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

Please listen, Minister. I am asking these questions because there are many people in our communities across this country who have been affected by their own natural disasters and they are wondering what makes one person’s natural disaster any different from or more disastrous than another person’s natural disaster. I am asking the following questions on behalf of those people in states across our country.

My office has visited one of the government’s websites today. We have been to the Attorney-General’s website to look at the national disaster relief fund assistance program. I note that the website talks about a state or territory being able to claim funding under the natural disaster relief and recovery arrangements if a natural disaster occurs. I note that a natural disaster for the purposes of that funding is defined to include a flood, bushfire, earthquake, storm cyclone, storm surge, landslide, tsunami, meteorite strike, tornado. I also note that the Attorney-General’s website today, under the heading ‘Current disasters’, lists the financial assistance that has been granted under that program for flooding and severe weather events from November 2010 to February 2011, part of which period saw Queensland devastated by its floods. I note, Minister, that the website confirms that your government under this program:

... will provide financial assistance to Victorian, South Australian—

my own state—

Western Australian and Tasmanian communities affected by flooding/severe weather in November 2010–January 2011.

That of course is relevant, given that Senator Cormann drew to your attention before the fact that today’s Treasury website confirms that certain consideration will be given to victims of flooding. In what is listed on the Attorney-General’s website as having been provided during that period of time to the people of Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, I note assistance given to 36 local government areas in Victoria, in alphabetical order beginning with Alpine and ending with Yarriambiack. The assistance given under your government’s program—and I am reading from the website—is in the nature of:

Emergency Grants of up to $1,067 to provide assistance to meet immediate basic needs.

These people have clearly been affected by their own version of a natural disaster.

They will get assistance with temporary living expense grants to assist households with the cost of temporary accommodation and living expenses. They will get re-establishment grants for repairs to structural damage et cetera. In my home state of South Australia, assistance under the natural disaster relief and recovery program has been made available for areas affected by severe weather on 7 and 8 December 2010. Personal hardship and distress assistance is being made available in the four local government areas of Clare and Gilbert Valleys, Loxton Waikerie, Mid Murray and The Barossa. That is what your government website says.

For Western Australia—and I declare that my family is still wheat and sheep farming in between Beverley and Brookton in Western Australia—I note that under this program your government, Minister, is extending assistance to 20 local governments, beginning with Beverley and Brookton, where my family continues to farm. Then there are Cuballing, Cunderdin, Dalwallinu, Goomalling, Narrogin, Northam, Perenjori, Pingelly, Quairading Toodyay, Victoria Plains, Wagin, Wandering, West Arthur, Wickepin, Williams, Wongan Hills and York. That is taken from your website today. The assistance for those communities, Minister, includes: counter disaster operations, personal hardship and distress assistance, restoration of essential public assets, interest rate subsidies for small businesses and primary producers and professional advice grants and freight subsidies for primary producers.

For the purposes of my question today, I finish with Tasmania. Under your government’s program, the Tasmanian government has been provided with assistance for 11 local government areas, beginning with Break O’Day and ending, in alphabetical order, with West Tamar. The sorts of personal hardship and distress assistance extended under your government’s program—for which I presume your government considers that there is merit, for otherwise why would you be doing it?—include the same sorts of personal hardship and distress assistance given to the other communities to which I have already referred.

Like Senator Back, it may have taken me a long time to get to my question. But, Minister, that is because there is quite a long list of communities across Australia that your government has seen to fit to assist, and appropriately so, under the natural disaster relief and recovery arrangements. My question, Minister, is this: in respect of those communities in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania listed on the Attorney-General’s website today—communities that qualified for assistance under your program—will any be exempt from the flood levy? If so, which ones and on what basis? If not, why not?