Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I inform the House that the member for Kennedy has been prevented from joining us today by the floods in North Queensland. These devastating floods are record breaking and are set to become the worst floods in the area since 1967. I want to take a moment to acknowledge the severity of the situation that people of North Queensland are facing, as well as the absence of our colleague the member for Kennedy. I know we wish them all safe harbour, and we thank those working tirelessly to keep the community safe. Earnestly, we all hope that conditions will ease.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

on indulgence—Mr Speaker, I join with you, and I'm sure I speak for every member of this House, in saying that we are thinking of all those Australians battling natural disasters. I note the comments that you've made in relation to the member for Kennedy; I spoke with Bob late on Sunday night and again yesterday. I note that the member for Herbert is also appropriately absent from the chamber, as well as the member for Dawson, and that Senator Jenny McAllister, the Minister for Emergency Management, is on the ground there. I spoke with Premier Crisafulli today, yesterday and on Saturday, and, indeed, last week I discussed with him what was heading that way. I do want to take the opportunity to offer our condolences to the family and friends of the woman who tragically lost her life in the floodwaters near Ingham on Sunday.

I received a briefing at the national headquarters here in Canberra yesterday morning. One of the things about this country is that, when you have a briefing and there's flooding and massive torrential rain in the north but extraordinary heatwaves in southern Australia, you do realise the extent of the danger that that represents. The fact that we can have more than one type of natural disaster at once really places strain. I do want to give a shout-out to all those emergency services personnel who are working at this time, whether that is through NEMA, through the state authorities or through the SES as volunteers. Also, one of the things I discussed with the Premier was people doorknocking, door to door, to make sure people were alerted and people were evacuated there in Townsville.

Some places in northern Queensland have recorded 500 mils of rain in a 24-hour period. Rising floodwaters are inflicting devastation on homes and communities; thousands have had to evacuate. I want to assure the House that, in this challenging time, we stand shoulder to shoulder with the Queensland government and with every Queenslander. Military helicopters have been deployed. We now have three helicopters at the disposal of the Commonwealth. One of those is in Queensland, one is in Victoria dealing with fires and one is in South Australia dealing with fires. In addition to that, there are four military helicopters that have been made available, two based in Townsville and two based in Oakey, and I thank the defence minister, as always, for the fact that the defence community comes on board when it is needed. We have indicated that we, of course, will provide whatever assistance is requested, and, already, some of the emergency payments have kicked in as well. One of the reasons why Minister McAllister is basing herself there is to see firsthand what is happening.

I say as well that heatwaves, of course, can also be incredibly dangerous, and yesterday, tragically, a woman lost her life at Mount Augustus when her vehicle became bogged and she left her car to try and walk back to the tourist park, where the temperature was in the high 40s. This is just a tragedy, and our thoughts are with her loved ones at the time of grief. There are bushfires of concern burning in Victoria, Tasmania, southern Western Australia and South Australia. The beautiful Grampians has already been badly affected by fires over summer, and I rang the member for Wannon during that period as well and had a discussion with him before I visited with Minister McAllister in between Christmas and the new year. I know that the local member was very active in engaging with those communities at that time, where I visited the Horsham Incident Control Centre with the premier, Premier Allan. We also flew over the fire affected areas and met with the volunteers.

It says something, though, about the Australian spirit that, at this point in time, there are volunteers from Queensland—even though there's an event in Queensland—helping out with firefighting in southern Australia. When I was at Horsham I met people from Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia, as well as Tasmania, who were all volunteering there. I thank everyone for the bravery and kindness that you are showing. This is a difficult time. We will remain vigilant. The Commonwealth will continue to offer whatever support is necessary, and I know that we do that on a bipartisan basis as national government as well. I'll continue to engage, particularly with the Queensland premier, about what is required there. We've already had some discussion about the need to build back better in a couple of cases, rather than just repeat some of the mistakes of the past as well. We'll engage constructively on all of those issues.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

on indulgence—I thank the Prime Minister for his update and his words of support, particularly for those in north Queensland who are in a very desperate situation yet again. Almost 1,200 millimetres of rain since Saturday is quite an astounding event, and it's not the first time that people in north Queensland have faced this sort of onslaught of the weather. The tropics always provide heavy rainfalls, but, for many families, they've been displaced again. all of those who have been involved in the first response to this event—particularly, as the Prime Minister points out, the emergency service workers are wonderful volunteers in our community—would be devastated by the loss of the 63-year-old lady in Ingham when the dinghy flipped as they were trying to provide support to a community. They would be truly in a state of complete flux, because they go in to help people, and they change people's lives. They save people, and they provide a safe haven. For this outcome, they will be devastated. Our thoughts and our prayers are with everybody in north Queensland at the moment.

I've had a number of conversations with colleagues. Obviously, as the Prime Minister pointed out, the member for Herbert, who has his sleeves rolled up again, has been out doorknocking and providing support to his local community, as has Andrew Willcox in Mackay, and Bob Katter, obviously, does a great job in his community as well. As the Prime Minister points out, we're a land of great contrasts. Over the break, I was with the member for Wannon and the member for Mallee in the Grampians, looking at the devastation there that families faced in those small business in those communities. We met with the firefighters and the rural fire brigade into the work that they were doing. As a country, thank goodness we have these people who are prepared to sacrifice, in some cases, their own homes and livelihoods to keep their communities safe. The work that is underway in North Queensland at the moment, the response not just to the initial devastation but to the clean-up, will be quite phenomenal. We offer on a bipartisan basis to the Prime Minister whatever support is required to help those people through their darkest hour.

I might just say, on a final note, in a very Australian iconic scene, I had a photo sent through from friends in Townsville before who have a small patch of grass left just at the backyard. The floodwaters have almost inundated the home. On that grass stand about 60 kangaroos who have sought refuge from the rising floodwaters. It shows the many aspects to the devastation of the environment, the community and the lives of those people, the disruption to them and the schools that are closed et cetera. There's a lot of work ahead to help rebuild that part of the world, and we stand ready to provide that support to them.