Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to support the condolence motion moved by the Acting Leader of the Government in the Senate. In commencing my remarks, I refer to an article on page 2 of the West Australian newspaper today, entitled ‘Devastation’, which outlines the current situation in my hometown of Perth. It reads:

One of WA’s most destructive fires in 50 years has razed more than 60 buildings and left dozens of people homeless.

Premier Colin Barnett has declared the area around the fires in Kelmscott and Roleystone a natural disaster.

Schools were closed, a bridge collapsed and power supplies were cut as about 200 firefighters tried to control the fire in difficult terrain.

               …            …            …

Late yesterday, officials said 64 buildings had been destroyed. Another 28 homes had been damaged.

There is no doubt that the damage caused by Cyclone Yasi, which hit the coast of northern Queensland less than two weeks ago, and the devastating floods that caused so much tragedy and damage to Queensland last month have centred Australia’s, indeed the world’s, attention on the untold suffering and damage inflicted by nature on the people of the state of Queensland.

Australians watched and waited as Cyclone Yasi built up its ferocious storm power, out in the Pacific Ocean, for about a week before sweeping across the edge of the Coral Sea and striking the North Queensland coast as a category 5 cyclone, with winds at its centre of up to 285 kilometres per hour. As it crossed the coast, Cyclone Yasi wreaked unbelievable havoc on the coastal towns of Port Hinchinbrook, Mission Beach, Tully and Cardwell before proceeding some 900 kilometres inland towards Mt Isa. Fortunately, by the time Cyclone Yasi reached Mt Isa it had dissipated to a severe rain-bearing depression, and the protective sand bagging which had been carried out in Mt Isa as a precaution was not required.

Whilst massive damage to buildings, crops and infrastructure has occurred as a result of Cyclone Yasi, fortunately, loss of life has been limited. In the January 2011 Queensland floods 22 people lost their lives. This takes the total number of those who have died in the floods in Queensland since 30 November 2010 to 35. Sadly, in the Lockyer Valley region a number of people are still missing and they are now feared dead. The January floods have caused massive property, crop and livestock damage, and it will be years before some of those who were in the path of the floodwaters and those who were directly affected are back on their feet.

In September last year, just six months ago, Victoria experienced severe flooding in many parts of the state. Some scientists have attributed these abnormally heavy rains to the strongest La Nina event since 1973. Last month, Victoria had its wettest January in recorded history and this rainfall has caused flooding across much of the western and central parts of the state. Only last weekend there was heavy rain in metropolitan Melbourne, and significant flash flooding as a consequence of that heavy rainfall. Houses and other buildings were inundated in parts of Victoria, and crops, pastures and livestock have been lost to the floods. Potentially, the damage caused by Cyclone Yasi and the floods in Queensland and Victoria will cost billions of dollars in repair work to private property and public infrastructure, and the loss in both production and productivity will impact on Australia’s gross domestic product.

With today’s instantaneous communications, the graphic horror of the effects of both Cyclone Yasi and the Queensland floods was beamed into the living rooms of Australians and transmitted around the world. Also beamed into our living rooms were images of ordinary Australians whose property was not directly devastated by the cyclone or the floods but who moved to help their fellow Australians in their time of need. Images of the efforts of these fantastic volunteers, who were often seen waste deep in water or covered in mud helping out those who had suffered so much as a consequence of the floods, really typified what Australian mateship is all about.

I am sure those living outside Australia who, watching the television pictures of the devastation caused by the floods, saw the volunteers lining up on the streets of Brisbane, with their wheelbarrows, shovels, brooms and rakes, offering to go wherever they were needed to help out their fellow Australians in their time of need, would have readily recognised the act of compassion and genuine support for our fellow Australians when they are in need that represents the spirit of mateship that makes us who we are as Australians.

Whilst much media focus has been centred on Queensland, for very good reason, I ask the Senate to reflect on the massive flood that caused extensive damage to the Gascoyne region of my home state of Western Australia on 19 December 2010, only a week before Christmas. The December flood was followed by a secondary flood on 6 January this year—just six weeks ago. In some cases those who managed to protect their property and crops from the December flood suffered severe losses as result of the January flood. Some who suffered inundation in December copped a second barrage of water on 6 January and must have wondered when their luck would change for the better.

The December flood was the worst flood that we have seen in the Gascoyne region in the past 50 years and it saw the town of Gascoyne Junction, located 170 kilometres east of Carnarvon, actually wiped out and the plantation owners and the pastoral stations located along the Gascoyne River lose millions of dollars worth of crops and livestock. The flooding was so severe that many of the buildings on the outlying pastoral stations suffered inundation, and miles of fencing and other pastoral infrastructure has been destroyed. On Bidgemia Station, located 11 kilometres east of the Gascoyne Junction and owned by Lachlan and Jane McTaggart, and which is 1.6 million acres in area, the floodwater engulfed the station home and both Lachlan and his wife, Jane, were forced to spend the night on the top of a water tank, with their son Hamish and his wife, Jodie, on top of the adjacent water tank. The following day, the McTaggart family were airlifted to safety. However, the plight of their more than 1,500 head of cattle was uppermost in their minds.

On Mullaloo Station, which is located near Gascoyne Junction, the floods ripped trees from the ground whilst fences, windmills and tanks which were part of this vast property were destroyed. The town of Carnarvon, which is located 900 kilometres north of Perth at the mouth of the Gascoyne River, suffered extensive damage which affected in the vicinity of 100 homes and more than 150 plantations, which mainly produced bananas, mangoes and melons. The Carnarvon floods also caused extensive damage to public infrastructure, with the North West Coastal Highway washed away in a number of locations and hundreds of kilometres of the highway’s shoulders and embankments being severely eroded. There is no doubt that it will cost tens of millions of dollars to repair the flood damage to this road system alone. The extent of the damage in the Gascoyne and Upper Murchison region was so widespread that seven areas in the region were declared natural disaster zones. These include Ashburton, Carnarvon, Exmouth, Murchison, Northampton, Shark Bay and the Upper Gascoyne.

As with any natural disaster, the impact is far greater than just the economic and physical loss of property. Whilst houses and their contents are destroyed and businesses are forced to close—and in some cases cannot reopen because of the enormity of the loss and damage—there is significant ongoing trauma suffered by many people from the devastated area which will last until well after the floods recede. Some of the ongoing trauma will be related to the financial pressures that now beset them and the additional pressure related to the fact that many people are unsure if their insurance policies will cover the losses caused by the flooding.

I should advise the Senate that, like the many people who offered their voluntary support to those who were affected by the Brisbane floods, many Western Australians volunteered to assist those affected by the Carnarvon floods. Unlike the greater Brisbane area, which has a population of just over two million people, Carnarvon has a population of approximately 8,000 people. Notwithstanding the differing size of the population, there were many people who lived in the town or who were just visiting the town, because it was Christmas time and people were on holidays, who volunteered to help their fellow Australians in their time of need. In the Brisbane city area the Lord Mayor, Campbell Newman, demonstrated great leadership by encouraging volunteers to assist flood victims and he is now leading the charge to rebuild the city.

In the case of the recent Carnarvon floods it is important to recognise the leadership that was provided by a core group of local people led by the President of the Shire of Carnarvon, Dudley Maslen. Dudley Maslen, who is a former Gascoyne pastoralist and a member of the Western Australian state parliament for the Gascoyne region and surrounding areas, has shown himself to be an outstanding community leader who continues to work tirelessly to ensure the needs of the residents of the town and the needs of the pastoralists and the plantation owners are heard by the relevant authorities. Under the leadership of Dudley Maslen, a number of other state agencies and private organisations worked together to assist the residents of the flood affected Gascoyne region. Mr Maslen ensured that the Carnarvon Civic Centre was designated the region’s evacuation centre, and at one stage at the peak of the flood we had nearly 200 people taking refuge in the centre. We had magnificent support from personnel from the State Emergency Service, the Shire of Carnarvon and other affected local authorities, the Fire and Emergency Services Authority, the WA police and Main Roads. But, most of all, the volunteers demonstrated by their efforts the characteristic of mateship that distinguishes Australians from others.

It was also pleasing to see the Premier of Western Australia, Hon. Colin Barnett, visit the region to gain a firsthand appreciation of the extent of the flood damage and to offer support and assess the needs of the people. Following his visit to the region, Premier Barnett requested that the Prime Minister activate a joint Commonwealth-state government assistance package to assist those affected by the floods. This request has been agreed to, so those affected by the flood damage will be able to access some funds to assist them at this difficult time. It is critical that we as a nation give generous support to assist our fellow Australians in their time of need. However, equally important is that the support we offer is properly considered support—that is, tailored to assist our fellow Australians, having regard to their particular circumstances. It is also important to recognise that a one-size-fits-all solution will not address the issues facing different sectors of our Australian community. For example, we must distinguish the support needed by farmers in Victoria to that needed by pastoralists in the north of Western Australia and by residents in Cardwell who have suffered cyclone damage as compared to residents who have suffered flood or fire damage. The cyclone and floods in Queensland, the floods in Victoria, the bushfires in Victoria which are of course still vividly imprinted on our minds, the floods in Carnarvon and the Gascoyne region of Western Australia and indeed the current bushfires in the Perth area demand that we commit ourselves to assisting those in need. We offer our heartfelt sympathy to the families of those who have died or been injured and to those who have suffered as a consequence of these disasters, remembering that there are many people who are relying on us not to forget them in their time of need. With those comments, I support the motion.