Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I join this motion on natural disasters. My prayers and thoughts and good wishes are with the people of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and now Western Australia, considering the catastrophes that have befallen all of those states. I particularly acknowledge our Queensland parliamentary colleagues. We have heard several stories this afternoon, and other stories in the media and in other places, about their own personal experiences—their own personal losses as well—and the deep impact that the stories and the losses of their constituents had upon them. As they take a leadership role in the recovery of these devastated areas, I think that it is important that we provide some encouragement to all of you who have to step up in this way. Please remember that we are thinking of you.

We have had extraordinary stories. We have heard some individual stories this afternoon about grief, loss, despair and disbelief and, of course, extraordinary survival. You can combine that with the hundreds of thousands of words that have been written seeking to capture the emotional, physical and structural impact of these natural disasters. But the words that resound in everyone’s contribution are about courage and resilience, and generosity and stoicism, all describing the great national character of Australians. We have seen so much more written and portrayed about the havoc wreaked and the damage done, about the toll on families and communities, environments and infrastructure, businesses and livelihoods, and economies and institutions. It has been an extraordinary summer. The images that we all hold of this summer are quite awful—etched in our minds for a very long time. We are all mourning. We are mourning many lives and a very significant loss.

This morning we had an ecumenical service for the beginning of parliament. For those who were not able to attend, we prayed for you. I want to read a little prayer for you, if I could:

Our hearts come together at this time of national prayers for all who have suffered.

We pray for those who have been bereaved—grant them your comfort.

We pray for those whose hearts are broken—grant them your peace in the days ahead.

We pray for those who must begin again—grant them strength and hope.

We pray for those whose homes have been destroyed—grant them the vision to see new places of refuge and love in the future.

We pray for those whose businesses have been devastated—grant them initiative and fortitude in the days ahead.

I think it is very important. It was a very sombre service at the beginning of parliament because everybody had the devastation of the last few weeks very much on their minds.

In contributing to this motion today I would like to focus on the extraordinary role of our community based not-for-profit organisations and the work that they have been doing on the front line during these disasters in shaping the recovery and rebuilding the communities to which they belong. We think about what has been happening. We have already heard some stories today about our sports clubs; our welfare organisations; our arts and cultural groups; our recreation and education groups; our environment groups; our animal welfare groups; our housing associations; and support groups for the carers, the elderly, the frail and the vulnerable. It is very clear that the recovery in flood damaged communities is very dependent on the current and future contribution of our community organisations.

For those of us who are sitting south of the catastrophes, the sense of uselessness that we experience watching the events as they unfolded from the comfort of our safe, dry, cool lounge rooms was very quickly replaced by a sense of action. We saw the flood relief appeal, the telethon broadcast by the Nine Network, the Twenty20 cricket match which galvanised the raising of hundreds of thousands of dollars, the 2011 Australian Open Rally for Relief raising $750,000. As we have heard already today, people wanted to do something and they found ways to respond. I know that there are many large-scale fundraising projects that are being planned: concerts, exhibitions, marathons, swimathons and bake-offs. To date, we have raised just over $201 million for the Premier’s fund and I know that there is much more to come.

We heard about the volunteers. There were, in fact, more than 55,000 volunteers registered to help clean up Brisbane, with thousands more unregistered volunteers wandering the muddied streets with gumboots and mops. Volunteers from across the country and beyond were flying in to help. This morning I heard of a family from Dunedin who just upped stumps and flew to Brisbane and offered their support. Congratulations need to be extended to Volunteering Queensland, particularly for their efforts in organising and mobilising those volunteers, using new technologies in social media to ensure that people were where they needed to be. The work of our not-for-profit organisations extended beyond the disaster areas, and well beyond any planning and documentation of effort, because they are often simply responding to community need.

State disaster plans, as we all know, identify the various roles of key agencies. For example, the Salvation Army provides the food at all of the evacuation points, the Red Cross serves to officially record the data of people accessing the evacuation centres and Lifeline provides emotional support to the persons accessing their services. These roles are quite explicit in our disaster management plans, but the countless small and large not-for-profit organisations in our local communities tend to merge into a combined effort. They are everywhere doing everything. They are providing safe shelter, clothes and food; helping people repair or relocate; and reconnecting people with loved ones or supporting them as they grieve for their loss.

There are still many things happening and I want to celebrate and acknowledge that. Relief centres are still being operated in the flooded areas by Vinnies, Anglicare, the Salvos, the Red Cross and others. Some of them will need to operate for quite a long time into the future because many people will not be able to return home for quite a long time. Outside of those centres they are doing so much more. In many places, trained staff and skilled volunteers have been going door to door making sure that people are all right. What they are finding varies enormously. What they are doing is remarkable, especially considering that they are a part of communities and many have experienced their own loss. We know they are at the heart of the response and the recovery efforts, and they are doing whatever is needed to support people affected by the floods, and now by the fires, and they will be there well into the future helping people rebuild their lives and their communities.

Let me share some real examples of community service. Red Cross has been assisting since the first evacuation centre opened on 27 December. More than 1,050 staff and trained volunteers from the Australian and New Zealand Red Cross are on the ground, active in the immediate response and ongoing recovery. Red Cross is providing existing Telecross clients in flood affected areas with extra calls daily to provide reassurance and to check on their wellbeing. The Mission Australia Communities for Children team at Inala have set up and are running a childcare service at the recovery centre that includes specialist trauma staff. Mission Australia have also helped to house a family who lost everything who had been living in the Goodnah caravan park and who have a child with special needs that could not be met in an emergency centre. These organisations have really gone beyond the existing disaster management plans.

The Salvos have fed countless people in shelters and homes as well as emergency workers across Queensland and Victoria. They even managed to provide meals to stranded truck drivers at Coffs Harbour—600 on one side of highway and 300 on other side, all while parked in the stifling heat with no capacity for relief by way of food or water. The Salvos’ emergency teams have been providing grief counselling for those who have experienced significant personal loss.

Let me tell you about Lifeline. Their telephone counsellors volunteered 800 hours over and above their normal shifts to meet additional demand from the Australian community and to cover the Queensland Lifeline centres that were not able to take calls during the crisis. On Friday, 14 January, Lifeline volunteers answered 1,600 calls—the highest call rate on record for Lifeline. Lifeline Queensland have deployed and rotated to the evacuation centres and recovery centres, and outreach teams in affected areas in most need, more than 100 specialist trained community recovery counsellors—and most are experienced loss and grief counsellors. To date, they have had more than 2,000 contacts with people affected by the crisis.

The RSPCA have been there too. They have set up two emergency animal shelters in Rockhampton, one of which is still operating, and they have included in their work rescue of livestock and companion animals, humane euthanasia of sick and injured livestock and wildlife, lost and found services for pet owners, a 24-hour emergency line and an emergency boarding service. They have been coordinating food drops for livestock and wildlife carers and for animal shelters, including the Gympie shelter where the RSPCA shelter staff were cut off for four days.

All the major church groups have been very active in responding to community need, providing shelter, clothing, food, counselling and support. Rotary and other service clubs have provided incredible support across Ipswich and many other towns and regions in so many ways, from helping prepare for the floods to removal, repair and support. World Vision Australia has provided call centre support, office space usage outside of Brisbane and advice on responding to mental health needs during emergencies. Just this week the Queensland Alliance released a report, Rising to the challenge, which identified some of the mental health issues associated with these catastrophic events and suggested how things could be improved. It is a very important, perceptive piece of work that we all need to pay attention to.

After the ecumenical service this morning one of the diplomatic corps said to me: ‘When you think about New Orleans, what happened? They declared a state of martial law for protection. Here, there was a state of national action. In New Orleans there was a traffic jam to get out. In Australia there was a traffic jam of people mobilised to help and get in.’ That was a perception from someone not from Australia but who marvelled at the extent to which Australians have responded.

Can I also talk about the efforts going on from beyond Queensland. Senator Joyce particularly touched on the sense of frustration and helplessness that people who are safe at home feel while watching all of these things unfolding. Let me tell you, for example, what has been happening in my own community. Of course there are financial appeals elsewhere—everyone is talking about them; everyone is trying to help—but in Goulburn we did something ourselves. Of course we had an ecumenical prayer service, but afterwards the civic leaders got together and launched an appeal. In 10 days, the community donated $25,000 worth of practical goods—kitchen goods, underwear, food, clothing and sheets; things that we know could be put in a truck and sent north. We had an extraordinarily generous contribution. The Rural Fire Service collected $10,500 in two days from the community. That is amazing work.

We have decided to adopt the community of Dalby and I know that Queensland senators will be pleased to know that. As we have been encouraged to do in the south, we have adopted a community in the north that has really been devastated because the people there are very worried that, once the first flush of response and recovery happens and the pictures and the stories are off the front page, they are going to be forgotten. The community of Dalby will not be forgotten. Our schools are going to twin with the schools in Dalby. Our service clubs are going to connect with the service clubs in Dalby. Our council will connect with the council in Dalby. And we will make sure that we can continue to provide moral, physical and emotional support in the recovery phase.

I also place on record my appreciation, on behalf of all us, for the amazing galvanisation of effort by our public servants. The Centrelink staff have been phenomenal. They have just blown me away with the way in which they have been so responsive and able to deal with the extraordinary challenges that have been put in front of them. I have not heard one complaint about the disaster recovery payments and I know that my colleagues, as I have asked them, have said the same. Centrelink have been amazing.

I thank the Army Reserve and the Army, our defence forces and everyone who has been there and gone the extra mile. This is the way that you inspire all of us to do what we can and to be part of a national movement that is about recovery and rebuilding. We know as Australians we will endure and I wish you all the best. I express my sincere condolences to those of you who have lost family and friends, as well as those who have lost livelihoods. Know that Australia is with you.