Gary Gray (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service and Integrity) Share this | Hansard source

It is a solemn thing to speak on this condolence motion knowing as we do that over 100 people have died due to severe weather events during the course of this summer. The weather events that have severely affected Australia this summer have taken lives and damaged homes, businesses and infrastructure. In the past 2½ months, as I said, more than 100 people have died as a result of these severe weather conditions.

I feel for those families that have been affected by the severity of the floods and fires this summer and express my deepest sympathies and those of my constituents to those families mourning the death of loved ones. The extreme weather conditions have affected communities in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and my home state of Western Australia, where we had floods at Christmas and horrific fires this week. As the member for Durack reminded us, the fire in Perth’s south-east destroyed more than 70 homes on Monday and Tuesday this week. Queensland communities—Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley—are by magnitude the worst affected Australian communities.

People living in Carnarvon, the Gascoygne region and the south-eastern suburbs of Perth have been severely affected by flooding and fires too. Over the Christmas period, Carnarvon experienced some of the worst flooding in 50 years. In the second week of January, the Gascoygne River again reached peak—two floods in three weeks. Carnarvon is a coastal community located at the mouth of the Gascoyne River some 900 kilometres north of Perth. As the member for Durack said, it is a small community of some 6,000 residents. In addition to its mining, tourism and fishing industries, Carnarvon is a centre of horticultural production in WA. Its plantations grow and produce on average $90 million worth of produce per year—that is 60 per cent of Perth’s winter vegetables.

In the week before Christmas, the people of Carnarvon were preparing for and then experiencing the impact of a monsoonal low that delivered heavy rainfall in the Gascoyne River catchment. This was the very same low that passed over Christmas Island days earlier, contributing to the sea conditions that took the lives of up to 50 people on 15 December, when SIEV221 broke up at Flying Fish Cove. The low continued to move south and on 17 December Carnarvon Airport recorded over eight inches, or over 207 millimetres, of rain within a 24-hour period. That is more than an entire year’s rainfall in one day. The Gascoyne River rose to its highest levels on record.

The human impact of the flood was seen at Carnarvon Civic Centre, which was converted into an emergency accommodation facility providing temporary accommodation to more than 150 residents. The town’s reinforced levees prevented the combination of tidal forces and the overflowing Gascoyne River from swamping Carnarvon’s town centre. This levee was built under the guidance of one of the great contributors to WA public life, Councillor Wilson Tuckey, who served 40 years ago as president of the Shire of Carnarvon and then as the federal member for O’Connor.

Wilson’s levee held, but unprotected homes, businesses, plantations and pastoral stations surrounding the town were inundated. Homes were washed away, businesses were destroyed and millions of dollars worth of valuable crops and livestock were lost. The damage bill is yet to be finalised, but initial estimates are in the order of $100 million. During the flood, the State Emergency Service and Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia volunteers received 278 calls for assistance. I would particularly like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication that FESA and SES volunteers demonstrated as they responded to the needs of local residents.

When communities are affected by natural disasters, one of the most important things they need is information on what is happening and what they should do in response to events and threats. The priority that FESA, the SES, the Bureau of Meteorology and Main Roads placed on putting out information is to be commended. Equally, the time, dedication and effort taken by our broadcasters, particularly the local ABC, to cover the flood and relay vital information deserve to be recognised.

It will take time to rebuild, but Carnarvon will recover just as it has done before. Its relationship with the Gascoyne River and its location on a flood plain mean that the region has a long history of flooding. I recently travelled to Carnarvon and met growers who had been affected by the flood, some of whom, in addition to losing most of their crop, had lost equipment, furnishings and even homes. I was struck by their selflessness. Their main concern was not for themselves or their businesses but for what they could do to help rebuild their community. I managed to catch up with a local mango grower, Eddie Smith. Eddie’s plantation, Calypso Plantation, is located in one of the worst hit areas of Carnarvon. Not only did Eddie lose most of his mango crop, but his home was so badly affected that it is likely he will have to rebuild. When we met, Eddie was in a race against time to pick what remained of his mango crop before it went rotten. His packing shed had been running 10 hours a day. With his steadfast determination and the help of local residents and his wife, I have no doubt that he will succeed.

I would also like to praise the leadership shown by Shire President Dudley Maslen. The skilful way in which Dudley managed the shire’s response to the flood is to be commended. Dudley knew what to do, where and when, laying out a rapid response network of levees around the town. I was particularly pleased to hear Dudley and shire staff members praise the efforts of state and federal agencies who responded to the flood disaster, including Centrelink. The response to these situations is always at four levels: local government, state government, federal government and, of course, the community. So Carnarvon will not face the task of rebuilding alone. Just as in communities in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, the federal government stands with state and local governments through the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements to ensure that Carnarvon and other places get back on their feet. I commend this condolence motion to the House.

See this speech in context