Mary Fisher (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am just giving the minister a minute, if I may. Thank you, Chair—I will continue. On the Attorney-General’s departmental website today, there is reference to assistance given under the natural disaster relief and recovery arrangements by your government for the ‘severe thunderstorm on 29 January 2011’ to 20 or so local government areas in Western Australia, beginning with Beverley and Brookton, where my family still farms. I note that list of 20 ends with the local government area of York.

Under the assumption that these communities are not proposed to be exempted from the Queensland flood levy, on what basis does your government to seek to attribute a different value to, let’s say, a farmer in Beverley or Brookton who had the roof ripped off their farmhouse by the severe thunderstorm of 29 January 2011? Because it happened, Minister. It happened down the hill from my parents’ house. It happened to the next-door neighbour. They lost the entire roof off their house through the severe thunderstorm of 29 January 2011. They also then suffered a deluge from the rain that followed. So, Minister, on what basis do you attribute presumably some lesser suffering and different personal hardship and distress to a family that lost their roof and got the entire contents of their home sodden to people who suffered similarly from the Queensland floods or, indeed, from Cyclone Yasi?

On what basis does your government see fit to evaluate the loss of human life? Not only were there tragedies suffered by our countrypeople in the Queensland floods; there were also tragedies suffered, allegedly—but certainly during the severe thunderstorm that struck—in those 20 local government areas of Western Australia on 29 January 2011. On what basis does your government differentiate between a life lost due to that severe thunderstorm—in the words of your assistants—by a person driving a car in the local government area of York and tragedies that have occurred across our country in other natural disasters, including the floods in Queensland? What is your basis? Please show us that you are able to demonstrate fairness and equity. I look forward to your answer.