Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister and the LNP should be hanging their heads in shame at the way the people of Townsville are being treated as a result of a major flood. As I have stated in this place many times, Townsville has experienced the worst floods in our recorded history. Townsville residents' homes, belongings and livelihoods have been destroyed. And, to top this off, the Morrison LNP government is denying many Townsville residents vital assistance. How cruel and stingy does the Prime Minister have to be to deny disaster victims vital assistance at a time when they are at their most distressed?

My office has been inundated with calls and emails about the confusion and restrictions that Prime Minister Scott Morrison has placed on the disaster relief funding. Grown men and women in tears—I say shame on this government. I will read an email that I received from Townsville resident Murray from Kirwan. He writes:

Our home like many in Townsville has been impacted by the floods.

While our damage is nowhere near as great as others, we have been inundated with mould, as well as some water ingress.

For the first time in my 65 years I have requested a government payment, and been rewarded by waiting on the phone for 45 minutes while my information is recorded.

This is farcical.

The request line is only open during business hours.

Some of us work and should not be waiting for this length of time during office hours.

I have now been told that they will 'call me back'.

Of course I do not expect this to happen.

If such a benefit is offered the application process should not be as stressful as my experience.

And you are absolutely right, Murray: the process shouldn't be stressful and the problem lies squarely with Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

And here is another email from another resident, David. His pool has been ruined, and he has mould all through his house. He writes:

I have been told I would get a call back from someone that day and did not.

I called again this morning and was told that there may be wait times to be called back by a week or maybe longer just to find out if I'm approved or not.

Are you able to find out why we are being put on a wait list instead of a decision being made there and then?

Obviously due to this constantly happening it's causing long wait periods which makes it hard to come up with the funds to fix the damage and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's annoyed about this.

Well, David is right: he is not the only person who was annoyed. There are thousands across Townsville who, like him, are experiencing some waiting times and being denied vital assistance.

I visited a family in Robert Street the other day who had been told they were not eligible for any money. There was a blind man in that place. They had nothing. They had an esky with ice and soft drink. They had no food. This is unacceptable. (Time expired)