Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the people of Far North Queensland, who are facing some very challenging and dangerous days ahead. Tropical Cyclone Debbie is likely to particularly affect the people of the electorates of Dawson and Herbert. It appears that the severe weather has already claimed a life. Police have confirmed that strong winds contributed to a car crash that killed a tourist near Proserpine this morning. Tropical Cyclone Debbie is expected to intensify into a severe category 4 cyclone before making landfall between Townsville and Proserpine around 8am tomorrow morning. The region is already experiencing winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour along the coast and the wind strength will continue to increase through the day. There has been up to 50 millimetres of rain along the coast and this will continue today and tomorrow.

Federal and Queensland authorities are preparing for the onset of a cyclone. The Australian Defence Force is pre-positioning assets ready for the cyclone, including HMAS Choules, to assist in the response. Our emergency services are the best in the world in preparing for and responding to natural disasters. Our message to the people of the region facing the cyclone is to please heed their advice. Evacuation orders are already in place for parts of the Burdekin Shire Council and the Whitsunday Regional Council. For those in the path of Tropical Cyclone Debbie, please take care and stay safe. If you have received an official evacuation order you and your family must leave home immediately. Seek shelter with friends and family who are inland or on higher ground. If you decide to shelter at home make sure you are prepared. Have your emergency kit ready and listen to the radio for cyclone updates. Check on your neighbours and vulnerable friends and family. Help them get to an evacuation centre. With the forecast of very heavy rain in the coming days, do not drive through floodwaters. Remember, if it is flooded, forget it.

To all the police and other emergency workers—volunteers and full-time emergency service workers who give up their time and courageously put their own lives at risk and will coordinate this response, together with the ADF—we say thank you for your services. Your selflessness, your commitment, your tireless dedication to your fellow Australians is the very best of the Australian spirit. Time and time again Australians show grace under pressure, bravery in the face of danger and rally to help each other without a second thought. These virtues will be on display over the next few days, where Australians face the worst that nature can throw at us. I have no doubt—and I am sure I speak on behalf of all members of this House—the people of Far North Queensland will face the storm with courage and resilience, and the emergency workers there and the members of the ADF who are there will pull together, as Australians always do, to meet the challenge and recover from the impact after the storm has passed.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Prime Minister, for your words. I wish to say to Australians listening to question time today that despite the cut and thrust of the next hour all of us will be thinking of Queensland and what it is undergoing in the coming days. From Townsville, in particular, to Mackay—household names like Ayr, Bowen, Proserpine, and Hamilton and Magnetic Islands and all the other islands—we are thinking of them today. I want to acknowledge the member for Herbert, Cathy O'Toole, who has taken leave from this place to be with her community. I spoke to her just before question time. She certainly informs me that in her opinion everything that ought to be in place is in place, from the Navy to the RAAF to the Army, local government and state. She said they are doing a mighty job. Indeed, no doubt all Queenslanders in the affected areas are.

Queenslanders are a practical people, and they are all too familiar with facing natural disasters. But every cyclone is different and unpredictable. So all of us strongly urge everyone in affected areas to pay attention to the warnings and to listen to the authorities, as the Prime Minister has outlined. If you have been told to evacuate, do not delay. If you are staying put, use the time to prepare. Have the first-aid kit and the water and the other essential supplies ready. Please be good neighbours. Check to see whether older residents need help. Charge your phones while the power is on. Make sure your pets are safe inside. But, most of all, look after each other and stay safe.

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to add to what the two previous speakers have said here. The mayor of Newcastle rang me after Cyclone Larry and said, 'Your real problems will set in in two years time', and I would like everyone in the parliament to understand that I found that to be extremely true. People took terrible punishment at the time and, as the Prime Minister said, showed great resilience and courage in the face of great tragedy. But two years later very serious problems set in for us. So I would just like to thank both the leaders but also wanted to add that as one of the areas also under threat here.

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to briefly comment and thank the Prime Minister and opposition leader. It looks as though the eye of the cyclone will cross tomorrow morning in my electorate perhaps somewhere between Ayr and Mackay. It is tracking further south. I have to say that local mayors with whom I have been in contact over the past 24 hours have been particularly gracious of the support from the federal government in terms of the Defence Force deployments. That is very pleasing to see. All we can say is that it is in the hands of God at the moment as to what happens. We can only hope and pray that either the cyclone changes course or the damage is at least as it can be.