Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Obviously I endorse what the federal government and all levels of government are doing. I also want to extend a note of gratitude to the locals we met, and just to say to those who might be listening in North Queensland, or those who know people in North Queensland who have been through this cyclone, that we get that you will feel a slump and that a lot of people are actually putting on the best face possible. You realise that when you talk to the small business people who are cleaning out their stores and have had their stock damaged and you talk to people who might be professionals but they also have a farm on the side and have to work out the losses to their crops and stock. We understand that for you this is not a recovery of hours and days—and the cameras move on and the show moves on—but that, in fact, there will be a lot of paperwork and lot of sheer hard work. I think it will be the first time in recorded history that the schoolkids at home in Queensland right now will be happy to go back to school so that they do not have to do all the cleaning of their houses with their parents.

Nonetheless, it is a serious matter and we understand that, for the people affected, recovery takes a long time. If people are doing it hard, not just financially but also in the sense of how you put things back together again, and it seems such a mountain of work, I would encourage them to put their hand up and ask for a bit of help from their friends—and if people there see them doing it hard please ask if you can help.

The final comment I would like to make is that Australians can vote with their feet to support these people by taking a holiday in the region in the coming months. It is a beautiful patch of Australia, and we should all be getting behind them. Maybe a bit of domestic tourism in the Whitsundays would go a long way to helping the region.

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