Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Blair for his question. It was indeed a privilege to visit Queensland after the floods. As he said, I did go up about 10 days after the floods in Brisbane, Ipswich and the Lockyer Valley. Seeing the devastation firsthand was quite shocking, and it had a profound effect on me as an individual. I certainly know it had an effect on the local members who were dealing with it on the ground, ensuring that their local communities got the support they needed. I put on record the tenacity of the member for Blair in terms of his contact with government. Many members whose constituencies were flood-affected contacted ministers about the needs of the local community so that we could respond. I was pleased on my first visit to announce an additional $1 million of emergency relief for flood affected areas of Queensland. That money was out on the ground really quickly and was used before 30 June.

The member for Blair asks me about particular measures in this year's budget, and I am pleased to say that in April, on my second visit to Queensland, I again visited the member for Blair's electorate and we were able to announce just over $15 million of funding for 18 months at current levels for emergency relief and Commonwealth financial counselling in flood affected Queensland and flood affected areas of New South Wales and Victoria. It was really important, from talking to local service providers on the ground, that they had certainty early on, as early as April when we made the announcement, so that they knew that, come 1 July, the GFC additional funding that we had there would continue at those levels for the next 18 months, and would continue to provide local services in those communities. We have also become aware of some additional needs and we have been able to provide some additional support to local organisations on a case-by-case basis. We have certainly provided some additional support to Playgroup Queensland to assist vulnerable families in those areas with practical measures like time with their children with new toys and in a new environment to help replace what was lost in the floods.

We know that a lot of service providers themselves suffered. As the member for Blair said, the Salvation Army had their own hall flooded and we were able to get support on the ground really quickly. I also want to acknowledge the contribution of the Queensland government. We were working with them very closely to provide support early on and to see what the two governments could do, working together, to get that support on the ground in those flood affected areas. I was able to meet with the Queensland minister on my first visit and have those discussions very frankly. We were able to communicate and get things going on the ground really early on. I am pleased to hear that that has made a difference. Certainly that funding is there for the 18 months at current levels for all of those flood affected areas of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

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