Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister Representing the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. I ask this in a week when a category 5 cyclone has travelled down the entire coast of Queensland. Minister, is it true that the Bureau of Meteorology in Townsville will be losing 50 per cent of its forecasters and 25 per cent of its observers? Is it true that the Townsville office will now not be able to maintain a 24-hour service? Is it also true that staff in the Cairns meteorology office in Far North Queensland are being cut from 12 to 10? Is it also true that the Mount Isa office will now become a one-person office? Is it true that the Mackay office is being cut from three staff to one staff? Is it true that the Rockhampton office is being cut from six to five?