Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

r McCORMACK () (): On some points I do agree with the member for Lyons. The fact is that we need to do more. I'm hoping that the federal government, in conjunction with the states, can do more, particularly when it comes to building the necessary water infrastructure for flood mitigation. Building dams is not just about flood mitigation. There is a great expectation, a great commitment and a great obligation, indeed, on states to get on board with the Commonwealth and build water infrastructure.

I know the New South Wales Premier, Dominic Perrottet, has had a lot to say, as he needs to, about Warragamba Dam. If it is good enough for the people who live in the shadow of Warragamba Dam to have that piece of water infrastructure raised for flood mitigation, it must be good enough for the people who live downstream from Wyangala Dam. Forbes has been flooded, on average, every seven years since 1887, with six of those times, if you count two this year, in the past 12 years. Yet there seems to be some sort of reluctance to commit the necessary funding for Wyangala Dam to be raised by 10 metres, which would provide an additional 650 gigalitres of capacity for that dam. Imagine the agriculture you could grow from 650 gigalitres. But not just that; it would also help in the event of flooding.

We mourned the loss of little Jayden El Jer, just five years old, who was caught up in flash flooding near Tullamore in September. We grieve for his family. We mourn his loss. It serves as a tragic reminder of the ferocity of floods. It serves as a poignant reminder to the fact that we cannot replace human lives lost in these flooding events.

Forbes has a very resilient community. I was pleased that Prime Minister Albanese visited the town, along with Premier Perrottet—in fact, it was Premier Perrottet's second visit; he was there late last year in November with Scott Morrison, then Prime Minister, to look at the situation. Prime Minister Albanese was there on 17 October. He was there with Murray Watt, the Minister for Emergency Management; with me; and with Steph Cooke, who is not only the New South Wales Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience but also, most importantly, the Minister for Flood Recovery. I said to the Premier then that the state needs to come on board and raise Wyangala Dam.

Since that press conference and visit by the Prime Minister and Premier, the Lachlan River at Forbes peaked at 10.67 metres on Saturday 5 November, just below the June 1952 flood level of 10.8 metres. The 1952 flood, I'm reliably told by Bruce Adams, a long time Forbes resident, was a bit of an aberration because they built a levee bank near Red Bend, near the Catholic college there, which built up the water and then the integrity of the new structure gave way and sent almost a tsunami, quite a wave, through the town. That caused a lot of hardship. Of course, it caused the river level, which is generally measured at the Forbes Iron Bridge, to reach a record height. The waters went through the CBD.

This time, again, farmers copped the brunt of it. Many farmers throughout the Riverina and central west, particularly around Forbes and Wagga Wagga, have lost crops. Not so much livestock—they've been able to get livestock to higher ground because of the warnings given—but they've lost a lot of cropping. That's devastating for those farmers, who were hoping for a good season, worried about the fact that the ground—which was already saturated—would prevent them from getting their heavy harvesting gear into the paddocks. To then have their crops waterlogged and ruined is a bitter blow they didn't need.

The Murrumbidgee River at Wagga Wagga peaked at 9.72 metres on Friday 4 November. Again, I'm very pleased that state water—and I will give them some credit—got their mathematics right and minimised the flood damage. I know they cop a lot of criticism, and I know a lot of people think that the Blowering and Burrinjuck dams and other water infrastructure are there if not for hydroelectricity then for flood mitigation. We forget sometimes that dams were actually built for irrigators. We forget sometimes that, if they let the water go too soon, there's no water for the irrigation season later in the year. Those irrigators pay handsomely, dearly, for that water. The necessity to let the water go at the right time so as not to upset the irrigators, so as not, perhaps, to cause floods later on, is a fine balance. It's a delicate balance. State water, I have to say, have managed it reasonably well, given the fact that a lot of properties were not inundated.

The levee around North Wagga—it didn't top that important bank. Many people inside the levee at North Wagga were saved, even though they had to be evacuated. That, of course, causes distress. It causes a logistical nightmare and it causes heartache for many, but it's better to evacuate and follow the authorities' orders than to stay at home, refuse to budge and then have your house inundated and potential tragedy. I would urge and encourage people to adhere to the warnings given by our authorities. We're expecting another 60 to 70 millimetres—so the forecast tells us—in the not-too-distant future, potentially even this weekend.

Rocky Walshaw at Forbes and Ben Pickup at Wagga Wagga have been great leaders in these flood events, but people still don't follow instructions. They still drive through floodwaters. They still drive through swollen creeks. They still disobey road signs, which are there for a reason. Local governments don't put signs out closing roads for no good reason. They do it because they care for people. They do it because they want people to stay safe. Yet people still defy logic. They still defy orders given, and then they have to be rescued because they're on the phone ringing 132 500 for the SES or ringing 000 after they get themselves in trouble. It makes no sense.

I do want to pay tribute to some people. So many people have volunteered their time and effort to provide sandbagging. I was doing some, along with Trish and Greg Wright and Janet Thompson at Wagga Wagga. I know the fine staff at Bunnings Wagga Wagga, in their red shirts with little hammers on them, left the shop. No doubt they were given the green light to do so, but they enthusiastically got in there and did it for hour upon hour upon hour. Well done to them. Well done to everybody who volunteered, both at Wagga Wagga and at Forbes. I know Annette St Clair was there.

Let's just say, with all due respect to them: these people are not young. Many of them are not young. They're not as fit as they'd like to be. Yet they were getting out there, hour upon hour, shovelling sand into sandbags for strangers they'll probably never meet, people they'll never know. They were pitching in and doing their bit. In the worst of times, you see the best of people. You see the best of Australians. That mateship quality really shines through.

But there is an expectation on the state to come on board with us and build water infrastructure. Excuses? Forget them! I know they wanted $325 million from the Commonwealth to raise the Wyangala Dam wall. We gave it to them as a loan, which they asked for. Then they wanted a grant. We complied. Then it became $1 billion. Now it's potentially $2 billion. I say: so what! It's an investment in our future. It's an investment in agriculture. It's an investment in not having the Newell Highway closed. It's an investment in making sure that Forbes does not get flooded. They are the forgotten people, at Forbes. They shouldn't put up with being second best. If it's good enough for Warragamba people, who live in the shadow of that fine piece of water infrastructure near Sydney, then it's good enough for Forbes. Let's make sure that—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 11 : 10 to 11 : 21

Thanks to the volunteers, the first responders, defence personnel, for your help; flood-affected farmers and businesses for your resilience, and I call on governments to fund the Wyangala Dam wall raising right now.

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