Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Urban Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Hunt interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If the member for Flinders wants to ask a question, he will have to come to the dispatch box at an appropriate time to ask it; he cannot do it by an interjection, so he will sit there quietly.

Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, how does the government propose to expand Bureau of Meteorology services?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Capricornia for her question. At a time of climate change across Australia, it is very important that the Bureau of Meteorology provide a proper range of services not just for our national needs but for local needs as well. Of course this has been highlighted given the extreme weather events we have had in recent times in Queensland, New South Wales and elsewhere. In the case of Rockhampton, I know from the honourable member of the excellent work done by her local Bureau of Meteorology office there. That is why I have asked the minister responsible to ensure that the Bureau of Meteorology there not only continues to operate but also continues to operate all the meteorology services that it has provided in the past. These are of particular importance to local areas in regional Australia and in rural Australia. Of course, beyond that, we need for the same reasons to ensure that meteorology services are delivered in those other areas which have been the subject of recent debate as well: in Cairns, Townsville and Launceston—where I have also received representations from local members.

If you look across the meteorology system in the country, you see that there are particular gaps. I refer in particular to one which exists around the Queensland town of Emerald. Today I am announcing that the government will be funding a new radar in Emerald to better meet the needs of that community: its farmers, its families and its businesses. Emerald has a high level of need for these sorts of services, as we have seen recently in the unseasonal weather events in that community. I look forward very much to working with the member for Flynn to ensure that this new radar is properly rolled out and the systems and meteorology services associated with it.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Truss interjecting

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will pick up on the interjection from the Leader of the National Party, who once again comes in on cue. Why is there a gap when it comes to the delivery of meteorology services in Emerald? The reason is that for the last 10 or 11 years nothing has been done about it. I have before me here a letter to the current Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts from the Emerald Shire Council addressed to you know who: it is the member for Flinders, who has been particularly vocal in this place in recent days. It says:

We have lodged two previous submissions, the last one in 2003. Specifically, I refer to a letter of response from the Hon. Greg Hunt, MP, received by council in December 2004. Since the receipt of this letter, we have had no further correspondence or advice in this matter.

That is three years of inertia, three years of inaction, three years of not providing effective meteorology services to local communities that need it. Since then, we have had these extraordinary developments in extreme weather events in and around Emerald, directly affecting that community, and we have here an epistle of indifference from the member for Flinders. We are acting on this. We have committed to ensuring that Emerald forms part of the Bureau of Meteorology network in Queensland and—in response to the representations of the member for Capricornia, the member for Flynn and other members, including the member for Leichhardt and also the member for Bass—the retention of those meteorology services in those areas.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister was referring to a letter, and I ask that he table that letter.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Was the Prime Minister reading from a document?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was reading from a document, Mr Speaker.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the document confidential?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The document is marked ‘confidential’.