Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I commend you, Deputy Speaker Falinski, for your Red Cross badge. I rise to speak on indulgence in response to the Prime Minister's statement on the recent floods in South-East Queensland and northern New South Wales. The catastrophic floods that enveloped South-East Queensland and northern New South Wales in February and March have been described as one of Australia's worst-ever natural disasters. In Queensland alone, 13 lives were lost, and I send my sincere condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives. Twelve suburbs in my electorate of Moreton were inundated in late February. About 2,200 homes had water over their floorboards, numerous businesses have been destroyed or have had havoc wreaked upon them, families have lost precious possessions collected over a lifetime, and the trauma will linger for ages, coming back every time it rains hard, as it has again this week. When lows return many will feel low again.

My community has been through this before. There was the famous 1974 deluge, and then, in my time as an MP, the 2011 floods hit my community very hard. Sadly, some families that were flooded way back in 2011 are again facing heartbreak, clean-up and rebuilding. I know my community is resilient; I know they'll pull through this and rebuild their homes and their lives, but it's tough, it's challenging and it's draining. In fact, it's much slower than the floodwaters are draining away in some cases. I'd like to thank the wonderful community groups in Moreton who immediately swung into action. They learnt from 2011. They set up pop-up evacuation centres for families—places where they could also take their pets, which can be a challenge. They provided shelter, they provided electricity to charge phones—crucial in this digital age—they provided meals, they provided comfort and they provided a helping hand.

I'll mention some of those groups who stepped up: the Yeronga Community Centre, who did incredible work; Wellers Hill Bowls Club, before they were sadly shut down by the Brisbane City Council; the Corinda Bowls Club; The Clubhouse at Moorooka; Dewar's Refrigeration at Rocklea, who was just a business who allowed the use of their business facility, their business site, to operate as a relief hub; the Graceville Presbyterian Church; the Tzu Chi Buddhist Compassion Relief Foundation, who I particularly call out because they literally handed over cheques or money to people, as well as other forms of support; Moorooka Lions; the Archerfield Rotary Club; the Lions Club of Ekibin; parents and students from St Laurence's who pitched in; Yeronga Park swimming centre; Dunlop Park Memorial Swimming Pool; the Oxley Senior Citizens; Lou Bromley from Oxley; Jackie Holyoake from Salisbury; Life Church; Synergy Education; Bangladesh Puja Cultural Society Inc. of Brisbane; Orange Sky; Sundays Cafe—thank you, Anthony; St Thomas More Facebook group; Rocklea Facebook group; Lyne Rowe; Desley Griffiths from Sandlewood; and so many other unnamed people who donated goods, food and money and turned up to help. I especially acknowledge the elected representatives, Brisbane City councillors Nicole Johnston and Steve Griffiths, and state MPs Mark Bailey, Jess Pugh and Peter Russo.

Dealing with any crisis is tough. Dealing with a flood is really challenging. It's dirty, it's smelly and it's heartbreaking. In 2011, when Prime Minister Julia Gillard ensured that there were Centrelink workers on the ground almost immediately, like the next day, to help people apply for their disaster payments, it was crucial to turning people's lives around. I remember those Commonwealth workers, wearing their teal shirts—this was before Independents ran in elections, I guess!—and helping locals to access payments right there, right then.

Disappointingly, in 2022, that wasn't the case. It took five days to get anyone from a Morrison government department into Moreton. The Morrison government actually expected people from flooded Chelmer and Graceville to somehow row and drive to Chandler, 25 kilometres away. I'll point out that there are three Centrelink sites in Longman. Taking nothing from the people of Longman, but there are none in Moreton, Griffiths, Oxley or Rankin. All of those four seats are represented by Labor people. It was only after much lobbying from me that finally Services Australia workers were sent into some of the community centres in Moreton to help on a face-to-face basis, because—guess what?—internet towers were down and phones weren't charged. I do thank those Services Australia workers, many of whom I met. They've been so helpful to my community.

In 2011, I vividly remember the ADF arriving to help almost immediately—the night of the flood, in fact. I remember reservists and all sorts were out there the night of the flood. In 2022, it took many days before any ADF personnel arrived in Moreton. In fact, on my journey throughout Moreton, I noted a stark contrast between the Commonwealth government support for locals in 2011 and in 2022. That's disappointing. It's a symptom of a bigger problem with this coalition government. They are not there when we need them. They are there for the photo-op with a broom, but when it comes to giving genuine support they're missing in action.

Many locals have been disappointed to not be given the financial support they thought would be forthcoming. The minister makes the rules about who is eligible for the disaster recovery payment. In 2022, the eligibility rules were much tougher than in 2011. Lauren from Rocklea had no power for six days, which meant all her food was gone, her back fence was damaged as it was used to evacuate other residents, her house has mould from the water and tools in her shed were destroyed. But Lauren's application for the disaster recovery payment has been rejected twice. David, again from Rocklea, has four children. Theirs is a single-income family. He's had three metres of water through his property. They're living upstairs in the flooded property. David said he had tried to tell his neighbours it was serious, but there were no official warnings. Yuri and his mother also live in Rocklea. Yuri says the message to move out was too late. I know, because I live in Moorooka, next to Rocklea, and we got it late on the Sunday night. Yuri's mother is staying on the property in a tent and is worried about more rain. Lacey from Oxley will not be able to move back to her house for six to 12 months. The water reached the roof line. She is living with other family members. Felicity and Keith are long-term residents of Chelmer. They were previously flooded in 2011. They want to raise their home so they don't get flooded again.

The residents of Inskip Street, Rocklea, watched the waters rising up on Saturday night. They looked on the internet and the TV for warnings but there were none, so they went to bed. Luckily one neighbour had to go to work early and had set his alarm for 4 am. When the alarm went off, he stepped out of his bed into a river of water. In 2022, there was no warning. Out on the street, the water was rising fast. Cars were submerged. Residents tried to save what they could. What the residents of Inskip Street can't understand is why there wasn't any warning until late on the Sunday night.

The Queensland government, last year, requested the Commonwealth fund an upgrade to the flood warning infrastructure network as a priority, a request that was refused. The government's $4 billion disaster recovery mitigation recovery fund is sitting untouched, earning interest but not doing anything for disaster recovery or mitigation. Not one cent has been spent from the fund. Australians are going through really tough times. We've had the pandemic, we've had fires and we've had floods. They have faced disaster after disaster, and they deserve a government that will support them, a government that will make sure that we are prepared for the next flood—because it is coming—and the one after that and the one after that. We know that we are going to face more frequent and more severe disasters because of climate change. There! I said the words: climate change. They are not difficult words to face; it's the reality.

It's not the sticky, dark mud, the stinking water or the smashed up and sodden piles of belongings of people's lives stacked on footpaths that stay with me in the aftermath of my community again facing a flood situation. Those phenomena are memorable, but what stays closest to my heart is how our community always comes together to help out others. That is what I hold dear. The people of Moreton were magnificent in all 12 suburbs that were inundated. That's what inspires me to keep fighting for them.

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