Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

MITCHELL () (): Like many others in this place, communities in my electorate have recently been dealing with severe weather, storms and flooding. Flooding occurred across the Meander Valley, Northern Midlands, Kentish, Break O'Day and Central Highlands local government municipalities and others. While the weather has eased over recent weeks, the impacts of the floods are ongoing as clean-up and repairs continue. I recently spent time in these communities, including with the Prime Minister, inspecting damage and discussing with communities ways in which the Albanese government can help get things back on track.

We know people need support and we will do everything in our power to help. The Prime Minister spoke in the last sitting in the House about his recent visits to flood-affected areas in Australia, including Deloraine. The Meander River flooded higher and more rapidly than ever before. The people of Deloraine this time had prior warning and, fortunately, through quick action and planning, no human life was lost and families were able to evacuate before waters rose. From my discussions with farmers and primary producers, livestock losses were minimal; though, of course, there was quite a lot of agricultural damage to seeds and new plantings.

Businesses and some houses in Deloraine were badly affected. Mick and the team at Highland Haulage were one of the worst-impacted businesses in the town, with floodwaters entering their warehouse and rising above the height of anyone standing in this place if we were on the ground floor. I spoke with Mick, and all he wants to talk about was how lucky he was compared to others—generous, community-minded, thinking of others before himself. Pictures were shown nationwide of a storage container full of possessions of a family in Deloraine that had floated down the river, such was the strength of these floods. Unfortunately that family lost everything in the container, such was the water damage. The container itself was secured before it hit the bridge in Deloraine which connects the east and west of the town.

Across town at the footy oval the Deloraine Football Club was once again left to clean up after clubrooms were flooded for the third time in 11 years in what are supposedly 100-year floods. This tells us something, which is that climate change is real, the impacts are real and the increasing severity is real. I thank the Prime Minister for visiting the club with me on 19 October, where he heard firsthand the issues that they are facing and what is needed to protect the community from future flood events. I look forward to continuing to work with the club and the council on those plans. Still in the Meander Valley, in Meander and Hadspen, the Meander River and the South Esk River broke their banks, forcing the community to evacuate and do their best to protect property with sandbags and other measures.

At this point I'd like to highlight the work of the local council, community groups and members of the community for their contribution in response to the floods. Thank you to the council workers, the emergency services workers, the SES and other volunteers who acted tirelessly throughout days and nights to ensure people remained safe and sound. Thanks also to the power workers who work for TasNetworks and Aurora Energy, who keep the power poles active and the electricity on during the worst of weather.

In the Kentish municipality, in the north-west of my electorate, flooding impacted the town of Sheffield and the town of Railton. I joined the former mayor, Tim Wilson—not the former member for Goldstein, people will be relieved to hear—in Sheffield last week to discuss those flood events. We travelled to Railton and visited the local post office. While floodwaters did breach sandbagging attempts and seeped through into the floor, as with most houses in the area, stock and furniture were able to be lifted off the ground beforehand and no great damage was sustained, unlike in earlier floods. While in Kentish I spoke with the mayor about flood mitigation plans that do have federal support. These plans continue to be developed in consultation with the community and it is hoped they can begin soon.

Whilst travelling in the north of my electorate and visiting flood-affected communities, I also headed to the Break O'Day municipality in the north-east where I visited St Helens. There, residents told me about the measures they took to get through the deluge and the floods, and about the impact the flood has had on roads. A journey that would normally take me two hours took six due to landslips, floods and other diversions in the area. Across my electorate, many others found themselves isolated until floodwaters receded. Once I finally arrived in Northern Midlands it was clear too that they had not escaped, with the South Esk River in full flood, breaking its banks and providing a constant threat to neighbouring properties. The township of Poatina continues to be affected, with roads still closed.

It was clear during these visits that the communities have received a great amount of support from locals, their councils and their emergency service authorities and from neighbouring communities who themselves had avoided flood devastation but still wanted to help out their fellow Tasmanians. It was also clear that support was needed from the federal government to help get these communities back on track following these floods.

I was proud to host the Prime Minister and the Minister for Emergency Management, Senator Murray Watt, in Tasmania to witness the effects of these floods firsthand and to meet the people who helped deal with them. The Prime Minister also visited Latrobe in the neighbouring electorate of Braddon. It is why the federal government, in conjunction with the Tasmanian government, announced disaster assistance for flood-impacted communities in Tasmania. In total, 17 local government municipalities are eligible for assistance, including five in Lyons. Assistance is being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-state disaster recovery funding arrangements, which provide assistance of up to $1,000 and emergency accommodation assistance for individuals or families who have been directed or advised by a relevant authority to evacuate from residences or have been displaced from their residence due to flooding.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 10 : 44 to 10 : 56

I also note that financial institutions offer hardship provisions to delay repayments of loans and mortgages when circumstances such as these do arise.

One of the other things available to people in my community, other than the disaster recovery funding of $1,000 for families and individuals, is the up to $25,000 for small businesses and primary producers. A number of eligibility criteria do apply. I encourage small businesses and primary producers in my electorate to contact my office, and we can provide the details of how to access those grants.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Prime Minister and the Minister for Emergency Management for their visit to these affected communities and for their work in providing support to those who need it most at this time. I am proud to be a member of a government that responds to support communities affected by such significant natural disasters, and I am sorry to say that it looks like we're going to have more of these natural disasters more often and increasingly severely. That's what the experts tell us, and that's certainly what's being borne out by recent events. But that's what being in government is about: providing support and delivering for the community.

I'm incredibly proud of the support the Lyons community always shows to each other during tough times, and I'm so thankful that no loss of human life was recorded in Tasmania during these floods. Discussions have already commenced about ways we can further improve flood mitigation and stop these devastating events from taking such a continuous toll on our communities.

Climate change cannot be ignored here. We've been warned about more frequent and severe weather events, and they are happening. They're not happening in the future. They're not being talked about in the future. They are happening right now. They are here. You can't turn a blind eye and pretend it's not real. We had a decade of that nonsense, and it's time to get rid of it and start dealing with the reality we face.

The evidence is in every flooded river, every broken house and every shattered business. I look forward to participating in these discussions and working with all levels, colours and kinds of government. This is across parties. This is not political. We need to find solutions. I look forward to working with everybody that I can to provide better protection and support to local communities.

Tasmanians came out in force during these events to help each other. The support that communities have shown, especially the volunteers—there's nothing in it for them. They turn out day and night in the most appalling weather, and put themselves at risk, to help others in need. That is a testament not just to people in my state and my electorate but to people across the country, none more so than those across regional communities. I know the member for Riverina will agree with me that people in regional communities look out for each other when times are tough, and certainly, with these floods and these disasters, for many communities it has never been tougher. We need to be there for them. This government will be there for them. We are there for them now. We'll never stop making sure that we can do whatever we can to support them in their time of need.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

r McCORMACK () (): On some points I do agree with the member for Lyons. The fact is that we need to do more. I'm hoping that the federal government, in conjunction with the states, can do more, particularly when it comes to building the necessary water infrastructure for flood mitigation. Building dams is not just about flood mitigation. There is a great expectation, a great commitment and a great obligation, indeed, on states to get on board with the Commonwealth and build water infrastructure.

I know the New South Wales Premier, Dominic Perrottet, has had a lot to say, as he needs to, about Warragamba Dam. If it is good enough for the people who live in the shadow of Warragamba Dam to have that piece of water infrastructure raised for flood mitigation, it must be good enough for the people who live downstream from Wyangala Dam. Forbes has been flooded, on average, every seven years since 1887, with six of those times, if you count two this year, in the past 12 years. Yet there seems to be some sort of reluctance to commit the necessary funding for Wyangala Dam to be raised by 10 metres, which would provide an additional 650 gigalitres of capacity for that dam. Imagine the agriculture you could grow from 650 gigalitres. But not just that; it would also help in the event of flooding.

We mourned the loss of little Jayden El Jer, just five years old, who was caught up in flash flooding near Tullamore in September. We grieve for his family. We mourn his loss. It serves as a tragic reminder of the ferocity of floods. It serves as a poignant reminder to the fact that we cannot replace human lives lost in these flooding events.

Forbes has a very resilient community. I was pleased that Prime Minister Albanese visited the town, along with Premier Perrottet—in fact, it was Premier Perrottet's second visit; he was there late last year in November with Scott Morrison, then Prime Minister, to look at the situation. Prime Minister Albanese was there on 17 October. He was there with Murray Watt, the Minister for Emergency Management; with me; and with Steph Cooke, who is not only the New South Wales Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience but also, most importantly, the Minister for Flood Recovery. I said to the Premier then that the state needs to come on board and raise Wyangala Dam.

Since that press conference and visit by the Prime Minister and Premier, the Lachlan River at Forbes peaked at 10.67 metres on Saturday 5 November, just below the June 1952 flood level of 10.8 metres. The 1952 flood, I'm reliably told by Bruce Adams, a long time Forbes resident, was a bit of an aberration because they built a levee bank near Red Bend, near the Catholic college there, which built up the water and then the integrity of the new structure gave way and sent almost a tsunami, quite a wave, through the town. That caused a lot of hardship. Of course, it caused the river level, which is generally measured at the Forbes Iron Bridge, to reach a record height. The waters went through the CBD.

This time, again, farmers copped the brunt of it. Many farmers throughout the Riverina and central west, particularly around Forbes and Wagga Wagga, have lost crops. Not so much livestock—they've been able to get livestock to higher ground because of the warnings given—but they've lost a lot of cropping. That's devastating for those farmers, who were hoping for a good season, worried about the fact that the ground—which was already saturated—would prevent them from getting their heavy harvesting gear into the paddocks. To then have their crops waterlogged and ruined is a bitter blow they didn't need.

The Murrumbidgee River at Wagga Wagga peaked at 9.72 metres on Friday 4 November. Again, I'm very pleased that state water—and I will give them some credit—got their mathematics right and minimised the flood damage. I know they cop a lot of criticism, and I know a lot of people think that the Blowering and Burrinjuck dams and other water infrastructure are there if not for hydroelectricity then for flood mitigation. We forget sometimes that dams were actually built for irrigators. We forget sometimes that, if they let the water go too soon, there's no water for the irrigation season later in the year. Those irrigators pay handsomely, dearly, for that water. The necessity to let the water go at the right time so as not to upset the irrigators, so as not, perhaps, to cause floods later on, is a fine balance. It's a delicate balance. State water, I have to say, have managed it reasonably well, given the fact that a lot of properties were not inundated.

The levee around North Wagga—it didn't top that important bank. Many people inside the levee at North Wagga were saved, even though they had to be evacuated. That, of course, causes distress. It causes a logistical nightmare and it causes heartache for many, but it's better to evacuate and follow the authorities' orders than to stay at home, refuse to budge and then have your house inundated and potential tragedy. I would urge and encourage people to adhere to the warnings given by our authorities. We're expecting another 60 to 70 millimetres—so the forecast tells us—in the not-too-distant future, potentially even this weekend.

Rocky Walshaw at Forbes and Ben Pickup at Wagga Wagga have been great leaders in these flood events, but people still don't follow instructions. They still drive through floodwaters. They still drive through swollen creeks. They still disobey road signs, which are there for a reason. Local governments don't put signs out closing roads for no good reason. They do it because they care for people. They do it because they want people to stay safe. Yet people still defy logic. They still defy orders given, and then they have to be rescued because they're on the phone ringing 132 500 for the SES or ringing 000 after they get themselves in trouble. It makes no sense.

I do want to pay tribute to some people. So many people have volunteered their time and effort to provide sandbagging. I was doing some, along with Trish and Greg Wright and Janet Thompson at Wagga Wagga. I know the fine staff at Bunnings Wagga Wagga, in their red shirts with little hammers on them, left the shop. No doubt they were given the green light to do so, but they enthusiastically got in there and did it for hour upon hour upon hour. Well done to them. Well done to everybody who volunteered, both at Wagga Wagga and at Forbes. I know Annette St Clair was there.

Let's just say, with all due respect to them: these people are not young. Many of them are not young. They're not as fit as they'd like to be. Yet they were getting out there, hour upon hour, shovelling sand into sandbags for strangers they'll probably never meet, people they'll never know. They were pitching in and doing their bit. In the worst of times, you see the best of people. You see the best of Australians. That mateship quality really shines through.

But there is an expectation on the state to come on board with us and build water infrastructure. Excuses? Forget them! I know they wanted $325 million from the Commonwealth to raise the Wyangala Dam wall. We gave it to them as a loan, which they asked for. Then they wanted a grant. We complied. Then it became $1 billion. Now it's potentially $2 billion. I say: so what! It's an investment in our future. It's an investment in agriculture. It's an investment in not having the Newell Highway closed. It's an investment in making sure that Forbes does not get flooded. They are the forgotten people, at Forbes. They shouldn't put up with being second best. If it's good enough for Warragamba people, who live in the shadow of that fine piece of water infrastructure near Sydney, then it's good enough for Forbes. Let's make sure that—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 11 : 10 to 11 : 21

Thanks to the volunteers, the first responders, defence personnel, for your help; flood-affected farmers and businesses for your resilience, and I call on governments to fund the Wyangala Dam wall raising right now.

Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My electorate of Gilmore on the New South Wales South Coast is no stranger to floods. In fact, one of my very first memories as a four -year-old was being evacuated from my family's dairy farm along with community members on the back of a truck into nearby Nowra. Back then I thought it was an adventure, but fast forward half a century and, over the last three-plus years, communities in my electorate have gone through more than 14 declared floods since the bushfires alone. I think it is safe to say that the compounding nature of drought, bushfires, floods and the pandemic has caused an extreme, prolonged fatigue that we have not seen before—flood fatigue, disaster fatigue and recovery fatigue.

We are a resilient lot on the South Coast but even we have our limits on what we can deal with. Fourteen disaster-declared floods, and not every rain event has even been declared a disaster, in a little over three years is about one flood every three or four months. The immediate impact of floods on our community is huge—homes inundated; businesses left to clean up or are ruined; public infrastructure damaged or destroyed; the ongoing strain on livestock; and farmers losing countless stock and watching their paddocks—their livelihoods—turn into soggy grounds and lakes. Every time there is a major flood event, our farmers spring into action, moving their cattle, making sure they are safe and on high ground. It is no easy task but they do it, time and time again.

Damage to cut-off roads is impacting every person who lives in our communities and every single person who visits us. One of the biggest complaints I hear every day from local people is: When are the roads getting fixed? Every time it feels like we have made progress, back we go again with more rain or another flood. This is particularly true for communities who are either completely or partially cut off because of landslides, roads that have either fallen away or are completely covered in debris. The communities of Jamberoo, Kangaroo Valley, Upper Kangaroo River, Burrier, Wattamolla, Woodhill Mountain, Barrengarry, Brogers Creek have been hit particularly hard but, really, the list goes on and on.

All isolated communities, only one road in and one road out for many of them, at times have been completely cut off, sometimes completely, sometimes with restrictions like load limits or residents only, impacting the lives of local people every day. These areas are absolutely beautiful, but, in many places, the terrain is difficult. Much of the land is farmland, but many people have also developed beautiful Airbnbs up there, or they run other sorts of businesses. There are also a lot of people who have decided that this is the place for them to retire and live among the trees. It is idyllic, but it is now proving somewhat difficult; without road access, even simple things become incredibly difficult.

I have visited many of these communities to hear about the daily impact the landslips are having. I regularly speak with those impacted, and their stories are just heartbreaking. You've got farmers who have had to chopper in feed—paid for out of their own pocket—because they didn't know how else they would feed their stock. These communities have been cut off completely for weeks or months at a time. Even once the roads have partially reopened, the load limits are causing some of the biggest headaches for local farmers. Farmers need heavy equipment to come in and out to allow them to operate—feed, livestock, silage equipment; you name it. Most don't have that equipment just sitting on their properties, so they need to bring it in. When they can't, they can't run their farms. One farmer recently told me he was going to have to walk 30 head of cattle across the slip to move them on. That is a very normal and regular practice for farmers. It's making it extremely difficult for residents to get to work, for kids to get to school and for businesses to operate. It's stifling the local economy—not to mention the fact that it keeps tourists away at a time when they have never been needed more.

But it isn't quite that simple. I've been working closely with the local councils on this, but the logistical operation of getting these roads back open is incredibly difficult. The Australian government has provided millions of dollars in assistance to local councils for repair works under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, but, with so much complicated damage spread over such a large area, the councils are struggling to get the technical and physical resources needed. That's not to mention the continuous rain, which continues to cause further landslips and further instability. There is no easy answer. I know that our local councils are taking every step necessary to get these roads open as quickly as possible, and I commend them for that, but I can also understand how the slow progress is frustrating for local people.

Even outside of these communities, the rain is playing havoc with our roads. The Shoalhaven has one of the longest local road networks in the country. The constant rain pummelling our roads has left them in an atrocious state. Potholes the size of sinkholes are everywhere, and local people are sick of it. Every time I speak with anyone, the word 'pothole' never takes too long to creep in. On top of the significant funds that have been provided for immediate recovery under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements and the $1 million that was provided to every flood impacted council back in July, I am doing all I can to support repairs to our roads. I am delighted to have delivered, $40 million to help Shoalhaven City Council with local road repairs as part of the federal budget.

The Australian government has also provided a $250 million top-up to the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, taking the total size of the program to $3.25 billion. I know this will make a huge difference to our local councils. Our councils are working through this; they are doing their best, and I thank them for that hard work. Rather than being an issue of money, it's an issue of resources—that pesky worker shortage that we are experiencing nationwide and that I know the councils are working on too. We will get there.

The businesses in Kangaroo Valley have also suffered through a long period of financial strain because of the indirect impact of the floods. The damaged roads, as I mentioned, kept tourists and customers away for months. The circumstances facing this community were unique. For months I called for a targeted small business support program to address these unique circumstances. Those requests fell on deaf ears under the former government, but I was absolutely thrilled to deliver that support in August with the $1 million Kangaroo Valley road closure small business grant. This was so needed and so welcome. I'm really pleased that a lot of local small businesses benefited from this grant, but I was appalled at the very poor way the New South Wales government administered it, with many local businesses, unfortunately, telling me they had missed out because the process was simply too hard. This just isn't good enough, and I have asked the New South Wales minister to fix this.

I will keep doing everything I can to support this wonderful community. We have a long way to go in our flood recovery. We are also still recovering from the bushfires and the pandemic, but I know we will get there. I will continue working closely across our community and across government to ensure that we are getting the help we deserve.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The term 'hero' gets bandied about a lot, but sometimes it is well and truly deserved. The past week and a half of floods that have been impacting the regions of Mallee and lapping at the doors of many communities in Mallee have seen heroes arise. I've heard from people in Charlton still traumatised from the 2011 floods. I've heard from people such as Prue Milgate, who has a farm on the banks of the Loddon River at Serpentine. More than 98 per cent of the Milgate farm was inundated by floods. I've heard from business owners in Bridgewater who have had to rebuild after their shops were affected. Nine of my 12 LGAs are impacted, and there will be more as floodwaters encroach further in the coming weeks.

In these communities, there are heroes, people who stand up for their community no matter what the situation. They just roll up their sleeves and get the work done. They don't want to be known as heroes, though. Mallee people are like that. They're tough and resourceful, but they don't look for the accolades or the praise; they just act in the best interests of their community, people like John McConville, or Mr Donald as he's also known. John is a typical hard worker, and in Donald he has his finger in many pies and on the pulse of the needs of the community. He's the kind of person that doesn't command respect; he simply gets it. After only five minutes talking with him, I know he deserves it. Recently, John led a team of locals to build a levee in the township of Donald that saved businesses and homes from being inundated. He and his team didn't wait for help; they just did it themselves.

In the Gannawarra Shire, Geoff Rollinson is the council's acting CEO. He's also known as Rollo. It's a paid position, but he's going over and above. He's taking the lead, proactively leading his community through some of the toughest times they have faced, places like Kerang, Koondrook, Murrabit, Cohuna, Benjeroop. I spoke with residents there, and they couldn't speak more highly of Rollo. He's someone they can trust. Sometimes local government officers get the rough end of the stick from their communities, but Rollo has earned respect through his actions. In times that require your leaders to step up, Rollo has.

Our SES and CFA volunteers along with paid emergency services such as Victoria Police and ambulance officers are also the heroes in this unfolding story. Stretched thin as they are, they consistently continue to put their community above themselves. I sat in a community meeting at Carisbrook a couple of weeks ago for a debrief following their flood event. It was a room full of emotion, and it was local SES commander Darren Cooper, a volunteer himself, facing the brunt of it. Not only were he and his colleagues taking responsibility, as the SES, for the town of Carisbrook; they were also providing SES support for the Central Goldfields Shire region. With limited resources, including a scarcity of operational boots-on-the-ground volunteers, they did their best to ensure their communities were safe.

In Newbridge, amid the sodden ruins of a multimillion-dollar sporting complex, I met three women: Kaye Graham, Colleen Young and Sue Horsley. They are members of the Newbridge Recreation Reserve Committee of Management. While the recreation reserve was hit hard by floods, their strength and optimism was inspirational. Colleen herself proved a heroine in the truest definition, not that she wanted the title, but her actions can only be described as heroic. The night the floods hits Newbridge, they had 40 young men camping by the river on a buck's party. Naturally, these men were all focused on partying, and, as they were in their swags, they were in immediate danger. Colleen ensured they got to higher ground as the floodwaters rose during the night. It is troubling to think what might have happened had she not been there to help these men. As I said at the start of this speech, the term 'hero' does get bandied about a lot, but I have found in Mallee that we have many heroes, and these are just some.

I want to speak briefly about the currently unfolding flood emergencies going on in the Swan Hill LGA and the Mildura region. We're looking at Swan Hill, Mildura and Robinvale, in fact, hitting major flood levels this week and in the next couple of weeks. Boundary Bend is also expected to exceed major flood levels this Saturday. The last major flood level we had was in 1956. We also had high flood levels in the seventies. This is deeply concerning, but I've got to give all credit to the SES, the CFA and the local councils, of course, who are monitoring these situations, providing recommendations and working with local communities, having local knowledge.

We have a long way to go yet. Some of these floods in the past have taken months to recede. We will have highways closed. We currently have 450 roads in Victoria closed right now. This is creating a headache for transport companies and for locals trying to get to work. Many people can't get to work. I'm really pleased to see both the Victorian government and the federal government providing financial support. I also commend the Minister for Emergency Management, Murray Watt, a Senator for Queensland, for his engagement. I've been able to call him and talk through with him the needs and the funding resources that are required for my nine LGAs. He and his office have been very responsive, and I thank him for that.

As we go into these next few weeks, I know people in Mildura, Swan Hill and Robinvale are going to be feeling the same anxieties that those in Kerang, Benjeroop, Koondrook and down in Carisbrook have been feeling over this last month and a half. Together, we understand that we will get through this and the supports will be provided. I would encourage anyone in my electorate who is needing support over this next week to contact my office, and we can direct them to the appropriate supports.

Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today in the Australian parliament to speak about the floods that are impacting the eastern side of Australia at the moment. The Parkes electorate encompasses 30 per cent of the Murray-Darling Basin. The easiest way to go through this might be to actually go through the different river systems.

From the Lachlan River in the southern part of my electorate there's a flood peak heading towards Condobolin at the moment. The water has been coming down through Forbes, the town of Condobolin and further down to Lake Cargelligo. The communities and farmers in that area are bracing for a major flood. The Bogan River, which is normally very small—not more than a depression in the ground—is now adding significantly to the water in the system. The Bogan River starts in and around the back of the town of Parkes and finds its way into the Darling River just east of Bourke. At the moment, it's contributing large amounts. There has been significant flooding along that Bogan system, and crop losses as well.

The Macquarie River has been flooded several times. We've seen significant flood damage in and around Dubbo. I had a group of school students from Narromine. They've only just gone back to regular lessons, with kids attending school on the backs of tractors because they can't actually get into town through the floodwater. Further downstream from Narromine, at Warren, they've been poised with extra pumps in place in case the levee bank breaches or overtops. At the moment, the township of Warren has been secure, but there's significant road damage and crop damage in the Macquarie and lower Macquarie area as the water spreads out before it finds its way through the Macquarie Marshes and ultimately into the Barwon-Darling, up between Brewarrina and Walgett.

Then we keep going through to the Castlereagh. As just a bit of trivia, Castlereagh starts flowing east, it flows south, it flows west and it ends up flowing north. It also finds its way into the Barwon-Darling up around Brewarrina. At the moment there is significant flooding. In between these rivers there are creek systems that are spreading out. The full extent of crop losses is not known yet, but it will be in the billions across the area.

With the Namoi River, houses in Gunnedah have been inundated several times, the village of Carroll has been evacuated, Narrabri has seen flooding in the lower areas and Wee Waa has been isolated for weeks at a time. We are seeing significant crop losses in the Namoi Valley. That flood peak now is west of Wee Waa and it's causing significant harm in that area as it makes its way to Walgett.

Walgett at the moment is completely isolated. I was speaking to the general manager there. Some of the Aboriginal villages on the edge of Walgett are inundated. The houses are on stilts, but there is water under those houses. They are having issues with the sewage pumps in some of those villages. Namoi Village I think is the main one. They have got them restored. But they're watching that very closely in case they have to evacuate those communities. So Walgett is completely surrounded and there are significant crop losses in Come by Chance, Walgett and further west.

In the Gwydir there is major flooding. It is one of the record floods. I live very close to the Gwydir. It is the biggest flood I've seen in my life. At the moment the Moree Plains Shire are predicting 120,000 hectares of crops lost just in the Moree Plains. Thankfully, the Minister for Emergency Management, Senator Watt, is coming to Moree tomorrow. I am looking forward to letting him not only see first hand the inundation—I think a couple of hundred houses in Moree had water in them—but talk to some of the farmers about crop losses.

If you move further north towards the border, the Macintyre River is causing significant issues, and it has done for some time. All that water congregates. When you get into the west, towns like Mungindi, Weemelah and Garah are cut off. The issue is that all that water then gets into the Darling system, so we've seen an out-of-bank river at Bourke. The peak has just gone through Tilpa. I've been speaking to the folks at Kallara Station. They've lost thousands of acres of crop that was on the point of harvest, which is devastating for them. There are not many grain growers in the far west, but Kallara Station is a significant operation and it has had major damage.

We are seeing that water work its way down through the system. I have a word of warning. We heard the member for Mallee talking about the flood in Victoria with the Murray system. South Australia needs to be bracing for a major flood. Hopefully, the Murray water makes its way through before the water coming down the Darling gets there, but already houses have been evacuated at Menindee. There are two or three flood peaks coming down the river to Menindee that will put further stress on the system. The lakes are full and are actually overfull in many cases. I flew over them on Sunday on my way to Canberra. There's certainly a lot of water in the far west.

The losses are significant and the inconvenience is great, but in the overall scheme of things in the far west particularly it's probably just what they needed. That refurbishment and replenishment of the far western part of the country, with the Darling spilling out into Talyawalka and other major waterways that haven't seen this sort of inundation for a long time, will really help refresh that area. But there is a lot of hardship attached to it.

I want to pay tribute to the mayors. There are 18 council areas in my electorate and in all cases the mayors have shown great leadership, and there are the volunteers obviously. In a couple of weeks I will have been in this job for—and I'm looking at the member for Maribyrnong—15 years. I have to say that I think this is the greatest level of cooperation between the three levels of government in a disaster that I've seen. I'm not hearing much complaint about the processes that have been put in place. People have been around long enough to know that they will suffer hardship in a flood. I commend the ministers at all levels, the mayors and the volunteers on the ground, who are doing such a mighty job for such a long time.

This is not over. La Nina is predicted to stick around for a bit longer, but I can tell you that the people in my electorate are looking for a bit of sunshine.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians understand that we now live with the reality of natural disasters dominating our news cycle. Where once upon a time there may have been a season for floods or a season for bushfires, it is now a constant concern. If we only see the coverage of these matters on television, we count ourselves lucky. But as I stand in the parliament of Australia today I am deeply aware and moved by the fact that there are thousands of our fellow Australians who are trying to rebuild after weeks of catastrophic inundation and, indeed, to continue the rebuilding process from previous flood events.

It is true to say that in times of tragedy and crisis, Australians like to believe that we help each other. This is actually true. Adam Lindsay Gordon famously talked about courage in one's own trouble and kindness in another's. This was an ethos that emerged in the 19th century but, I believe, it pleasingly remains true today. Our government believes that this is what we should do. It is our fundamental role to support Australians when they are in need.

My remarks today initially will be about my department, Services Australia, which has been on the front line of efforts to assist flood-affected communities across Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania in the most recent events. We activated the Australian government disaster recovery payment and the disaster recovery allowance in response to this September and October flooding. Since then, I can report to Australians that Services Australia has answered more than 22,000 calls for assistance, processed more than 42,000 claims for emergency payments and made payments of almost $44 million to support more than 53,000 Australians. Hundreds of Services Australia staff have been redeployed to help individuals and families get back on their feet. We have had dedicated Commonwealth public servants on the ground at 11 different locations. We have sent mobile service centres—the one-stop-shop Services Australia buses—to Victoria and Tasmania. Staff will stay as long as they are required. Because those impacted by floods often require more than emergency monetary assistance, Services Australia social workers have provided helped almost 2,000 of our fellow Australians dealing with the life-changing consequences of these terrible disasters.

The commitment to help Australians impacted by natural disasters was also reflected in last month's budget. Extra funding and workforce will ensure that Services Australia continues to support the community during emergencies over the next year and its planning and response to future emergencies, because we know that they will come. There is funding for more than 2,100 additional staff in this financial year. This will enable the agency to continue digital customer service delivery and on-the-ground mobile support whenever and wherever Australians need it. There will also be an extra 200 staff recruited to support our customer services safety net Australia wide. These additional staff will go where the need is, including regional and remote Australia, to support customers experiencing vulnerability. Up in the far north, 100 Services Australia staff will be based in Cairns and $2.4 million—courtesy of the lobbying of the formidable member for Lyons—has been allocated to increase service delivery staff and services in Sorrel in Tasmania in our south.

Because we know that natural disasters are a direct consequence of climate change, there was $9.3 million in the budget for Commonwealth climate risk and opportunity management program. This will allow successive governments to improve the policies, programs, services delivered to the Australian community to address the challenges of climate change.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 11:49 to 11:59

My own electorate and the neighbouring areas that I have been fortunate and privileged enough to represent for nearly 15 years were amongst the communities to feel the impact of the most recent flooding inundations in Victoria. The Maribyrnong River breached its banks. It will take some time for our area to recover. I visited flood affected areas in the local government areas of Maribyrnong and Moonee Valley on the day of the flooding and the days after. It was actually shocking.

This sedate river, usually a place of gathering for recreation, exercise, park runs, football and netball, had become a stranger. It was a menacing presence. The river was wide. Mini lakes were created across football ovals and netball fields. The pace of the river, the momentum, was a threat to homes and businesses, lives and livelihoods. The flood high-tide marks, halfway up interior and exterior walls, only tell part of the story. It's the disgusting sludge, it's the debris that covers floors and yards, it's the stench of ruined carpets and furniture that fills the air. The piles of hard rubbish on the footpaths surrounding the houses were a constant reminder on those days and for weeks thereafter of the full extent of the work ahead that is only revealed once the water retreats.

But I'm pleased to say that, as the water receded, it was replaced by a remarkable determination from the community to triumph over adversity. These were residents, many of whom were affected by the floods themselves, who put everything aside to help their neighbours, especially those who are elderly and those who are not able to get around on their own or without support networks. It's the local school communities at St Margaret's and Moonee Ponds West Primary School reaching out and helping the families of the children enrolled there.

It's people like my very good friend Judy Ingram, President of the Friends of the Maribyrnong Valley, a group that's worked to preserve and improve this community asset for more than 35 years. Judy's physical impairments have not prevented her from seeking grants and organising volunteers to plant trees and control weeds along the Maribyrnong River. But all that work was washed away with the flood, covered by a layer of silt and mud. But Judy has told me that she's determined to return the area to the place that locals fell in love with during the pandemic lockdowns: the walking tracks that became a respite from that strange, cloistered existence we found ourselves in; the very lungs of the north-west. Judy and the Friends of the Maribyrnong Valley are working with other community groups and local, state and Commonwealth levels of government because she said that's what's called for in times like this. In Judy's modest words, it's the spirit of Australia.

Darren Symington and his family also felt that spirit of Australia after being flooded out and then, unfortunately, becoming the victim of callous, opportunistic looters. At a time when Darren and his family were legitimately overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation and the body blows, we were able to offer assistance. I can happily report that he and his family are moving into a new rental home very soon. While Darren has said that he wouldn't want to go through another flood, he said the little caring gestures of his neighbours have been something he will hold forever: a chat, an offer of help, those who dropped in food. He said in times of stress he normally loses weight, but he's put on five kilos thanks to one too many Zinger burgers!

I want to single out his children's teacher, Kim Simmons, from Moonee Ponds West Primary School. I thank you for bringing the plight of Darren and his family to my personal attention so we could all work to help take away some of the burden, so that the parents could go back to being parents to their children, not wondering about what would happen to them. It's the way the community wraps itself around its own that makes the seemingly unbearable bearable.

I'd like to acknowledge the CEO of Maribyrnong City Council, Celia Haddock, and her team from the council. I want to acknowledge all the council workers, the Victorian government staff and the member of Victoria Police for working so seamlessly together. I also want to acknowledge Helen Sui, the CEO of Moonee Valley City Council, and her team for the work they do. In particular, I acknowledge again that often on the front line of disasters it's not necessarily the Defence Force who are first in, although they do a great job; it's quite often our modest garbos, council workers and gardeners from the local council depots who are leading the response.

I acknowledge the Services Australia teams who were swiftly deployed to flood areas, and the wider team for making the claims process so relatively painless. I want to give a special shout-out to the dedicated and skilled team of orange overalled heroes from the Victorian SES. These are people we don't think about when things are going well, but they're the ones we turn to in the hour of our greatest need. They did 60 waterborne rescues in the Maribyrnong area alone on that Friday morning as the river rose very quickly.

I acknowledge my federal colleague Daniel Mulino, who shares the Maribyrnong River valley representation; Katie Hall, our member for Footscray; Ben Carroll, the member for Niddrie; and Danny Pearson, the member for Essendon. The last two, Ben Carroll and Danny Pearson, are ministers in the state government and diligent in their efforts. I also acknowledge the state member for Melbourne, Ellen Sandell, for reporting issues in that area of the floods. I acknowledge my fantastic electorate staff, who fielded hundreds of calls. To each and every person who volunteered time, money and resources and to every organisation who contributed, thank you.

The floods will keep coming. Cyclones will keep coming. We'll still have to battle bushfires and drought. But also what will keep coming are Adam Lindsay Gordon's famous words: 'Courage in one's own trouble, and kindness in another's.'

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to talk on this motion, which commends all those who have helped and supported during the recent flooding and also, I think, needs to call on governments, local, state and federal, to ensure that they provide the much-needed support to local communities for their recovery. The impact of the floods in my electorate was very similar to the impact of the floods in 2011. There have been some exceptions, however. For Skipton, for Lexton and for Lake Goldsmith in particular, what we saw in 2022 was very similar to what we saw in 2011. The resilience of those communities in the way that they have dealt again with flooding has been quite extraordinary. At times like this, communities—and I'm talking about small communities—can go two ways. It can be either every man or woman for themselves or a community coming together, working together, to make sure that they deal together with the impact of the floods. In Lake Goldsmith, in Lexton and in Skipton, that is what we've seen again. As a matter of fact, it is quite inspirational to be able to go to those communities, to meet with those who have been impacted, to meet with those who have helped and supported them during their time of need and to see the camaraderie, to see the bonds of friendship and to see the way that this adversity is being dealt with collectively.

On the front line, as with all floods, has been the State Emergency Service, coordinating the response and making sure that where preparation has been necessary—where they've had time to prepare—it's been done in the most efficient and effective way possible. This work includes the sandbagging, the warning of residents and, in some instances, the ability to tell residents that they need to leave their households. That is coordinated by the SES, but it includes the CFA, local government and everyone else who is willing to play a part. But the coordination by the SES has been second to none, not only when it comes to Skipton, Lexton and Lake Goldsmith but also where there has been other flooding in my electorate—for instance, in Allansford, very near to Warrnambool, or in Hamilton, where there was flash flooding. There we have seen the emergency services, led by the SES, and then local government and other community organisations coming together to make sure that the impact can be dealt with as well as we can deal with the impact of flooding.

Flooding, though, does leave a real legacy, and that is one of the sad things that we need to continue to remember. And all levels of government—federal, state and local—need to remember this because the water stays a lot longer than the help. The water stays, and the water, in many instances, will rot, from the ground up, houses. We have to make sure that we're there to help and support those who deal with the long-lasting legacy of flood We did it in 2011. We didn't do all the amelioration correctly, though, and we need to look at this now, when it comes to these 2022 floods, because if we don't get that right we're going to see the impact again when the next flood occurs. Whether the amelioration is ensuring that drains are properly cleared and cleaned, whether it's making sure that roadside vegetation which is blocking drains is cleared away, whether it is ensuring that levees are properly completed—all these things need to be looked at and dealt with. We also have to make sure that the preparation begins as soon as the clean-up is over in these communities.

One of the lasting legacies—and we're seeing this more in Victoria as a result of what didn't occur as it should have in 2011 and what hasn't occurred between then and 2022—is that, where the rains and the flooding have damaged the roads, we have to fix them properly. It is no good and it is a waste of money just doing patch-up jobs. We have to do the job properly. That means real investment in our road network and in doing the job properly. I'll give you a recent example that I've just been made aware of in my electorate, where we've had a brand new patch of road which has since been impacted by a weather event that left potholes. A farmer was able to put his foot into one of the holes, and it went down as far as his hip. That is not fixing a road properly.

There is an article on the front page of the Herald Sun today which says that the cost of repairing the Victorian regional and rural road network will be over $1 billion. I say to the government, you have allocated $2.2 billion to Daniel Andrews's pet rail project, his urban rail link-up, which will probably be built some time by 2050 maybe. It's going to cost, they seem to think, about $150 billion, so I'm not quite sure where the other $73 billion is going to come from. That's the 50-50 component of the federal government. This doesn't have a business case and it hasn't been to Infrastructure Australia. Take that money, that $2.2 billion, that you have allocated in the budget to Dan Andrews's pet rail project, and put it into Victoria's road network. You know that it needs it. And, in doing that, also say to all the contractors that you use: 'We want you to do the job properly. We want you to take your time, put a proper foundation and a proper base into the roads and ensure that we're not going to need to patch them up sometimes only weeks after they've been reopened.' That would be something really practical that would leave a long-lasting legacy from this government to the people of regional and rural Victoria.

So far, all they've done is rip money out of regional and rural Victoria. In the budget they ripped money out of regional and rural Victoria. This would be a way of saying: 'Sorry, we made a mistake. We shouldn't have done that, we shouldn't have done what we normally do, and that's go after and target regional and rural Victoria. We're not going to do this. It's not our modus operandi under this new government,' even though that's what we're seeing already. Take that $2.2 billion from Dan Andrews's pet rail project and put it into our road network. That, single-handedly, could make a huge difference to our communities because at the moment—and this is my great fear—we've seen a loss of life as a result of these floods. Fortunately, through the great work of SES, CFA, local government and others, we've seen that loss of life minimalised. My real concern is that we're going to see more loss of life as a result of the deteriorating road network right across rural and regional Victoria, and in particular in the seat of Wannon.

So I say to the government: this has become a serious, serious safety issue. It's no longer something that the Andrews government can just turn a blind eye to. It's not something that the federal government can turn a blind eye to. They need to fix these roads—otherwise, we're going to see more people lose their lives on our roads than we saw in the floods.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was a tough day, the day that we were preparing for the floods in central Victoria. The warnings had gone out—and that's one thing that I will say: I cannot recall a premier getting to their feet and giving the emergency services warning: 'This will be a major flood. Homes will be lost. Be prepared.'

Even in a town like Bendigo, where we have a network of creeks, we weren't prepared for the volume of water that came down. In the week leading up to it, the notice came out that Lake Eppalock, which is the major water storage in our electorate, was already full. And locals know that, once Lake Eppalock is full, those further downstream are in trouble; once Lake Eppalock is full, there's a lot of water around and it could flood.

It's rare for Victorians to get floods—I do want to say that loudly—although we are getting more and more of them. People keep talking about floods as being 'once in a hundred years' or 'once in 500 years' events. Well, we've had two once-in-a-hundred-year floods in a decade. So you start to ask yourself: Is this becoming the norm? And is our infrastructure fit for the weather events that we're expecting? I'll say a bit more about that later.

What I will do now is to say a big thank you and give a shout out to all of our SES units—the SES units of Bendigo, Marong, Heathcote, Kyneton and Castlemaine. I was actually due to catch up with the Castlemaine SES unit on the Wednesday before the big rain events of Thursday and Friday, and of course I rang them to say: 'You're probably really busy today; the last thing you'd need is me popping out.' They were in fact sandbagging. Thousands of sandbags went out to homes and businesses throughout my electorate, and businesses and communities and homeowners are crediting the SES, the early warnings and the sandbagging as being what saved them. Lots of yards and sheds were inundated; lots of roadways and community infrastructure were inundated. The rain and the water came down very quickly, but they disappeared so quickly that a lot of homes were saved. The SES believe that, pretty much, Elmore was saved because of the sandbagging efforts and because the rain and the water were moving so fast.

We have the Campaspe and the Loddon, two major river systems that feed into the Murray River, running through my electorate, and, when you hear of the volumes of water that were coming down across Kyneton and Castlemaine, you do feel for the communities who, to this day, are still in flood. We have a little bit of that guilt, in my electorate, from knowing that the water will leave us and flood communities further downstream.

I do feel for the member for Mallee. And I feel particularly for the member for Nicholls, whose electorate is entering its fourth week of flood.

We did sustain damage to a number of properties in my electorate in Heathcote and Marong. It's estimated that, in total, around 90 homes across Heathcote have sustained damage in some way. Some of them will need to be knocked down and rebuilt. For some of them, it's outdoor infrastructure and sheds.

There have been some amazing stories. The SES itself flooded because, when the Campaspe is full, the water comes back up the creeks. We just didn't have a way to get the water out quickly.

The community of Heathcote is quite resilient. It's about 40 minutes out of Bendigo, and it was actually cut off from Bendigo. In fact, every major highway into Bendigo was cut off during this event. All of them sustained major damage. The township of Heathcote was completely cut off; the bridge at Axedale was washed away. It's the image that many of us have seen—the first image of the impact of the floods. Such was the force of this water. The way in which it damaged major roads is just unbelievable. The residents of Heathcote were on their own. Nobody could get to them. They had to do it themselves, and they did.

The SES flooded, so they moved their entire operation to the CFA, where they ran their command centre to help people during the flood event. They are now continuing to help their community through the recovery. We had the ADF on the ground in Bendigo helping communities not just to set up the relief centre at the Showgrounds—there were 10 ADF members deployed quickly to set up the relief centre—but also to help with the clean-up effort in Heathcote, where we had those homes damaged. There were at least 20 ADF members on the ground on the big clean-up day they had to help remove rubbish.

A div ision having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 12:21 to 12:32