Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Minister for Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Leichhardt for his question, and I know he has concerns about the impacts of Tropical Cyclone Nora on isolated communities in his electorate. In the last two weeks we've seen nature throw her worst at many communities, here in Australia, at either end of the country. In the north we've seen two category 2 cyclones and in the south we've seen a number of communities ravaged by bushfires and floods in northern New South Wales. We know that the impact on many communities has been devastating. We saw in the north, from the cyclones, power damage and downed trees on an enormous scale. In the south, we saw destroyed homes, farms and businesses and a thousand livestock, dairy cattle, lost around the Cobden region.

Yesterday and last week the Prime Minister and I were able to visit Tathra, and Cobden, in south-western Victoria, to talk to impacted communities. We saw firsthand the devastation caused but we also saw resilience, courage and selflessness. We saw communities rallying together to respond and to recover from incredible hardship. Fortunately, very fortunately, there has been no loss of life despite the devastating impacts. We know from experience that the most challenging time for these communities will be the coming days, weeks, months and, in some cases, years as they recover from these disasters.

A huge thanks to the volunteers and the professional workers who provided fire and emergency services, and thanks to independent organisations—like BlazeAid, which right now is doing an amazing job in Wannon to get farmers and their businesses back on their feet. It is extraordinary work from those sorts of organisations. We thank also the ADF, because the ADF have provided over a thousand people for clean-up services in the Darwin area—alongside 50 US marines, who have made an extraordinary contribution as well.

State and territory governments have primary responsibility for responding to natural disasters, but we provide support, very significant support, under the NDRRA. This is a critical role of the government and we have contributed over $11 billion for relief and recovery from natural disasters in the last decade. We expect these areas to receive support under that program as well.

Our thoughts and prayers remain with the farmers, the families and the businesspeople impacted. I commend the resilience of these communities in the face of great hardship.

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