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

There's no argument: Tasmania is one of the most beautiful places in the world, known for stunning landscapes—everything from white sand beaches to majestic mountains and, of course, our coursing rivers. Some of the most picturesque and iconic rivers are in my electorate: the Derwent, the Elizabeth, the Mersey, the South Esk and many others.

However, over the past couple of weeks, Tasmania has been battered by destructive winds and torrential rain, with many of those rivers breaking their banks and causing some of the worst flooding that Tasmania has seen in years. People have evacuated homes, schools have been closed and there have been widespread, lengthy power outages. As the clean-up and repairs get underway, I want to acknowledge the communities in my electorate impacted by the wild weather and dealing with the aftermath.

First I give a huge shout-out to our emergency service workers and the dedicated volunteer crews from Tasmania SES. They have worked tirelessly to respond to more than 800 requests for assistance from across the state. In particular, well done to the Meander Valley and Derwent Valley SES units for assisting residents in their areas to activate their flood emergency plans and move to evacuation centres. Some of these amazing volunteers have featured on the front pages of the local newspapers, including the New Norfolkand Derwent Valley News. I say thank you also to the employers and businesses who have released volunteers and to the volunteers who are self-employed for supporting the work of the SES in this way. And, of course, as well as the SES there are all those fire brigades, many of them volunteers, who have done the same sort of work.

I've said it in this place many times before: Tasmanians are resilient and in times of crisis Tasmanians come together. In New Norfolk, a group called It's Our Community - Pantry has put together food hampers with all the essentials—milk, bread, cereal and fruit—for affected residents and distributed pet welfare packs to evacuation centres. The Lions Club of New Norfolk also put together food hampers and other supplies, working with Your Community Food Hub to support families in Maydena, Westerway and Glenfern. The Quilted Teapot, a cafe and quilting shop, made sure that SES and fire brigade volunteers were looked after, offering free hot drinks to the crews working in the Derwent Valley. Liz Virtue at Glenn Derwent estate baked scones and sweet treats to thank crews working out in the wild weather.

In the Meander Valley, the Deloraine Community Complex was opened and remains open so those without power have a place to recharge devices, take a shower, make a much-needed cup of coffee or tea and gather with other people going through the same experience. I must acknowledge Jill Cunningham here, who opened the Carrick hall and worked day and night so that residents had a place to go and access to facilities, warmth and food.

Further north, Di and the team at the Railton Neighbourhood Centre were on hand to support the Railton and Sheffield communities, providing a place to cook a hot meal, store frozen food, access the internet or, again, have a cuppa and watch TV. Likewise, locals without power across the Fingal Valley were able to visit the local Neighbourhood House to charge devices, access the internet, use facilities they couldn't access at home and grab that essential hot cuppa, bottled water and other essentials.

We'd be here all night if I were to name each and every person and organisation that has gone above and beyond for their community in this week of wild weather that we've had. But, to each and every Tasmanian who's put their hand up to assist others in need: thank you for your compassion, generosity and goodwill.

The Albanese government is supporting the Tasmanian government financially to make grants available to those affected under the DRF arrangements, with food assistance and funding to people facing long power outages. Temporary living support grants and food grants are available, and, earlier today, I was with the Minister for Emergency Management when she announced that there would be recovery and restoration grants for low-income Tasmanians whose homes have been damaged. For more information, Tasmanians can access the TasALERT app or the website, and can reach out to my office for any support that may be needed. I put a call out to every Tasmanian: the TasALERT app is available to download from your local app store. Get it on your device; it's full of really important and helpful information.