Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I remind the Prime Minister that after Cyclone Larry the government made available concessional loans of up to half a million dollars for storm affected businesses to help them to recover and to continue to employ their staff. I ask: has the government considered increasing the maximum concessional loan to this amount?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. Following the cyclone, I talked to people as best I could on what was a difficult day of weather so that we could not get as far as we would have liked to on our journey in the helicopter. Even on the occasions when I was out on the ground, it was raised with me that there were other forms of assistance following Cyclone Larry. They were some special forms of assistance for the banana industry and there were other producers in the region including those who produce exotic fruits—lychees and those kinds of things—that raised questions of special assistance with me.

The answer to the Leader of the Opposition’s question is that we have at this stage, working with the Queensland government, triggered the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, which include concessional loans of up to $250,000 for small businesses and primary producers. It also triggers other forms of assistance for small businesses and primary producers including clean-up money. It also triggers, and we have triggered, the ability to use income support recovery payments so that people who cannot ply their ordinary trade and go to work or small businesses or farmers who cannot get their ordinary income because of the disaster are entitled to some payments.

The government believes it will have to work with the Queensland government and the local community on a package that recognises the special characteristics of this region hit by the cyclone. We have commenced some of those discussions with the Queensland government. Their ability to consult communities on how this should be best done has been constrained just by the physical logistics of (1) bad weather (2) a lot of damage and (3) turning their efforts first to the provision of food, water, shelter and trying to open up blocked transport routes so that supplies can continue to get through. But as the efforts move from that immediate humanitarian work we will do the consultations necessary with Queensland and with the local community to see how we can best structure future arrangements to meet the special needs of this region.

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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister outline the government’s response to recent natural disasters, particularly in my community of Rockhampton?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Capricornia for her question. She was one of a number of members who had the opportunity yesterday in the House to share their reflections on the summer of disasters that we have all shared and her reflections from her local community. I did have the opportunity to visit with her in Rockhampton. They are very stoic people. They were very well prepared. They were isolated for a very long period of time. But as we started the process yesterday of sharing some reflections—and we will continue to do that during the course of this week and beyond—it is also important to reflect on the way in which Australians got in to help each other. They did not need to be told; they did not need to be asked. They just got in to help each other, and they obviously expected that government would do the same.

Consequently, we have got in to help people as these natural disasters have unfolded. I can advise the House—and these figures are accurate as at 3 February—that we have already granted 38,000 claims totalling $17 million in disaster income recovery subsidy. We have also accepted 350,000 claims, granting a total of $421 million under the Australian government disaster recovery payment—that is, the emergency money that people can get. Referring, too, to the Leader of the Opposition’s question to me just a few moments ago, we are already seeing take-up of clean-up and recovery grants for small businesses and primary producers: 925 clean-up and recovery grants have been granted in Queensland, totalling $4.5 million; and 237 clean-up and recovery grants have gone to small businesses and primary producers in New South Wales, totalling $3.5 million. We have also seen uptake under the emergency assistance provisions of the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, the personal hardship and distress assistance, in the order of $13 million. We are dealing with 7,560 applications to date for essential household contents in Queensland and 1,986 applications to date for assistance with people’s dwellings.

The government responded quickly to make this emergency assistance available because it was needed. We have responded quickly, too, to make the decisions that are necessary to support rebuilding. The nation is looking to us to make the decisions necessary to enable us to rebuild in Queensland and around the nation. That is why I announce that the government will invest at least $5.6 billion in rebuilding. That figure has been drawn from preliminary estimates. We will do that by making space in the federal budget, by reprioritising and reprofiling infrastructure, and also by asking Australians to make a contribution. I believe Australians do want to assist those who have been affected by these natural disasters. We will be asking Australians to make that contribution through the levy that I have announced. Every dollar collected in that levy is matched by $2 that has been made available in cutbacks through the government’s budget, and we have reprofiled infrastructure not only to make money available but to ensure that we are not pressing and creating additional capacity constraints as the nation tries to rebuild. This is the right package when the nation is looking to us to make the right decisions in this parliament in the national interest.