Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement) Share this | Hansard source

I support the remarks made by the member for Moreton and many others who have spoken on this condolence motion for the victims of natural disasters. Today is a time to reflect on the great destruction and loss caused to families, businesses and community groups within my electorate of Brisbane by the recent floods. I highlight the resilience and the goodwill displayed by the community during the crisis which brought that strength and that hope to so many people who were affected. A deep sense of sadness overcomes me and many Australians for the tragic loss of 23 lives. For their families, the loss cannot be measured in any words and that pain will be felt for many years to come.

On Tuesday, 11 January that water knew no boundaries and it inundated homes, schools, retail shops, restaurants, printing businesses and car repair shops alike. The hardest hit areas in my electorate included Albion, Bowen Hills, the CBD, Fortitude Valley, Milton, New Farm, Newstead, Rosalie and Tenerife, all of them wonderful areas through which the magnificent Brisbane River meanders. The river, which is enjoyed by many, decided to be an angry river on that particular day.

I have visited many businesses and homes in the affected areas to assist and talk to people whose lives were absolutely shattered and devastated by these floods. Many families—and the member for Moreton spoke of a case in his electorate—will probably never rebuild and some businesses will not reopen. My heart goes out to all of those members of our community during their time of need. In many cases, though, no help can be offered for a building which now needs to be demolished. But I found just showing up and talking to people was somehow a much appreciated gift and a very small gift that I could provide. The deeds that I witnessed and the stories that I heard as I walked around the electorate have embodied the true meaning of that wonderful community spirit, and I am really honoured to have had the privilege to work alongside my constituents as we re-establish a normal life.

Before the flood peaked, strangers helped strangers to move precious belongings to higher ground and to sandbag buildings. Within my electorate, Riverside Industrial Sands at Newstead opened up their doors and donated all of their sand, allowing residents to fill up their bags and to protect their property. I was there with my husband assisting many of the residents in that particular area and I was overcome by the number of elderly people trying to fill sandbags. I think an area that we need to look at in future when we plan for these events is flood assistance before the event. I commend them for their wonderful generosity. Strangers volunteered to do the backbreaking work of filling those sandbags for many of the residents. An Italian mother living in Albion noticed local businesses that were sandbagging and decided to deliver trays and trays of lasagne and salad to help complete strangers who could do with a break and some food. I have to tell you there were no strings attached to these acts. The woman announced, as she entered this magnificent wine wholesaler with the wonderful fragrant offering as I was visiting, that she did not even drink wine. There were incredible acts like that.

During the crisis, I volunteered at the evacuation centre at the RNA Showgrounds, serving food to those who were seeking refuge and assisting in the coordination of storeroom deliveries. I have to say that the generous nature of Brisbane businesses involved in the food business just overwhelmed me. We were running out of room in coldrooms to put milk, meat and dairy products, and it just kept coming. The flood did not discriminate within the centre, and it was filled with young families, couples—including older couples—and many students, particularly Chinese students who were studying in Brisbane; it was good to see the consul general of China, Mr Ren Gongping, at the centre offering assistance to many of the Chinese students who found themselves stranded in our great city. There were a number of visitors, and they were evacuated at the centre as well as Australians seeking shelter from the oncoming water. I want to pay tribute to the Salvation Army; to the RNA for generously providing those wonderful air-conditioned facilities; to the Red Cross; to Micah; to Lifeline; and to all of the agencies that helped in the evacuation centres.

Once the water receded, thousands of people rolled onto the streets to sweep away mud, to clean up rubbish and to dump rubbish in trucks. They were affectionately called in Brisbane the ‘mud army’. They worked in mateship, side by side. They were complete strangers; they were celebrities; they were young—the member for Moreton mentioned the young particularly, and I also want to commend how many young people I saw out there—and also they were old. They cleaned houses in Brunswick Street; they cleaned houses in Welsby Street. They helped businesses in Rosalie; they helped businesses in Milton. Whole groups of businesses decided to deploy their staff to many suburbs, and I really want to thank the business community of Brisbane for lending a hand in those particular areas. People came from as far away as New South Wales. They loaded up their utes with tools, they drove into unknown affected streets and they simply asked if they could help.

The day after the water receded I found the ruin that lay before me in Rosalie absolutely gut wrenching and heart wrenching. As I felt the tears come down my cheek, I thought to myself, ‘I’m here to comfort others, and it looks like they’re going to have to comfort me.’ But as I came to the first house and put on a stoic act, there was a man who was assessing the damage to his house and was sweeping the front area of his driveway. I think he saw me wiping my tears at my point, and he said: ‘Look, love. You’re here; that’s all that counts.’ I must say it heartened and strengthened me. At Rosalie, where street after street was inundated, I came across members of the Brisbane Broncos and other sporting teams helping residents clean up and using that almighty muscle power to help the community and also support that community that supports them throughout the year. So I wish to thank them enormously.

My family was not immune to the tragedy, with the street where my family home is located flooding. Although we were lucky that the water flooded only the property and did not reach the house, we have neighbours who were not so lucky. There was devastation in the CBD. There were whole sections of buildings damaged—Riverside Centre; Riparian Plaza. At the Stamford Plaza Brisbane Hotel in Edward Street, staff could not get into the hotel for 10 days because of the floodwaters, and I think they probably will have to rethink where they place their administration and central services in the future. In places like Eagle Street Pier, it was absolutely devastating to see a well-known seafood restaurant, Jellyfish, that had refitted at a cost of $2½ million now having to look at another refit of the same amount. I also talked to many restaurateurs, such as at Il Centro, who were affected by the floods.

I visited the Rocklea markets on the invitation of many of my constituents who are wholesalers there and who have wholesale sections. The losses there are estimated at $250 million, and it was heartbreaking. Many of those wholesalers are families, and the losses there cannot be measured. They will have significant work to rebuild the Rocklea markets. There is reduced capacity at the moment, utilising generators. They have limited coldroom capability, but they are back in business and their produce is starting to fill our shelves. I hope that we will continue to use local produce and not rely on imported goods. I am encouraging all residents and all Australians to buy local produce and to support local farmers and also to support some of those local businesses that have been devastated by the floods. We all need to buy local to build on that recovery process.

I am also saddened to see that Australia Post has announced that the Milton outlet, which was damaged by the flood, will not be reopened and that services will be moved. Following the closure of the Ashgrove outlet, this is a very disappointing cut to the community’s essential services. I have written to Minister Conroy. I think the decision is short-sighted, and I will continue to work with Australia Post and the minister to find a solution. But, sadly, as yet we have had no response from the minister’s office. I will continue to fight for those local residents in Milton who have already been devastated by the flood. This is a double whammy, and it will cause severe financial and time imposts on many constituents and many businesses.

I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the calls of support that I received from members opposite over the past few weeks. I want to thank Minister Tanya Plibersek for her calls. I want to also thank Minister Bill Shorten. During our discussions I suggested to Minister Plibersek that she locate, particularly, the community outreach in shopping centres, strip shopping centres and evacuation centres; I said that that would greatly assist my community of Brisbane. I am pleased to see that she did that; she took my advice and provided that great service to residents and small business to access support.

During this time also Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, the state emergency services, the police and the volunteer services must be commended for the information, the rescues, the evacuations, the support and the care that they provided for all residents in South-East Queensland. I also want to place on the record today my special thanks to Mike Swanston from ENERGEX. Mike, your constant phone calls and my constant phone calls to you helped me enormously, particularly the power updates, so that I could service my community and the needs of my constituents.

Special mention must also be given to the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Campbell Newman, for the strong leadership of the city that he displayed during the crisis. The SMS alert system implemented by Campbell Newman, along with the coordination of relief workers and volunteers, helped get our great city back in business really quickly. I want to also acknowledge the wonderful help that was given to me by Councillor David McLachlan, Councillor Peter Matic and Councillor Geraldine Knapp.

I wish to thank the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, for his visits during this terrible time. He visited me on two occasions, he met with business owners at Rosalie and other areas and he also came to the evacuation centre. I thank him for his leadership and I thank him for his compassion. His visit comforted so many people in the Brisbane electorate.

The events of recent weeks have stressed that we do live in a country of very volatile conditions which span drought, bushfire, flood and cyclone. The federal government really needs to look at permanent vision and solutions. While there was a great effort after the flood, I think that we can do more in future to prepare. I think that much of the energy of volunteers can be used in the preparation before a flood. These are some ideas that I will put to my party in the days ahead.

Furthermore, there is absolutely no excuse for insurance companies, who now have access to updated flood maps which will have accurate flood lines, not to provide the correct information and the proper cover to their customers buying insurance. Reports recently that insurance companies have not made payments to policyholders while they investigate how the water flooded the property are absolutely criminal when you hear of the suffering that people are going through. I met with Suncorp Insurance representatives this week, following the floods, and they confirmed to me that they had already made claim payments and that all policy fees were calculated on risk. We discussed many of those risk factors. There is absolutely no excuse for other companies not to have flood cover and not to provide surety for their customers.

Our community was devastated by a flood only a few short weeks ago. Yet, by the sheer determination of friends, neighbours, family and strangers, we started the long journey to rebuild our homes, our businesses and our community. I was humbled and strengthened by their many acts of kindness and, at this time more than any other, I am absolutely proud to represent the people of Brisbane in this House.

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