Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to reflect on the storm events that occurred in the week preceding Anzac Day. My electorate of Paterson bore, perhaps, the brunt of the storm that occurred in New South Wales. But I also acknowledge that the storm had an impact in seats such as Hunter to the west and Newcastle to the south, and all the way down through the Central Coast.

These storms were the worst I have ever experienced or seen. The wind power was the equivalent of a category 2 cyclone. In June 2007, we witnessed the Pasha Bulker storm. Can I say to you, Deputy Speaker: the effects of this storm far exceeded anything that that storm delivered up to us.

This storm in particular was tragic in my electorate because three of my constituents died. These were aged people who were living in council flats in Alison Court. The waters came through early in the morning. They rose at such a rate that Robin Macdonald, a former SES volunteer herself, Brian Wilson, a national serviceman and Vietnam veteran, and Colin Webb were drowned in their homes, in their beds. It just defies belief. Also, another life was lost—that of Anne Jarmain, who perished when her car was swept away by flood waters.

Out of all of these stories of these tragedies, we also hear of the many heroic efforts of individuals and teams of people—people who jumped into the water, trying to save Anne Jarmain out at Maitland; people who were creative and innovative, such as Matt Finney, who used a wheelie bin as a floating device to go and get people out of their homes and so rescued five people. The heroes' names go on, and there are so many that I will not mention more because if I leave people out I will indeed offend them.

It has been very difficult, dealing with the effects of the storm. I went and visited all of my SESs and all of my emergency centres. I met with the people who work there. I met with the volunteers who turn up. I met with community members who just turned up there, not knowing what to do but just wanting to help. And I say thank you to all of those.

I met with a lot of the volunteers who had come from intrastate and interstate, to provide support and to work. Such was the size of the damage and carnage in my electorate and in surrounding electorates, like Hunter and Newcastle, that we needed that support.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister talked about this being a sunburnt country, a land of droughts and flooding rains; well, how apt it is that the place where that poem was written by Dorothea Mackellar, Torryburn, where she sat on the deck of the house there, is still, today, an isolated community. Their only bridge was washed away. In the meantime, there has been a temporary pedestrian bridge built. In the initial stages, people even shot a bow and arrow with a string across, and set up a flying fox to get supplies backwards and forwards to the community. Still there is very little in the way of telephone lines. The electricity is still out. There are many issues to be dealt with. The damage was massive. And that is only one story. Communities throughout my electorate—communities like Hinton, Seaham, and even where I live, around Maitland and Chisholm and Thornton—became isolated as the floodwaters rose.

Since the 1955 floods, we have recognised that there are issues, and levees have been built, post those floods. I would also put on the record that the reason we have an SES in Australia today is because of the 1955 floods; that is what formed it. But, despite all those levee banks being there, we have never seen rain inundation and, in particular, isolated rain inundation in areas like it. Dungog, I am informed, has never seen that volume of water come down—a volume of water that picked up four houses and swept them off their piers, and floated them not just onto the road but across the road, through the next house, across a railway line and into the next river.

I visited up there on the first available day on the Thursday. Michael Keenan, our justice minister, Mike Baird, the Premier, the Deputy Premier, Troy Grant, and David Elliot, the state Minister for Emergency Services and I walked around. We talked to one young lady there who was living in one of the houses. She saw the water come up and rushed across the road to safety, only to be greeted with their house coming across the road and lodging into the one next door. The tyre factory in Dungog next to these houses has had all of its walls blown out—all of its tools spread. People lost every possession they ever had. These sorts of storms bring out the best in Australians—the heroic efforts, the volunteer efforts, the compassion—but they also bring out the worst in some individuals. As I walked through the streets on the Friday with our then Acting Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, Warren Truss, and talked to the community, one of the family members came to me and said, 'We appreciate the efforts, and we have been up and down the creek looking for photos and trying to pick up bits and pieces.' But there had been looters. I think there is no more disgraceful act—that others would seek to steal, as people are trying to resurrect parts of their lives and regain some of their possessions and memories.

Throughout the whole of the community there is untold damage. As I have driven around my electorate, and I have been into some of the other parts, I have never seen damage that has taken so much. The number of houses without electricity—not for a day or a week but nearly four weeks on there are still places without electricity. Telephones are still out because of the breakages in the wiring. The damage has been so immense they just cannot be fixed. There are some areas where it is still unsafe to gain access to carry out the repairs. All repairs must be done safely. Even the main water supply line from upper Dungog at Chichester Dam had broken. It took time to get repaired. This has an impact on people's lives.

I have to say that people from Ozzie Care and other charitable groups came to the fore and delivered clothes, much needed furniture and, in particular, a collection of food items for distribution, at no cost, throughout our community. Ozzie Care did a tremendous job. I understand that they gave away in excess of $100,000 worth of food across the community—not just in my electorate but across the community. Such was the need that I rang my colleague Sharman Stone and said, 'Sharman, what do you think we could ask SPC Ardmona for?' They had already delivered a truckload of food up to one of the food banks, but they provided an additional three pallets of food direct to Ozzie Care to be distributed not only into my electorate but into the electorate of the member for Hunter, and the electorate of the member for Newcastle. They have serviced the needs of those communities—helping people who had lost everything and who had no money to put food on the table. I say thank you to those people.

As the Prime Minister said yesterday, we had a little bit of damage. For a while there I had an indoor swimming pool and a skylight. I did not really want one, but I ended up with one as a tree came down. The initial rain and wind that came through did damage and knocked out some of the powerlines, but the worst of it was that continual, intense rain for the next 24 hours, and that second wind storm that came through that brought down most of the trees. On our own property we lost something like 30 to 40 trees, and they were massive trees. I am now reflecting and reviewing—this is the second or third tree that has had a brush with our house—how far trees that are 60-, 80- and 100-foot high should be from people's houses, for there is no point living in danger if this will continue to happen.

I would like to put on the record that I am extremely proud of my son David, who stopped work, got his chainsaws and excavator, and drove around in our local community clearing people's trees so they had access to their driveways—not touching trees that were on houses; that was for the SES and the insurance companies to deal with, but helping people in the local community. I want to express my appreciation to my son for doing that. I spent a few days on a chainsaw myself and worked out how the vibrations affect your joints, as did many people. The clean-up continues. It will go on for quite some time. Out at Port Stephens the damage to roads has been immense. (Extension of time granted) To each and every individual who contributed and continues to contribute to the relief effort I say thank you on behalf of my community. I appreciate your efforts. They will not be forgotten.

Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the comments of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Paterson and all those who have contributed to discussion of this important motion which recognises the ferocity of the recent rains and floods in the Hunter Valley, the lives that were lost as a result, the damage done and the suffering which was felt by so many people. It is a reminder that, despite all our knowledge, innovation and technology in this 21st century, we are no match for Mother Nature. When Mother Nature grows angry—and we have seen Hollywood capitalise on this concept on many occasions—as human beings we have no response. I am glad the member for Paterson is here because—and maybe this is not the time—he knows that I have not been the most enthusiastic promoter of policies to deal with the concept of our changing climate. I have always promoted an incremental and modest approach in keeping with the global community but it is clear to me that, if there is any doubt at all that human activity is causing the weather to become less predictable and more volatile than ever before then we should take out that insurance policy and as politicians globally we should be doing all we can to mitigate dramatic and variable climate change.

Like the member of the Paterson, I have never seen rain fall as it did on 20 April and a couple of days after. As the member for Paterson said, it was very isolated, as though someone had an open tap above certain parts of our electorates. It just rained and rained and rained, until we were sure it could not possibly rain anymore and it did. As indicated by others, that caused flooding which has never been seen. It might not have been like the 1955 flood in general terms but it was more than the 1955 flood in isolated areas, as the member of Paterson has indicated. Indeed, in Dungog it was enough to just wash houses away, in one case tragically leading to the death of three highly regarded local citizens, including veterans Brian Wilson and Colin Web, and very sadly Robyn McDonald, all in their more mature years and all contributors to their local communities. Also in my own electorate we lost Anne Jarmain, an 86-year-old woman who had gone to the shops in Maitland from Gillieston Heights to pick up a carton of milk. She was washed off the road on her way back to Gillieston Heights. There is plenty of tragedy around these events.

Interestingly, on the Monday afternoon I went to Sydney for a meeting and was not able to get home to the Hunter Valley. I am now 53 years of age and am a regular traveller from the Hunter Valley to Sydney. As you can imagine, that was a first me. It reminds me to thank goodness for the Hunter Expressway. When local roads or main roads to the various towns through the Hunter Valley were blocked off, save for a few hours, the Hunter Expressway delivered the artery we needed throughout the valley.

Going back to my theme about our 21st century knowledge and expertise and the technologies now available to us, I find it extraordinary that major townships can still be isolated by flood. Of course there will always be cases where that is unavoidable, where you cannot invest government funds to cater for a one-in-100-year event. There will always be examples like that. But, when major towns like Gillieston Heights near Cessnock and Kurri are completely isolated from the rest of the community for a number of days without power and the rest of it, we have a problem. When the major highway through one of the most significant inland cities—Maitland—is cut for a number of days, I think we have a serious problem and I think it is incumbent upon all three levels of government to have a close look at those issues and to design and develop a strategy and come up with some funding solutions.

Part of the road across what is known as Testers Hollow near Gillieston Heights has been very topical in this debate post the storm events. That project certainly needs to be addressed, but so too does the main road through Maitland and so too do many other roads around the region. The community of Wollombi was also isolated. But the idea of Gillieston Heights, a large community, being completely isolated is a new one for all of us. It certainly has not occurred in my 53 years, and I travelled that road going to high school at Marist Brothers High School in Maitland from Cessnock. The water used to come over the road from time to time, but we had never seen the floodwaters this high. We certainly had not seen the floodwaters engulf the road on the other side of Gillieston Heights between that township and Maitland. So I think we need to have a hard look at those issues again. In this modern society, large communities on the edge of a major city like Maitland should not be isolated and certainly should not be isolated for that period of time.

Like the member for Paterson before me, I want to pay tribute to a whole range of people. It is always fraught with danger because I will miss some. Minister Keenan is at the table, and I thank him for his call. I also thank the Deputy Prime Minister for calling me, expressing an interest and, like the minister, extending any assistance they could give. I think the government's response was swift and appropriate. People would always like us to do more, but that is not always possible. I think the swiftness of the response of the New South Wales government was similarly appropriate, so I thank both governments. Of course I thank our emergency services personnel both paid and volunteer. The member for Paterson spoke about the SES and its origins out of the '55 floods. All of those people did a magnificent job, but so did all our other emergency services people: police, ambulances, those manning our emergency services in our local hospitals, our charities. There were many, so it is dangerous naming them again. The member for Paterson mentioned Ozzie Care, and we have the Samaritans, Vinnie's and the list goes on and on.

I want to make a special note of the community of Gillieston Heights. They received a lot of attention because, again, it was very unusual for a large community so close to Maitland to be cut off in the way they were. It was interesting to see people rally there. I think that, like many towns like that where urban sprawl has given us the mortgage belt look and sometimes people would argue there is not the sense of community that existed in the old settlement patterns of towns, this event, as bad as it was, seemed to transform that community. It brought that community together. The community rallied. I was very pleased to jump in a tinnie myself to go across to the town and help them organise their Anzac Day service because they were all unable to attend one. That was the service for the Centenary of Anzac, and I was happy to help them with that, but that was a rallying point for the community. There is now a Facebook page born out of the flood, and I think it will continue into the future. They did an excellent job. There is one group there that I did not mention, and that is all those volunteers who turned up with their boats. On one side of Gillieston Heights was the SES boats; on the other side, the Kurri side, were the guys who just turned up with their tinnies, their fishing boats and even their jet skis in order to ferry supplies and take people, including me, backwards and forwards. It is a great tribute to them. Like all those other SES volunteers and others, it was not a role without risk—not only to them but also to their boats, because you had debris floating around, and they had to be very cautious.

I will end where I began in talking about natural disaster. This would be an opportunity for me to reflect on all those who have lost their lives in Nepal and the second earthquake—second or third, whatever it is now—and the tragic loss of life. I know that all of us together today will be thinking of those who have lost people and those who are still suffering the consequences of those quakes. I pay tribute to all of those in Australia who are making great efforts to raise money on their behalf, including, by the way, the partner of my daughter. He was trekking in Nepal and arrived back from Nepal three days after the first major quake. To his great credit, James Tatham, and his mate Jack, are trekking somewhere across New South Wales—I cannot remember exactly where now or how far they are trekking—as a tribute to the people they have grown to know and love in Nepal. They are raising money for the cause, like so many other Australians are appropriately doing. (Time expired)

Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with sadness that I rise today to reflect on the tragic loss of life in particular that has occurred because of two very severe weather events in New South Wales and in Queensland. We have heard from the member for Paterson and the member for Hunter about the devastating loss that was associated with the New South Wales floods. As the member for Paterson remarked, I joined him with the Premier, the Deputy Premier and the Minister for Emergency Services of New South Wales in touring Dungog, which was the worst affected town in terms of loss of life. Three lives were tragically taken in what is a town of only 2½ thousand people.

The floodwaters there were very severe, and they came very suddenly at a very early hour of the morning. At about 3 am the floodwaters rose; they rose very quickly. Unfortunately, that caught out some elderly residents of the town in particular. The waters were of such power, as has also been remarked, that they actually picked up houses and moved them. It was not like the house was damaged; it was literally just taken away and floated down the river. And you can imagine that the water needs to have an enormous power to have the ability to do that. The reality is that the impacts of this disaster in New South Wales, and the one in Queensland, are going to be very far-reaching: thousands of people have been evacuated, they have been displaced from their homes and from their communities; there has been extensive damage to public infrastructure; homes have been destroyed and damaged; businesses have been destroyed and damaged, and of course there is the subsequent loss of trade associated with that. It will be the case that communities, often small communities, are going to take some time to recover, and that is not an easy process.

It is important that all of those affected communities understand that both the federal government and the New South Wales and Queensland governments stand with them to assist. There are very long-standing arrangements for the way that we do that and they do work very well. The Commonwealth always seeks to assist the states when they respond to these things, and obviously they have the primary responsibility and the equipment and the resources to be able to do so. Whenever a disaster happens, I am always in touch with my state counterpart to make sure they are aware that the Commonwealth will do whatever we can to help, and that certainly happened in the case of New South Wales and, to a lesser extent, Queensland.

And while homes and buildings and public infrastructure can be repaired, I do just want to reflect on the lives that have been lost in New South Wales, those three lives in Dungog and another who lost her life when her car was swept away in Maitland, and the member for Hunter reflected on that. In Queensland, very tragically, five people lost their lives, including a young child and three members of the same family—I have discussed this with the member for Longman, and I know he will reflect on that in his comments—and that is a terrible loss of life in relation to this very severe storm.

I would like to acknowledge, as others have done, the efforts of the very impressive State Emergency Service. They have dedicated professionals and dedicated volunteers who come out to assist their communities in the event of something going wrong. When there is a very severe disaster in Australia, it is not always the case that government services can get to everyone instantly. It is just not possible to do that. What we rely on is communities helping out other members of that community. The communities in New South Wales in particular that I saw rose to that occasion of helping out the fellow members of their community, and I know that the same thing occurred in Queensland as well.

I would like to acknowledge their tireless efforts. What also happens in Australia—which I think is a wonderful reflection of our national character—is that, when one particular state is experiencing a disaster, everyone pitches in. If you go to a disaster in New South Wales, you will find people from Queensland, Victoria, South Australia. And it happens vice versa; it is always the case that states pitch together, and we assist by trying to explain what is required in getting the other states to help. They do so with a very open heart. It is always gratifying when moving around after a disaster to see the heart that people can take from the fact that the rest of Australia is pitching in to help them when the chips are down in what is the worst possible circumstances for a community. It is a great reflection on the way our system works and a great reflection on the people who volunteer to be a part of that system.

As I said, we always help in these circumstances; we always do what we can. In the case of the New South Wales floods, the Australian government and the New South Wales government have announced a comprehensive package of assistance which is available across a broad range of 17 affected local government areas. This assistance does not just come in the form of instant recovery. We partner with communities to assist them in what can be a very difficult and long-term recovery effort. That is what we will do in the case of New South Wales, and that is what we will continue to do as disasters, unfortunately, continue to afflict people around Australia.

We are in a uniquely disaster prone continent—fires, floods, cyclones. We are subject to the fury of nature on a regular basis in Australia, but the way we respond is a great reflection of the Australian character and I certainly saw that in evidence in my visit to the affected areas in New South Wales. I also know, from my discussions with the Queensland members of parliament, that it was on display in Queensland as well.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the evening of Monday, 20 April, my community of Newcastle and surrounding areas were hit by an especially wild and savage storm. Hours later, we were hit by another, just as fierce and just as destructive. These were storms of a ferocity that has not been seen in Newcastle since the infamous 2007 storm that saw flooding throughout the city and the bulk cargo carrier the MV Pasha Bulker washed ashore on Nobbys Beach. Veteran rescue helicopter crewman Graham Nickisson, who spent more than 30 years in the air above the Hunter, said that he had never seen weather or such expanses of floodwater like he saw last month.

Tragically, lives were lost. My sympathies go out to the friends, families and loved ones of those who lost their lives during the April storms. This truly was a devastating weather event. Some homes in my electorate were without power for seven days. Most others lost power, and sometimes water, for at least another day or two. More than 120 schools across the region were forced to close. Phone outages continued to today in some areas, and the clean-up of fallen trees and debris will continue for months. The bill for damage to infrastructure and homes will run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Thankfully, the Newcastle community is a strong community, and when it comes to natural disasters we have, unfortunately, had a lot of practice. We are resilient. We support each other at times of greatest need. We knock on neighbours doors to see how they are coping. We share scarce resources at times of need. We open our homes, our cafes, our shops and our offices to those without power to charge their phones and tablets. We clean up neighbours' yards or even the yards of people we have never met before. We share our food with old friends and new and with those who have no access to a hot meal or drink themselves. We are a community that comes together as one in times of greatest need.

I would like to take this opportunity to give thanks to a number of organisations and individuals who worked tirelessly to keep our community going during this time of our greatest need. Thanks most definitely go to the SES volunteers, who attended more than 8,500 calls for assistance in the Hunter region, and the Ausgrid teams and their contractors who helped restore power to homes, businesses and facilities in our community—selfless men and women who worked through horrendous conditions and, in some circumstances, put themselves at risk to help those most in need.

The teams in our news outlets, like the Newcastle Herald and 1233 ABC Newcastle radio, who worked around the clock to keep the community informed throughout the disaster, deserve to be thanked and congratulated for their dedication to our community. In particular, I note the enormous contribution of the ABC as our emergency broadcaster. You were the lifeline for so many in our community, day after day. You kept our community safe and informed.

I acknowledge my local schools and their extended school communities, who themselves were devastated by the storms, and who not only cleaned up their own grounds to ensure continuity of education and safety for their students but also opened their doors to help with the storage and distribution of food in order to feed the community. Woodberry Public School and many other schools provided a central access point and a place to relay information to residents who were isolated by floodwaters.

I would like to take this opportunity to also thank the Thornton Rural Fire Brigade. I was fortunate to attend the opening of their new facility just 18 months ago. Regrettably, that new facility was absolutely inundated by floodwaters during the storm. While those men and women were out helping others in our community, they lost most of the equipment in their own facility back at Thornton. All of their private cars that they use to travel to and from their volunteer work were under water when they returned to the station. So I pay a huge tribute to those men and women who, despite their own suffering, continued to work, day after day, to ensure the safety of others in our community. I want to publicly acknowledge their efforts.

I would like to thank the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Nuatali Nelmes, for her civic leadership and service throughout the disaster and acknowledge the council staff, who continue to clean up after the destruction left behind in all our public parks, streets and playgrounds. It was indeed the hard work and dedication of our council workers that enabled Newcastle to proceed with our annual Anzac commemoration services across the city, just five days after the storms that had uprooted massive old trees and savaged all the parks and places where we would normally have those commemoration services.

I would also like to note the savage destruction of the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens and the tremendous losses of precious plant species and biodiversity in our region. It is especially sad that places like the botanic gardens suffered irreversible damage. I would urge anybody in our community that has capacity to assist with the restoration of the botanic gardens to do so.

I would also like to welcome the appointment and acknowledge the tremendous work of the recently retired Brigadier Darren Naumann in his new role as the regional recovery coordinator. I note it was a very brief retirement period. I had the opportunity to work with the brigadier, through my role with the Public Works Committee here in parliament, on a number of projects. Although I wish our coming together again had been in better circumstances, it was tremendous to welcome him to the Newcastle community. I know that he, in his role as the regional recovery coordinator, will do a tremendous job. We met just days after his appointment, and I very much appreciated the time he took to listen to me and my community's concerns and to keep information flowing back to our communities.

I thank the Deputy Prime Minister, who was at the time the Acting Prime Minister, who was very early to contact me and offer support for the Newcastle community. I also thank the Minister for Human Services, the Minister for Justice, who was just in the chamber, and state government ministers, who responded to my many questions at whatever time of day and night and the immediate concerns of the community and provided vital contacts at times of need in the immediate aftermath of the storm. I thank the Centrelink teams, who were mobilised to go out into our community and worked weekends to make sure that residents were able to access the support they needed at times of emergency. I would also like to thank the insurers, whose policyholders were affected by the storms. I met very early on with Suncorp after the storm had hit and they assured me that they would be doing everything they could to progress the claims of their policyholders. Suncorp group of insurers include GIO, AAMI and APIA. I expect all of the insurance companies in my region to be very good corporate citizens and to indeed process these claims as promptly as possible—I will certainly be a strong advocate on behalf of my community if that is not the case.

My thanks also go to the Insurance Council of Australia, who activated a special emergency hotline at the time to assist customers with their insurance policy questions. I thank Legal Aid New South Wales and their team of lawyers, who provided extra assistance to the flood victims, despite being stretched to their limits and indeed with uncertainty about their own funding situation at the time. They have certainly done a tremendous job. I also acknowledge the valued community services organisations that provided assistance to affected residents. There was tremendous work by the Samaritans, who had to bring forward their winter appeal to respond to our immediate needs; Wesley Mission, St Vinnies and all the other service providers in the region. I want to thank the employers who were indeed flexible with their workforce and allowed employees to stay at home, to be safe, to keep off the roads. They also had to deal with the fact schools were closed and people had their children at home.

There are many lessons to be learned from the recent storm experiences. Indeed, I have joined with my Hunter Labor colleagues to bring to the attention of the Minister for Social Services some of the difficulties we have had around the eligibility criteria for the disaster payments and some of the pressures faced with the emergency relief cuts. In closing, it is regretful that we have had to go through yet another natural disaster, but our community remains strong and resilient as always.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 11 : 28 to 11 : 43

Karen McNamara (Dobell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last month the people of the Central Coast were brutally reminded of the power of Mother Nature when hit by severe storms and flooding. This was a once-in-a-decade storm event and it was the equivalent of the category 2 cyclone, and it arrived with little warning. Homes were damaged or destroyed, and businesses were forced to close. From the Great Lakes to the Illawarra, over 10,000 requests for assistance to the SES were recorded. One hundred and seventy flood rescues were undertaken at up to 220,000 people were without power. Mobile and landline phones were impacted, with many residents without telecommunications for days.

On the Central Coast, at the peak of the storm, some 85,000 homes and businesses were without power and many for up to, or over, a week. As the rain continued to fall and floodwaters rose, thousands of emergency service personnel worked tirelessly to secure property, remove hazards and restore power. The sheer scale of this disaster can be demonstrated by the experiences of the emergency services personnel. I visited the Wyong SES headquarters following the savage storm and was advised by their team that in Wyong Shire they had responded to over 2200 jobs, which was the most of any location in New South Wales. In fact, I was advised that in the history of the New South Wales SES this was the largest response ever faced. Local SES volunteers were assisted by their Victorian counterparts and worked with emergency services, community groups and local government to support those requiring assistance. SES volunteers were joined by Fire and Rescue New South Wales and the Rural Fire Service—and I would just like to acknowledge Ourimbah RFS for the great work that they did during the storms. They were also joined by the Volunteer Rescue Association and staff from Wyong and Gosford Shire councils. Even last weekend, when I was driving around Wyong Shire, we could still see Wyong Shire Council staff who were still removing fallen trees, almost a month after the storms.

There are many groups and individuals that deserve thanks. I would particularly like to thank those who travelled from Victoria to lend a hand when it was needed on the Central Coast. I had the pleasure of meeting Victorian SES volunteers at the Wyong SES headquarters, and I commend them for their willingness and dedication to help other regions, particularly in our time of need. Without the assistance of the interstate, volunteers many Central Coast residents would still be facing uncomfortable living conditions due to property damage. Special mention is also made to Ausgrid, whose teams worked tirelessly through the day and night to restore power. Many thanks to the local Ausgrid teams and to those who came out of the region to assist. Our gratitude also goes to Telstra, who assisted in restoring telecommunications, particularly in our outreach areas.

I would also like to thank my parliamentary colleagues, the Hon. Michael Keenan, the Minister for Justice, and Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, the Minister for Human Services. Both of them took the time to visit the Central Coast and meet with those on the ground who are working to provide assistance to our community.

The Central Coast still faces a long and difficult clean-up task ahead, and our thoughts remain with the families of the four people in the Hunter region whose lives were tragically claimed by this natural disaster. Tragically, while still unconfirmed, it appears that we lost one life in Dobell. Those who lost their homes will face the toughest journey back to normality. Councillor Doug Eaton, the Mayor of Wyong Shire Council, advised me that across the shire approximately 10,000 trees were brought down by the strong winds, causing extensive damage to homes, roads, powerlines and public infrastructure. I am advised the damage bill is in excess of $300 million.

The New South Wales recovery centre at Wyong has, to date—and it is only been opened just over a week—assisted 226 people since the storm. This is in addition to the thousands who applied for assistance through the Department of Human Services. I had the opportunity to visit the department's mobile service centre when it visited Killarney Vale. The centre aided individuals to access assistance, and also had social workers on hand to provide counselling, support and information during this difficult time. I spoke with one local resident whose house had been flooded with sewage. Within minutes of talking with a department staffer she had been approved for additional assistance. As you can appreciate, she was extremely grateful for this assistance and for the fact that their mobile service centre had made it easy for her to lodge her application.

The Central Coast community was certainly tested by these storms. Numerous roads were closed due to flood water, fallen trees and power poles. Associated problems arose when sewerage pumping stations lost power and were unable to function. Many of those on rural properties had no access to running water, including myself. Residents were not only dealing with damage to houses and no power but no bathroom facilities as well. There were, unfortunately, cases where sewage found its way back through the pipes into people's homes. Some of our communities in the Wyong valleys were entirely isolated for days.

Flooding forced the closure of my electorate office, but upon reopening we received numerous calls for assistance, which we were only too happy to provide: from people looking for a place to charge their phone—and even their power tools—to the Henry Kendall retirement village, which required help organising waste removal services. Many of the elderly residents there had not had power to their fridges for about four days, and we sent the message to dispose of that food.

Stories of the storm were shared and hands offered out in help. I would like to acknowledge my staff for the help they provided to local residents during this difficult time. Locals were forced from their homes and local hotels quickly found themselves with no vacancies. Many residents who rent their properties faced uncertain times immediately following the storms as they awaited news from their leasing agents as to whether or not damage would be repaired. For our local students, school holidays were extended for another week and some local schools were unable to open as a result of the storms.

Now that the clouds have cleared and the winds are quiet, we focus our attention on helping the vulnerable members of our community. Sadly, during the storm the mental health unit at Wyong Hospital was at capacity—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Proceedings suspended from 11:50 to 12:10

Sadly, during the storm the mental health unit at Wyong Hospital was at full capacity. We had many people self-admitting. It was a sad case of people just not knowing what was happening and where to go, and I cannot imagine how unsettling and terrifying this experience would have been for them. Unfortunately, many patients did not take their medication and are now suffering from extreme anxiety, and our challenge now is to provide assistance to the most vulnerable of our community, who have been adversely impacted by this natural disaster.

This storm highlighted the need for emergency pharmacy assistance centres should an event like this occur again, as many residents lost refrigerated medication due to the lack of power. Many residents also lost food as a result of the extended power failure, and local supermarkets quickly ran out of supplies. Bread and milk became scarce commodities, along with candles, torches and batteries. For those on the pension and other welfare payments, it was a costly exercise to replace what they had lost, and many are still struggling to replace spoiled food. I would like to thank the community organisations, including Wyong Neighbourhood Centre, and volunteers who extended a helping hand during this time. I am pleased to advise parliament that Wyong Shire Council has arranged a civic reception for all of our local volunteers, to be held next month.

But we must not forget the subsequent storms in Queensland and northern New South Wales. As the Prime Minister informed the House, approximately 9,000 residents in New South Wales communities on the upper North Coast were isolated for some time. Tragically, there were five fatalities at this time, including a young child, when vehicles were washed away by floodwaters. We must never forget the strength of Mother Nature and the inherent dangers during times of natural disaster.

Superintendent Daniel Sullivan, commander of the Brisbane Water Local Area Command, advised me:

As Local Emergency Management Controller I am extremely proud of how these difficult circumstances brought out the best in our community. The resilience and dignity shown under extreme conditions is something we can all be proud of.

It is true to say that the best of our community is seen during testing times, and this is certainly true of our community of Dobell, who, as always, banded together to show the real meaning of community spirit. The lack of power found many families and friends reconnecting over candlelight. Clubs with power became meeting places to share stories and have a laugh during a difficult time. Cries for help were placed on social media and answered immediately. Many opened up their homes and bathrooms to friends, relatives and strangers to have showers. It is this sense of community networking that makes me proud to represent Dobell. I know that we are a unique area, and the struggles we face demonstrate what a truly tight-knit community we are. I would like to thank everyone who helped during and after the storms and commend their efforts to the House.

Pat Conroy (Charlton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 20 and 21 April 2015, the Hunter region was hit by one of the most devastating weather events in recent history. The east coast low that moved across the Hunter, Central Coast, Illawarra and Sydney regions over those two days has left a legacy of physical damage and debris that will take months if not years to recover from. Of course, for some families whose loved ones lost their lives, the recovery will be heartbreakingly slow, and my thoughts are with those families.

In my region of Lake Macquarie, the damage was widespread. The cyclonic conditions of heavy rain and wind gusts, some in excess of 135 kilometres per hour, battered the area for over 24 hours. Fallen trees littered backyards and roads, and in the worst cases many large trees fell on homes and vehicles, causing major damage and trauma. Properties in low-lying lake-side areas of south-western Lake Macquarie were affected as the water levels in Lake Macquarie rose, with further localised flooding affecting homes and traffic movements around the lake. The swell in some parts of the lake also caused major damage to jetties and moored vessels.

The gale-force winds caused extensive damage to the electricity network, leaving tens of thousands of residents without power for up to a week. The outage also impacted on Hunter Water's pumping stations and reservoirs, leaving residents at Bonnells Bay, Cameron Park, Elermore Vale, New Lambton Heights, and Coal Point among those in the catchment area without both power and water, and the rest with limited water resources. With the heavy rainfall, most of Hunter Water's stormwater channels reached capacity, although I am pleased to see those in the flood prone areas of Cardiff and Wallsend did not breach and cause the extensive flooding in those areas that we saw in the 2007 'Pasha Bulker' storm.

More than 8,500 calls were placed with the State Emergency Services across the Hunter over the period, the largest number in their 60-year history. Like other members, I want to thank the SES for their swift and effective response. Theirs was a formidable task, and the speed with which extra crews and resources were brought into our area was excellent. When I called into the SES Headquarters in Cooranbong a fortnight ago, I met with many volunteers from as far abroad as South Australia and Western Australia, as well as crews from the South Coast of New South Wales, who had already completed clean-up operations in their own area before moving to the Hunter effort.

Similarly, the response from utilities providers must be commended. The Ausgrid, Hunter Water and Telstra networks were all significantly damaged, and each provider responded promptly by sending crews to work at all hours and in the most testing conditions, prioritising workloads and ensuring that the safety of the public and their workforce was paramount. Hunter Water, for example, was quick to provide bottled water to affected customers, and Telstra quickly ensured phone calls from public boxes were provided at no charge. Ausgrid, in particular, should be praised for their communications throughout the outage period, providing regular updates of affected areas and graphic maps to monitor reconnection areas.

Lake Macquarie City Council and Newcastle Council were quick to respond during the event with the closure of beaches and public facilities. As the clean-up kicks into gear, a number services are being provided. Lake Macquarie Council, for instance, is offering increased and free waste services, free mulch for gardens and an inspection service to assess provide advice on structural damage to homes. ABC 1233 Newcastle was the conduit that kept the region connected in the most isolated times. The broadcast team were able to immediately transition to emergency broadcasting mode, providing ongoing weather and power updates, safety advice and general information. For so many without power, the voices on the radio were their only source of information. Whether it was on a battery operated radio, in the car, or via the mobile app, the team from ABC 1233 were there throughout the day and night providing up-to-date information on power issues, road and school closures, public transport diversions and other essential information.

The Australian government's response, through both the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Assistance arrangements and the disaster relief payments, is welcome support for residents, businesses and councils who are significantly affected. The emergency response from all agencies has been, and continues to be, commendable, and I have the greatest praise for the work of those involved with the operation. I do want to thank the officers of Ministers Keenan and Payne, who provided invaluable support during this time. I am also thankful to the Deputy Prime Minister for his call to me during this period to ask what else could be done.

However, it would be remiss of us in this place if we did not acknowledge the opportunities learnt from the experience and to develop our emergency response system. To this end, I am pleased to have been included in the ongoing consultation of the Hunter Central Coast Recovery Group. From my conversations with SES volunteers and coordinators, I believe there is an opportunity for the role of the SES to be clarified and, in some cases, for the resilience of communities to be strengthened. There are, quite simply, some things that the SES cannot, or should not, be asked to do and, at times like this, it is prudent to acknowledge that more can be done when it comes to educating the public on this point. This frees up their resources when they are under incredible pressure for the benefit of all. There were a number of medical and aged-care facilities without power for an extended period of time, and that is of concern; we must use this experience as a catalyst to assess the appropriateness of these arrangements.

Whilst there can be no criticism of the ABC and their efforts on the ground to cover the situation, there is no doubt that the local team were under pressure as a result of reduced funding. There is clearly room for improvement in the Australian government's response. The criteria for payment under the Australian government's disaster recovery payment was recently changed and now requires at least 25 per cent damage to the habitable areas of a home to have sustained damage. This precludes residents who have suffered a loss of utilities, such as electricity, water, gas, sewerage services and other essential services. Not all people affected by the storm will qualify for this government support. This change has occurred in the last 18 months and it has had an impact on my community. For many families, their experiences in the storm meant several days without power or cooking facilities and damage to fences or external areas, while those with children face widespread and lengthy school closures. For some, the added costs of restocking a freezer or fridge after throwing out spoiled food, of eating out more frequently, of travelling further for essential items or for purchasing generator fuel have placed an unexpected strain on their ability to make ends meet. As I speak with my community, it is clear that this has placed considerable financial hardship on them, and we should be doing more to help.

Along with my Labor colleagues in the Hunter region, we have made representations to the Minister for Social Services about this issue. The department provides Commonwealth funding to community organisations that help address immediate basic needs in times of financial crisis through the Emergency Relief program. Our local ER service providers are telling us their resources are fully stretched and that they are struggling to cope with a massively increased demand for their services following the storm. For example, the Samaritans Foundation in Newcastle has brought forward the launch of its 2015 winter appeal and is establishing an information assistance centre in response to the storm event. This is a direct result of the changed criteria.

I accompanied the Centrelink disaster relief team when they visited communities in my area, such as Wyee and Cooranbong, and I met many families in great distress: I met grown men in tears, I met pensioners who had no idea how they were going to restock their fridges, I met families who had sewage coming through their bathrooms. There is no doubt that an opportunity exists for the Commonwealth to help support those in the community who are vulnerable as a result of this natural disaster. Minister Keenan has it in his discretion to loosen the criteria for these payments and, if he chooses not to do that, Minister Morrison has been asked by me and others to deliver one-off increased funding for emergency relief providers in storm affected regions, such as those in the Hunter. Despite my best efforts, I have been unable to secure a meeting with the minister regarding this request. With the need to respond to disaster affected areas in a timely manner, the government has to provide funding of this kind immediately. This should have been in the budget, and it was not. Coupled with the recent cuts to the ER program, we have a situation whereby charities and community groups are stretched beyond capacity although they are still not turning people away. To ask them to do more with less is unreasonable, but to put them in this position is simply cruel. These groups are the ideal organisations to deliver the much needed assistance. They have the networks and they have established trust with local communities that are essential for helping vulnerable people and those who are still affected.

In conclusion, I applaud the efforts of my community to weather and recover from the storm. I applaud the efforts of the volunteers from throughout Australia who flocked to the Hunter region to help. I applaud the speedy intervention of the New South Wales and federal governments. I applaud the efforts of ministers and their officers. I do acknowledge their great work in this area, but more needs to be done. I am very conscious that we should not politicise this issue, but we need to understand the impact of the changed assistance criteria for local communities. I have people in tears talking to me in person; I have people in tears contacting my office. We need to do more; we need to be compassionate when disaster strikes. I urge the current government to provide more emergency relief funding to organisations to assist in this dire time.

Wyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise to speak on this motion, and the other tragedy that struck our community in recent flooding events—not only in my electorate but also in the member for Petrie's electorate. Tragically, in my electorate we lost five lives. Our thoughts are very much with their families and their friends as they go through an unimaginably difficult period at the moment. But through all of the tragedy and all of the adversity that these floods brought to our communities, we really did see that rallying spirit of our communities, that, in the absolute worst of circumstances and in the face of horrific tragedy and adversity, we saw the best of our people and our communities. I want to use this opportunity to thank as many people as I possibly can.

The first people I want to talk about are the swiftwater rescue people. I would hate to think what they went through, and the fact that they put their lives on the line to save so many people is something that we should all be incredibly proud of. We just simply cannot thank them enough. I want to thank all of our emergency services—the police, the firies, the ambos and, in particular, our volunteer SES organisations. I went out and visited some of them in Caboolture and Woodford, and I am going to go to Bribie Island to say thank you to the SES there next week, when parliament rises. The SES is a most amazing organisation that people dedicate themselves to completely in the service of other people. Our community is stronger because of organisations like the SES and we are incredibly lucky to have such a big and vibrant SES volunteer organisation locally.

I want to share a couple of quick stories about the good Samaritans who came out during this horrific event. The Caboolture Historical Village opened up its doors way into the night for well over 35 people who were trapped and could not get home. What a great thing it is that community organisations give shelter and refuge to people in some pretty stressful and anxious periods. Also, the Caboolture Sports Club did an amazing job. They did the same thing—opening up their doors to many students and staff who got stuck at Morayfield State High just down the road. What a great thing it is for a local sports club to open up their doors in the same way. Up the road, in Elimbah, Julie, from the local business Health Concepts, not only opened up the doors of her business because people could not get home well into the night, but also cooked up some warm stew and fed people dinner as well. These stories make me so proud to represent our community. When friends help friends, when neighbours help neighbours and, in particular, when complete strangers reach out in a time of need and provide that support and help, it is a very special thing.

I also want to thank the people involved in the recovery—the council staff, the Insurance Council of Australia and Lifeline, who organised the donations. All of these organisations came together to help people in that recovery. That process has been moving smoothly. It has been a very effective process because of how quickly people have rallied to that cause. Finally, to any members of the community who still require assistance or help: please get in touch with me and my office and we can point you in the right direction to find that assistance.

Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I woke on the morning of Tuesday, 21 April at about seven o'clock. I was having a coffee just before getting ready to get the kids to school—Oscar to kindergarten and Molly-Joy to preschool—when suddenly I heard a sound I do not think I will ever forget. It sounded like a thunderstorm. It sounded like an almighty clap of thunder. And I heard my husband shout in a way that I do not think I will ever forget either. We saw a massive 60 metre blackbutt tree crash through our lounge room onto our car. If it had been an hour later, there would have been two kids and one adult who may not have survived that accident.

Cyclonic winds devastated our entire community. There were winds of up to 125 kilometres an hour, with average speeds of around 90 to 100 kilometres an hour. There were winds that saw trees come down in places that you would never have imagined possible. We saw great big trees with great big trunks come down, almost as if they had been uprooted from the very bottom with a shovel. I am incredibly grateful that we saw no lives lost on the Central Coast directly as a result of the trees and the storm damage. That morning, as so many cars on the roads had been overturned due to the winds, we were encouraged not to drive and to stay home that day. Children stayed home from schools such as Empire Bay Public School and Copacabana Public School. My daughter's own preschool, Little Miracles, closed because a massive tree had fallen in the playground.

I think we saw the extent of the damage that this particular storm caused. Driving around the electorate, once the winds and the storm had subsided, I saw roofs that had blown off. I saw trees that were still strewn across roads. I saw boats that had smashed into sea walls across the Brisbane Water. I saw wharves that had been smashed as though somebody had taken a hammer to them. But, miraculously, nobody was killed by the falling trees or the powerlines. Our thoughts do go to the family of a local resident from East Gosford who was tragically killed while crossing a road at the height of the storm. It was amazing, during all of this, to see the poppy memorial that we had at Gosford Memorial Park in the lead-up to Anzac week. Forty thousand poppies planted by members of our community remained intact.

As the days unfolded, the extent of the damage became very, very clear. Fifty to 60 local SES volunteers worked tirelessly around the clock, matched by just as many from interstate. I got to visit them at their Erina headquarters, and I was so impressed to see how our community came together—volunteers every single one of them. While I was there, a fellow called Mark, from North Gosford, just popped in and said, 'You guys don't know me, but I need to make you dinner.' He said, 'How many orders? What can I do? What can I make? What can I contribute?' It was just extraordinary to hear.

At the peak of the storm's damage, around 80,000 homes across the Central Coast lost power for up to 10 days. I know that Ausgrid worked around the clock in difficult and dangerous conditions. I know also that they worked incredibly hard, together with our emergency services personnel, to make sure that our water and our sewerage connections were not lost. That was critical at one point. I know that Telstra and telecommunications workers also worked around the clock to make sure our communities were not isolated. We did have some instances of isolation, including in Lower Mangrove. It took some days to restore those services, such was the extent of the damage.

I know it is very hard to quantify the damage. It has been estimated it is going to cost around $300 million, and I know there are thousands of insurance claims that will need to be processed. But the thing I am most proud of is how we all pulled together—one of the hallmarks, I think, of our great community's response to the storm. Gosford City Council workers worked tirelessly around the clock clearing roads and offering free showers at the stadium. They are still offering people the opportunity to dump their rubbish at the rubbish tip for free, and there is a whole lot of mulch going for people to regenerate their gardens at the moment.

There was incredible leadership by the Brisbane Water Local Area Command, led by the indefatigable Superintendent Daniel Sullivan, who led the emergency operations committee for the Gosford council area. I have to tell one particular story. On the Sunday following the storm, I received a tweet from somebody whose grandparents were in Mooney Mooney. They said, 'Please help us. Our grandparents have got their sewage overflowing because they still don't have their power restored.' I rang Superintendent Sullivan. Within the hour, not only had they escalated the issue to Ausgrid; police sent cars out to personally check on the welfare of residents, and council workers actually went out there and drove from home to home to check whether they needed generators to make sure that we did not see a worsening crisis. It was just an extraordinary response by an extraordinary community.

We saw neighbours helping neighbours. I have heard stories in this place already of neighbours helping neighbours. Clubs opened up their facilities, including Everglades, Diggers, Woy Woy Bowling Club, Umina bowling club, Ettalong, Central Coast Leagues, Magenta Shores and many others. I worked with Christine Burge from Mary Mac's, who does an extraordinary job. We grabbed a whole pile of food from ALDI at Point Clare and took it down to Mary Mac's, to make sure people in need had the food when it was available. People donated their time and their food to Coast Shelter.

Our local media outlets did a wonderful job keeping everybody informed. The response on social media, on Twitter—telling us which schools were open, which schools were closed, how to access some of the funding and some of the assistance available—was just extraordinary. I want to call out and say a big thankyou particularly to Sea FM, who really kept listeners informed all along the way, particularly during their morning show with Byron and Kristie. Also, the Scott Levi program on ABC local radio was amazing. I spoke on it once, and I was talking about the damage that a particular family had sustained. They were not well-off individuals. They had really sustained a terrific amount of damage. They told a story about their little fellow whose mattress had been completely sodden—well at least down the bottom half. They said, 'It's okay. We'll get by. He'll sleep on the top half of this mattress.' Within seconds of telling that story, the ABC was flooded with calls of offers of assistance from our community. I think it really brings out the best of who we are.

I think we can also be really proud of our state and federal government. Gosford was one of 11 local government areas to be declared a natural disaster area, and that gave our community access to the disaster relief assistance administered by the New South Wales government to provide immediate relief with food hampers, emergency accommodation, replacement of essential items and the like. The federal government of course backed this up with the disaster recovery payment of $1,000 for individuals and $400 for children whose homes had been badly damaged, who had suffered serious injury or, unfortunately, lost a love one during the storm.

I know of several families in my electorate of Robertson who were able to access that payment. They spoke with great relief to me about what it did for them. In total, 3,340 claims were paid to the people in Robertson, which was a total of $4.117 million. We also made available the disaster recovery allowance for those who lost income as a result of the disaster which provided income assistance of up to 13 weeks at the Newstart or youth allowance rate.

I really want to thank our Prime Minister, our Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss, the Minister for Justice Michael Keenan, all of whom kept in regular contact with me to make sure our community had all of the services, assistance and support that we needed. It was just extraordinary to see how much care was taken at the local level.

I really want to pay huge thanks to senator Marise Payne. Not only did I receive offers of assistance from her but she also made sure that the local Centrelink office was open on Anzac Day weekend which I visited. She personally worked with me to make sure that, in areas where people were struggling the most with lack of food, challenges in relation to power outages and other things, we could actually send somebody there to directly work with them and coordinate getting them to where they needed to be in terms of access to services. Marise, I thank you very, very much.

I have to say that the biggest thanks of all goes to our incredible community who pulled together and showed the true heartbeat of the Central Coast. To the 60 SES workers every day—that is a huge ask from any community—a big thank you to all of you, particularly to Rolf and Sue Garda; Stephen Tobin; Gosford City Council; Stan Ancztak; Garry Hemsworth; Glen Pestell; Phil Rudd; Adam Nesbit; and CEO Paul Anderson.

To Brisbane Water Local Area Command, you are led by an outstanding commander and every single one of you reflects the outstanding work that you do in our community. I cannot thank you enough for your care and compassion for people who are doing it tough in a time of need. To Ausgrid, Telstra and emergency service workers, thank you. At a time when we looked our worst, certainly on the ground, I am proud to say that we really showcased the best of who we are as a community.

Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The storms that wreaked havoc on Robertson electorate also wreaked havoc on the Shortland electorate. The devastation and the impact on the lives of people in the communities I represent was enormous.

There were winds of 135 kilometres per hour in Lake Macquarie. Trees were uprooted. Trees fell across the road. Trees knocked down powerlines. Trees caused enormous devastation.

In addition to that, we had flooding, and people were forced to leave their homes. There were electricity outages that lasted for some 10 days. It impacted on telephone services and sewerage. Telstra brought in generators from outside the area so that they could actually operate their services. Communities were totally isolated by water and then not able to make contact by telephone.

I compare it to the 2007 storms that hit the region. Those storms were very intense with water initially but, after a time, they subsided. The devastation that took place in April was more sustained and the outages were for longer periods of time, and I think the overall impact of the storms was greater. I spoke to the mayor of Lake Macquarie, Mayor Jodie Harrison, and she said to me that the damage caused in the storms was greater than the damage caused in 2007.

As with the member for Robertson, the thing that I found phenomenal was how communities came together. In an area that had a street where there was no electricity, everybody joined together for a community barbecue. If a person had a generator, their neighbours linked up to that generator. There was a really strong spirit of community that existed throughout the storms.

I was very fortunate: my office was one of the only offices in the Hunter that retained its power through the storms. Streets around it had no power whatsoever, so I was using my office as a hub, where people could come to charge their mobile phones, boil some water to put in a thermos and bring their iPads to—that was really important because it gave them access to news as well as the ability to communicate through their email. People would go into the cafe next door to my office for a coffee and at the same time they would be plugging their phones in to recharge them. People in the community gave enormous support to each other.

I should at this stage mention Minister Keenan particularly. He rang and spoke to me on the Tuesday night, and I appreciated that call. Earlier in the day, the Minister for Human Services's staff contacted my office and offered all the support that was available. The Centrelink team worked over the Anzac Day weekend, and a bus went to visit San Remo, one area that suffered considerable devastation.

I would like to mention the San Remo Neighbourhood Centre. They lost their electricity, but, when they finally got it on towards the end of the week, they held a community barbecue. Everyone from around the community came to get some hot food, something that they had not had for a few days. In addition to that, the neighbourhood centre are one of the emergency relief providers in the area. They have a very small budget but they were there providing food and all the necessities that people were without. It is not a wealthy area, but it was so great to see that community supporting itself and everybody working together.

If there is anything that I am critical about, when I mention the emergency relief program, it is the changes that have taken place. It is now very difficult for people to access any funding through that relief program. The program kicked in in 2013 when my electorate was devastated by bushfires. At that time—once again, I must say that both those ministers were fantastic—people were able to access the thousand dollars when they needed it, as well as the $400 for children. I had people contacting my office who had suffered enormous loss. One in particular sticks in my mind: a young family, both parents working, renting—they went out on the Monday and did their shopping and filled their freezer. They spent $450 on food. Then they were without electricity for eight days, and there was no assistance for them. They did not have insurance, because people who do not have a lot of money tend not to take out insurance. That is a cost that they think they can afford to carry.

I would like to encourage the government to revisit that. I would like to join with the member for Charlton in his call to Minister Morrison to give a little extra money to that emergency relief program in our areas because there has really, really been a strain on that program. People are in need. People are hurting. I would not be an effective representative of my community if I did not get in there and ask for that support.

I would also like to join the previous speakers and thank those phenomenal emergency workers who were out there in the most dangerous conditions working to remove trees. I was speaking to one of those workers, Corey, who was coming home from an 18-hour stint. He is with the Rural Fire Service. He was driving past Belmont Golf Club just as power poles came across the road. That was on the Wednesday, and that cut the Pacific Highway going south. He stayed there until the police arrived and could make sure that it was safe for people in the area. The level of devastation was enormous. The commitment by all those volunteer organisations—the SES, the Rural Fire Service, Fire and Rescue, and I think we even had some SES personnel coming from Victoria—was enormous, and I thank them all. I thank the wonderful ABC for the fantastic job that they do getting that information out to people so that they know what is happening all the time—they know that it is unsafe to be on the road; they know that they should not drive a certain way because it is flooded. I am eternally grateful to them.

These events happen fairly regularly throughout the whole of Australia, impacting not just on Shortland electorate but on the electorates of many members in this House. I think that, as a government and as members of parliament, we have to work towards developing a better plan to address these emergency events. The response that takes place and the way everyone kicks in and works hard at the time of the accident is fantastic. I would like to thank all those people who were involved in providing that relief. (Time expired)

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Two weeks ago, on Friday, flooding occurred in parts of Brisbane and the Moreton Bay region. Normally, in May 58 millimetres is the average rainfall. On this Friday afternoon and night, 400 millimetres fell in parts of Moreton Bay. This caused chaos on Friday afternoon, with many homes flooding, sporting grounds flooding and many local roads flooding. In fact, people were unable to get home on that Friday afternoon. I know a local worker in Clontarf who was stranded until 10 o'clock that night. I know of other people who were working in Brisbane city who had to walk home from the city because it was taking so long. Other people who were travelling back from the Sunshine Coast could not get down to parts of Brisbane due to the highway being cut and got in at midnight. At a school in the local area—Grace Lutheran College—the principal stayed back with students until 10 o'clock at night, when school had finished at three. There was absolute chaos. Four hundred millimetres is, of course, a massive amount of rain.

The next day, after this severe flooding, we heard about the devastation in many parts of my electorate. Hundreds of houses were partially or completely flooded. My own home in Woody Point was partially flooded. Water came into the rumpus room and soaked all the carpet. Down in Bracken Ridge, homes were flooded. Even in the neighbouring seat, over in Sandgate—down on Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue and on Flinders Parade—many homes were flooded. But there was particular damage in the Moreton Bay region, in Griffin and Mango Hill. The local progress association hall at Mango Hill had water right through it. There was also bad damage in Rothwell, near the roundabout, and out in Deception Bay. Police in fact deemed 106 houses in Deception Bay uninhabitable. That is 106 families that were displaced—and, of course, in the massive deluge that swept through the region on Friday and Saturday morning, five residents up around Caboolture lost their lives.

I would like to let the people in my electorate who have been affected by the storm and flooding know that they are not alone in this. As your local federal member and a leader in the community, I speak on behalf of many people in the electorate in saying that we are thinking of you—those who were particularly affected, with houses flooded and property damaged—at this time. Immediate hardship assistance is available for people directly impacted by the flood to meet their immediate essential needs for food, clothing, medical supplies and temporary accommodation. More and more streets are being added to the assistance zones. You can go to the Queensland government website to check if your area is included in this. The Moreton Bay Region State Emergency Service Unit was and is also there to help. They received more than 600 calls on that Friday evening and are working day and night around the area to get in touch with people and help them out.

I take this opportunity to thank the Moreton Bay SES and our local emergency services—police, fireys, ambulance officers and even the Redcliffe Coast Guard out on the water, who helped boaties with debris and other issues. I also thank the Moreton Bay Regional Council, the Red Cross, Lifeline, GIVIT representatives and the local police who set up the community recovery hub at the Rothwell community hall on Morris Road. In addition, I thank the state member for Murrumba—I know he was out and about and was on the scene early—as well as local councillors, the mayor, all the staff at the Moreton Bay Regional Council and other government staff. I know the state government has set up an inquiry in relation to the Moreton Bay Rail Link to ensure that the flooding did not have an impact on its construction. I thank the state government for doing that.

I also say thank you to the many brave and good-hearted people who helped their neighbours or those stranded in the storm. We will never know who they all were or what they all did, but they did things like helping neighbours to remove items or to sandbag. Their good deeds did not go unnoticed by the people in our community. Thank you to them. You are all heroes. There were a couple of people I did hear about who stood out. There was a father of three, Andy Cooper, who brought pizza to flood stranded commuters who had been waiting for hours and hours and had had nothing to eat. He went and bought a whole lot of pizzas. I hear that Domino's has offered him a year's supply, so well done to them as well. There were also all the people who parked and got into the floodwater at the bridge on Cowen Terrace in North Lakes to remove debris so water could drain. There were stories right around the electorate.

I want to tell the people in my electorate who are still feeling the ramifications of the storm: I sincerely hope your recovery will be fast. If you would like information about immediate hardship assistance, you can call the Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349. Next week, and in the coming weeks when we are not in parliament, I will be out and about in the community. I encourage you to contact my office and let us know if we can help in any way. I would like to hear your story. I thank everyone in the Petrie electorate for pulling together and helping their neighbours.

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to acknowledge all the other speakers on this motion about how these storms have affected so many people along our eastern seaboard. I will concentrate my contribution on the effects on the electorate that I represent, Hughes. In my electorate, we have the Georges River, which is prone to flooding and has a long history of flooding going back over 100 years. Unfortunately, with these latest storms, the banks of the river burst and several streets were ordered to evacuate. They were Rickard Road; Arthur Street; Riverside Drive between Arthur Street and Newbridge Road; Newbridge Road between Rickard Road and Governor Macquarie Drive; and Davey Robertson Drive. Milperra Road, Governor Macquarie Drive and Henry Lawson Drive were also cut off. Across the electorate, the State Emergency Service did a fantastic job, responding to 3,678 calls.

But there are lessons we should learn from this latest bout of flooding. The first lesson is that claims by some that there is a long-term drying trend in south-east Australia are simply debunked by the evidence. You only have to look at the charts of the Bureau of Meteorology to clearly see, as Dorothea Mackellar said over 100 years ago, that we live in a land 'of drought and flooding rains'—and that will continue for years to come. Claims of more extreme weather are also simply not supported by the evidence. We should look at and learn from our history.

One of the worst floods we had in my electorate was back in 1956. I have here a news article from The Sydney Morning Herald of 7 February 1956 just to show how bad these floods can actually be in our area. It says:

The biggest storm in living memory has left 8000 people homeless. Damage to homes and properties is estimated at many millions of pounds.

From Wednesday night, when the deluge began, until 8 pm yesterday, 12.14 inches of rain fell in the metropolitan area. The places worst hit by floods were the Liverpool and Fairfield districts, Milperra, parts of Bankstown, Richmond, Panania and Penrith.

Police and local government officials estimate the damage in Liverpool and Fairfield municipalities alone at £4 million. At least 5000 people in these shires are homeless, and more than 1000 houses are flooded.

In the outer suburbs of Sydney about 3000 people were evacuated from their homes. All low-lying areas beyond Bankstown are under feet of water.

The article goes on to say:

The Mayors of Liverpool and Fairfield said that in the two shires over 300 miles of roadways had either washed away or been severely damaged. They believed at least 150 miles would have to be rebuilt and the rest extensively repaired.

It continues:

Council officials said police, army, civilian workers and council officials had rescued more than 500 people since last night.

Many of them had been in grave danger of drowning when rescued off rooftops and flooded verandas, fence posts, trees and tops of cars and were taken by army 'ducks' and boats.

That was the 1956 flood—far worse than what we had recently. But our records in Liverpool actually go further back than that, to the 1800s. We can see that the worst flood in our area, even though the one in 1956 seems quite horrific, was back in 1873, when the waters were two metres higher as measured at the weir at Liverpool. We had flooding two metres higher in 1873.

We need to be aware that these floods of the past will occur again. So we have to make those preparations. We should be making sure we have measures in place now so that, whether it is next year, in 10 years time, in 20 years time or in 50 years time, when those floods come again we are prepared for them—because, as sure as night follows day, as Dorothea Mackellar said, we live in a land 'of droughts and flooding rains'. As a government we need to make sure that we are prepared for that.

Just quickly, in the remaining seconds before we adjourn, I say a special thankyou to the State Emergency Service workers who did such a wonderful job responding to those many calls from throughout my electorate—as I said previously, over 3,000 separate calls. We take our hats off to them and thank them.

Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further statements, the discussion is concluded.