Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to share the sentiments of the member for Page. The fact that the distance between the impacted electorates spans some 1,400 kilometres speaks to the extraordinary breadth of Cyclone Debbie.

I watched closely what happened in Lismore and share my condolences for the lives lost when the river peaked. I have also been looking at Lismore and the failed levy bank as media pressure rises for a similar construction in my own electorate of Rockhampton. In the weeks following the cyclone I was able to tour through the electorate to see the devastation firsthand. Hearing the stories of people, there were a lot of 'what ifs' that made me truly appreciate how lucky we were not to lose more lives.

There was one family in particular, canefarmers in the Pioneer Valley. Water had never risen into their yard before. The house was destroyed, the young family placed on kitchen benches and the kitchen table. They phoned triple 0 numerous times. Eventually, at 3 am came the sound of the rescue helicopter to save them. But it did not end there. The parents were harnessed out and the children were placed in body bags because they were so young. That image is always in their mother's mind, seeing her children rescued in that way.

It is thanks to the efforts of the community members, the SES, Ergon and government bodies, including local councils, that the 'what ifs' did not become 'if onlys'. The stories of bravery and resilience across Capricornia will become legend. In Eton, the volunteer fire service became a makeshift emergency evacuation centre. The men and women who volunteer their time got in and assisted the SES on the ground.

John Muscat, a local canegrower and volunteer, got out in his tractor to assist isolated residents. Mr Muscat even assisted a woman in labour, to get her to safety. I do not think they will be calling the healthy newborn 'Debbie', but they will be forever grateful to John for his selflessness.

The blow of Cyclone Debbie and the incredible rain event that followed could not be prevented, but the swift recovery ensured that the impact on lives and livelihoods was minimised. I would particularly like to commend the Ergon and SES crews. I do not think many places in the world could have restored electricity to such a large area in such a short time frame. The SES crews were working in extremely challenging conditions without access to GPS and without local knowledge. I fervently believe this speaks to the need to have state agencies working closely with locals. I also applaud the efforts of every level of government and the swift action taken by the Prime Minister to deploy the Australian Defence Force. These forces proved essential during Cyclone Debbie, and the speed of deployment to this event made recovery that much easier for people on the ground. We have had some practice, and we are getting very good at responding to extreme weather events.

The people of Central Queensland are resilient, and at times like these the best of us shines through. However, I do think it is important to highlight the comparisons between New South Wales and Queensland state governments during this event. I also wish to commend New South Wales on their professional handling of the extreme weather events. They showed utter professionalism between local, state and federal agencies to get in and get the clean-up done. Not for the first time, the Queensland state Labor government plays games with people's lives. After Cyclone Marcia, the state government created delays by not submitting the appropriate documentation to release cyclone assistance. At the time, they had not been in power for long, so this behaviour was understandable. However, more than two years on, they used the same tactic. They ran to the media to criticise the federal government for not releasing the funding, meanwhile failing to submit the appropriate assessments. In a much shorter time, New South Wales got in, made the assessments and activated the assistance without much fanfare. The Premier of Queensland had to be constantly asked to send in the assessments. A natural disaster is not the time to politicise; it is the time for everyone to band together and get on with the job of helping people get back on their feet. Fortunately, this has now been actioned, but these delays impacted everyday people wanting to get on with their lives, and it is simply not acceptable.

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