George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Preparations for Tropical Cyclone Debbie got into full swing in the days before it crossed the coast in my electorate of Dawson, which was directly hit by the cyclone. North Queensland is no stranger to cyclones, and many of the locals knew that they would be in for a tough, long week as it approached.

Radio announcers prepared themselves for days on air, because they are often the only means of communication with the outside world on what the cyclone is doing once the power and the telecommunications go out. Five announcers stayed on rotation at 4MK and Star FM, with Dave Perkins, Barry Hamilton, Rob Kidd, Emilie-Jain Palmer and Scott Linden getting very little sleep. At Triple M it was Jay and Dave, Ange and Joel, and Johnno and Miki manning the fort. Some veterans of quite a few cyclones—Meecham Philpott at Tropical North, with Tegan Philpott, Cathy Border and Loretta Ryan—also did a fantastic job.

Newspapers these days have the online front of 24-hour news coverage. We had the Daily Mercury, the Mackay newspaper. The team there—Campbell Gellie, Jacob Miley and Tara Cassidy—were pumping out community alerts all through that cyclone period. In the Whitsundays itself, at the Whitsunday Times and the Whitsunday Coast Guardian, both pre and post the cyclone we had Sharon Smallwood and her great team of reporters on the ground alerting people. That communication is vital for any community that is facing a natural disaster like this.

Doctors and nurses got themselves ready. I heard of one nurse who left her home at the beach to stay in town because she knew she would be needed at the hospital. Another nurse stayed with an elderly patient who was discharged from hospital before the cyclone, because she knew that patient would be scared and alone if the storm hit.

Before the cyclone had crossed, the Australian Army was already on its way to the affected area, and the day after the crossing I met with the State Recovery Coordinator, Brigadier Chris Field, and his team, who were on the streets delivering fresh water to people who had no water and no services. I have to say there was this really special group of volunteers on the ground. Their name is Team Rubicon, and they are made up predominantly of ex-service men and women, people who have served this country. They have done enough for this country, yet they are back home, in civilian life now, serving the country again in times of natural disaster.

Locally there was the Whitsundays volunteer group, led by Jo Sweeney and Andrew Sloane and so many others—hundreds of people who got together, helping out their mates. And the Lions Clubs all joined together to feed volunteers and to feed locals. The owner of a restaurant there went out of his way to feed something like 4,000 people across two days. The same thing happened on Hamilton Island, where the Oatley family went out of their way to feed everyone. I met with SES volunteers from the local region, from state and interstate, and Red Cross volunteers—people out there lending a hand to families whose homes were destroyed or damaged and were cleaning debris from yards and streets. In the days after the cyclone's crossing, the whole region was actually littered with the trucks of energy workers, many of them stationed at the Mackay showgrounds or up in the Burdekin. Teams from Ergon and Energex worked for a fortnight to bring the power back online. It was extremely quick, ahead of schedule, right across the Whitsundays and the Mackay region.

Our regions owe a great deal of gratitude to the many emergency service workers, health workers and volunteers for their hard work and lack of sleep during that ordeal. Many businesses and dedicated staff in the Whitsundays did an amazing job to get the region back to normal. We now have visitors from around the world coming once again to enjoy the beautiful Whitsundays. Many of them would have no idea that the cyclone had crossed there less than two months ago. While some island resorts have work to do and a few mainland businesses are still to get back on their feet, the speedy recovery to date should be applauded.

In the days after the cyclone there were many people stepping up to the plate, and I would love to acknowledge them all. But what I would say is that at the time of that natural disaster the people of Mackay and the Whitsundays showed their true mettle.

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