Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator Lambie, for your interest in this issue. Obviously, north-west Tasmania, an area you're very familiar with, has experienced floods over the last couple of weeks, so these issues are very topical in that part of the world. It has been reported a number of times now that our government is giving consideration to how we as a country should properly resource disaster management in terms of both the immediate response and the longer term recovery. I think the reality that we're all seeing unfold before our eyes is that climate change is here. We are seeing more regular, more frequent and more intense natural disasters, and we haven't been well enough prepared as a country. Frankly, the federal government hasn't been well enough prepared in the past either, and this is one example of that.

I have begun some discussions with the defence minister, along with other colleagues and a range of non-profit groups, about how we can make sure that as a country we do have, effectively, the workforce—whether it be paid or volunteer—to cope with the size of the task that we are now facing. Even with what we're facing at the moment, and this is just in October, I've already updated the chamber about the number of ADF personnel we've activated across Victoria and New South Wales. They, of course, supplement the many hundreds and even thousands of SES personnel, paid emergency services workers, volunteers and other groups as well, which again shows the size of the task.

This work we're undertaking is at a very early stage. We are open to a range of options about how we meet the future workforce needs. The point about the ADF—and I mentioned this in my earlier answer—is: quite apart from the incredible practical difference they make on the ground, helping people clean up and recover from disasters, they provide an enormous morale boost to communities, when the trucks roll in. The reality is: we need to make sure we don't stretch them too far when they have a core job, that being protecting the nation, as well.