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

A storm has been raging in North Queensland as a follow-on to Cyclone Debbie, the Category 4 cyclone which hit the Whitsundays on 28 March—not a category 4 storm but a category D dilemma about the funding provided by the federal government under the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements. The Queensland Labor government lodged an application for $110 million from the federal government, but the decision was made to provide $29 million. The mayors in my region, along with the wider community, are angry. Having just experienced the effects of a major cyclone, and then hearing of a knock-back on a large proportion of recovery funding, they feel like they have been dealt a double blow. And I have to say that I agree with them.

Regardless of who did what in terms of applications and meeting the guidelines, key areas of my electorate need and deserve extra assistance. For this reason, a couple of weeks ago I arranged a teleconference between Mackay mayor Greg Williamson, Whitsundays mayor Andrew Willcox and the Minister for Justice, Michael Keenan, who oversees the NDRRA for the Commonwealth. We had a frank and fearless discussion, the result of which will be a review of that funding decision. The minister has written to the Queensland government to seek further information. I hope the state government responds as soon as possible so that we can work for a fairer outcome for the people of the Whitsundays and Mackay.

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