lives back together; and the member for Longman, Wyatt Roy, joined me for a day in reaching out to those still coming to terms with their losses. So many of my coalition colleagues have joined me in the electorate during these trying times, and even more have contacted me and my staff offering assistance and support. Their presence and their friendship have been a blessing. I especially note those Brisbane colleagues such as my friend Teresa Gambaro, who offered help to me and my staff in any way, particularly when my Chapel Hill office was evacuated.

The people of Ryan are strong and proud people. We stand up for each other and look out for each other. The floods tested the strength of our community, but of course the community overcame whatever was thrown our way. The floods across Queensland affected people’s homes, possessions, businesses and lives in so many ways. Lives were lost and communities torn apart. The rebuilding process is well under way. Yes, there is more work to be done, but the people of Ryan and Queensland, as everywhere, have proven no challenge is too great. However, this experience will never be forgotten. The determination of locals to get their lives back on track has never been stronger.

In the weeks just gone, Australians have looked to our state of Queensland. Sadly, it is a state that will never be the same. The memories of this terrible and devastating ordeal will stay with many for a very long time, but we will come back stronger than before because nothing could ever diminish that fighting Queensland spirit. My heart and my thoughts go to all those in my electorate and Queensland who were affected.

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