Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Hansard source

I rise, as many others have and very appropriately, to convey my condolences and that of the 140,000 people in my electorate to all of those who have been affected so badly by the floods and the cyclones—and the bushfires, for that matter—around this country over the last few months. Very fortunately, I represent an urban electorate on the bay in Melbourne. We have been removed from these events, although we got a small taste recently when the tail ends of two of the cyclones that had moved through Australia resulted in unusual and very strong rains. That saw flooding in some streets in my electorate, including near my house, and gave us some sort of insight as to how quickly these things can happen. It did not result in any significant damage but some inconvenience to some families in my electorate.

My electorate, like so many others, has in some respects being struck dumb by the extent of damage and destruction that has been wreaked by the floods and the cyclones throughout so many parts of Australia, including my home state of Victoria. Many people have given very generously to ensure that in some way they can play their part in the reconstruction and give the assistance that will be needed over a long period of time. From the floods and cyclones in the north to the floods in the south and the fires and floods in the west, these disasters have resulted in very far-reaching effects and have impacted families and businesses. The geographic reach of the disasters has been wide. It has also affected Tasmania. In nearly every corner of Australia we have seen the impacts of these natural disasters. I offer sincere condolences to all of those affected in so many places and in so many ways but particularly to the families of those who lost their lives or have been seriously injured in the various floods and Cyclone Yasi.

I also wish to express my enormous admiration and that of the people that I represent for the many thousands of volunteers and the many millions of Australians who have so generously donated. It has been a very uplifting experience that in the middle of such devastation we have seen the best of Australians.

Debate interrupted.

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