Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

MITCHELL () (): Like many others in this place, communities in my electorate have recently been dealing with severe weather, storms and flooding. Flooding occurred across the Meander Valley, Northern Midlands, Kentish, Break O'Day and Central Highlands local government municipalities and others. While the weather has eased over recent weeks, the impacts of the floods are ongoing as clean-up and repairs continue. I recently spent time in these communities, including with the Prime Minister, inspecting damage and discussing with communities ways in which the Albanese government can help get things back on track.

We know people need support and we will do everything in our power to help. The Prime Minister spoke in the last sitting in the House about his recent visits to flood-affected areas in Australia, including Deloraine. The Meander River flooded higher and more rapidly than ever before. The people of Deloraine this time had prior warning and, fortunately, through quick action and planning, no human life was lost and families were able to evacuate before waters rose. From my discussions with farmers and primary producers, livestock losses were minimal; though, of course, there was quite a lot of agricultural damage to seeds and new plantings.

Businesses and some houses in Deloraine were badly affected. Mick and the team at Highland Haulage were one of the worst-impacted businesses in the town, with floodwaters entering their warehouse and rising above the height of anyone standing in this place if we were on the ground floor. I spoke with Mick, and all he wants to talk about was how lucky he was compared to others—generous, community-minded, thinking of others before himself. Pictures were shown nationwide of a storage container full of possessions of a family in Deloraine that had floated down the river, such was the strength of these floods. Unfortunately that family lost everything in the container, such was the water damage. The container itself was secured before it hit the bridge in Deloraine which connects the east and west of the town.

Across town at the footy oval the Deloraine Football Club was once again left to clean up after clubrooms were flooded for the third time in 11 years in what are supposedly 100-year floods. This tells us something, which is that climate change is real, the impacts are real and the increasing severity is real. I thank the Prime Minister for visiting the club with me on 19 October, where he heard firsthand the issues that they are facing and what is needed to protect the community from future flood events. I look forward to continuing to work with the club and the council on those plans. Still in the Meander Valley, in Meander and Hadspen, the Meander River and the South Esk River broke their banks, forcing the community to evacuate and do their best to protect property with sandbags and other measures.

At this point I'd like to highlight the work of the local council, community groups and members of the community for their contribution in response to the floods. Thank you to the council workers, the emergency services workers, the SES and other volunteers who acted tirelessly throughout days and nights to ensure people remained safe and sound. Thanks also to the power workers who work for TasNetworks and Aurora Energy, who keep the power poles active and the electricity on during the worst of weather.

In the Kentish municipality, in the north-west of my electorate, flooding impacted the town of Sheffield and the town of Railton. I joined the former mayor, Tim Wilson—not the former member for Goldstein, people will be relieved to hear—in Sheffield last week to discuss those flood events. We travelled to Railton and visited the local post office. While floodwaters did breach sandbagging attempts and seeped through into the floor, as with most houses in the area, stock and furniture were able to be lifted off the ground beforehand and no great damage was sustained, unlike in earlier floods. While in Kentish I spoke with the mayor about flood mitigation plans that do have federal support. These plans continue to be developed in consultation with the community and it is hoped they can begin soon.

Whilst travelling in the north of my electorate and visiting flood-affected communities, I also headed to the Break O'Day municipality in the north-east where I visited St Helens. There, residents told me about the measures they took to get through the deluge and the floods, and about the impact the flood has had on roads. A journey that would normally take me two hours took six due to landslips, floods and other diversions in the area. Across my electorate, many others found themselves isolated until floodwaters receded. Once I finally arrived in Northern Midlands it was clear too that they had not escaped, with the South Esk River in full flood, breaking its banks and providing a constant threat to neighbouring properties. The township of Poatina continues to be affected, with roads still closed.

It was clear during these visits that the communities have received a great amount of support from locals, their councils and their emergency service authorities and from neighbouring communities who themselves had avoided flood devastation but still wanted to help out their fellow Tasmanians. It was also clear that support was needed from the federal government to help get these communities back on track following these floods.

I was proud to host the Prime Minister and the Minister for Emergency Management, Senator Murray Watt, in Tasmania to witness the effects of these floods firsthand and to meet the people who helped deal with them. The Prime Minister also visited Latrobe in the neighbouring electorate of Braddon. It is why the federal government, in conjunction with the Tasmanian government, announced disaster assistance for flood-impacted communities in Tasmania. In total, 17 local government municipalities are eligible for assistance, including five in Lyons. Assistance is being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-state disaster recovery funding arrangements, which provide assistance of up to $1,000 and emergency accommodation assistance for individuals or families who have been directed or advised by a relevant authority to evacuate from residences or have been displaced from their residence due to flooding.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

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I also note that financial institutions offer hardship provisions to delay repayments of loans and mortgages when circumstances such as these do arise.

One of the other things available to people in my community, other than the disaster recovery funding of $1,000 for families and individuals, is the up to $25,000 for small businesses and primary producers. A number of eligibility criteria do apply. I encourage small businesses and primary producers in my electorate to contact my office, and we can provide the details of how to access those grants.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Prime Minister and the Minister for Emergency Management for their visit to these affected communities and for their work in providing support to those who need it most at this time. I am proud to be a member of a government that responds to support communities affected by such significant natural disasters, and I am sorry to say that it looks like we're going to have more of these natural disasters more often and increasingly severely. That's what the experts tell us, and that's certainly what's being borne out by recent events. But that's what being in government is about: providing support and delivering for the community.

I'm incredibly proud of the support the Lyons community always shows to each other during tough times, and I'm so thankful that no loss of human life was recorded in Tasmania during these floods. Discussions have already commenced about ways we can further improve flood mitigation and stop these devastating events from taking such a continuous toll on our communities.

Climate change cannot be ignored here. We've been warned about more frequent and severe weather events, and they are happening. They're not happening in the future. They're not being talked about in the future. They are happening right now. They are here. You can't turn a blind eye and pretend it's not real. We had a decade of that nonsense, and it's time to get rid of it and start dealing with the reality we face.

The evidence is in every flooded river, every broken house and every shattered business. I look forward to participating in these discussions and working with all levels, colours and kinds of government. This is across parties. This is not political. We need to find solutions. I look forward to working with everybody that I can to provide better protection and support to local communities.

Tasmanians came out in force during these events to help each other. The support that communities have shown, especially the volunteers—there's nothing in it for them. They turn out day and night in the most appalling weather, and put themselves at risk, to help others in need. That is a testament not just to people in my state and my electorate but to people across the country, none more so than those across regional communities. I know the member for Riverina will agree with me that people in regional communities look out for each other when times are tough, and certainly, with these floods and these disasters, for many communities it has never been tougher. We need to be there for them. This government will be there for them. We are there for them now. We'll never stop making sure that we can do whatever we can to support them in their time of need.

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