Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Macdonald for his question and recognise the impact that this natural disaster has had on his area and community. There have been multiple disasters wrapped up in one. There's been the immediate impact of the flood and the monsoon low on Townsville, near where Senator Macdonald lives and where his office is located, which has done enormous damage to households and resulted in the tragic loss of two lives. There's been enormous damage to our agricultural sector and the loss of many, many stock. The numbers will probably never be known. Of course, in these types of events there's always damage to infrastructure, which cuts towns off, sometimes for months, and it takes a while to rebuild. We also recognise that the tough times to come in that rebuilding exercise are something we will be there for to make sure local communities can do that.

I don't have as much knowledge on this event as others in this chamber. I know Senator O'Sullivan has been to visit these areas. I appreciate Senator Reynolds's time up in North Queensland in responding so quickly to people's needs. I also of course want to pay tribute to the emergency services personnel, who did such a fantastic job on the ground. I suppose it was in some senses fortunate that Townsville had a military base right there. The Army did a sensational job, may I say, particularly in helping to get people out of harm's way when uncontrolled releases from the Ross River Dam occurred. At their peak, those releases were flowing out at 2,000 cubic metres per second, and they occurred overnight. While they were anticipated by a few hours, it wasn't a long time to prepare.

I also recognise there are other areas that have been impacted. They perhaps haven't had as much of the focus, but the sugar industry around Burdekin has had significant losses. I was contacted yesterday by a grazier from Etheridge shire, which has also had significant losses. This has been a widespread disaster and it will take efforts from state and federal governments to make sure we respond properly. (Time expired)