Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Canavan for the question. As senators will know, both Tropical Cyclone Marcia and Tropical Cyclone Lam had devastating impacts on families and businesses; in the case of Cyclone Marcia, in parts of Central Queensland. Thankfully there was no loss of life.

On Thursday and Friday of last week the Prime Minister, the justice minister, I, Senator Canavan and the members for Capricornia and Flynn visited both Yeppoon and Rockhampton—and, in my case, Biloela as well—to see the recovery effect and meet with families who really are still trying to get back on their feet. The Australian government is providing extensive assistance to the people of the Fitzroy and Wide Bay-Burnett areas in the form of both the disaster recovery payment and the disaster recovery allowance. The DRP is a one-off, non-means-tested payment of $1,000 for eligible adults and $400 for eligible children who have been adversely affected by a major disaster such as Tropical Cyclone Marcia.

The Commonwealth's decision to make disaster recovery payments available to the residents of Fitzroy as soon as we could after the cyclone was of great benefit to those affected. The DRA is going to support the local economy by giving employees, small business owners and farmers a bit of a hand when they need it most. This is assistance which is over and above the jointly Commonwealth and Queensland funded Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, the NDRRA. That sort of assistance covers hardship payments to individuals, loans for businesses and primary producers, and support for councils to assist them in rebuilding impacted infrastructure.

The clean-up effort is still underway; and there is some way to go, to be honest. The ADF, the Attorney-General's Department and my own Department of Human Services have worked tirelessly since the cyclone in Queensland to support communities affected by those recent cyclones, and we will continue to work closely with the Queensland government. (Time expired)