Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Blair for his question. Both the member for Blair and the member for Oxley, along with a number of members on the other side of the House, have been very involved in raising with me the impacts on their communities of disasters, whether it was Black Saturday, the Queensland floods, Cyclone Yasi or floods in the last season. There are many of these events, unfortunately, that occur, and we are coming into another season now where Australians need to make sure that they are prepared for them.

People are probably aware that the Commonwealth contributes a significant amount of money to supporting communities in such times of trouble. In the course of the year 2011-12, the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements provided approximately $3 billion to affected communities.

When disaster strikes, people expect that communities will pull together. The member for Blair asked the question. I went to his local SES and worked with and met a number of people who are volunteer firefighters, who are involved in all sorts of assistance to the community. It is why we read with, frankly, some large shock that more than half of Queensland's Rural Fire Service, their uniformed officers, are being sacked as a result of cuts by the Queensland government—more than half.

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