Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

A crisis is unfolding in the East Kimberley right now as the region is left struggling and stranded because of surrounding floods. In January, the main trade route through to Fitzroy Crossing was inundated, and since then the road has been impassable. I'm calling on Minister King to urgently lodge a section 11 exemption from the Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Act 2012 to allow international carriers who are at the ready to bring in the supplies that this community is in desperate need of right now. Allowing international carriers into the region will halve the time it takes for supplies to get into the port of Wyndham and assist the communities of Wyndham, Halls Creek and Kununurra—in excess of 9,000 Australians who right now have empty supermarket shelves. We're getting the ADF to drop in supplies, and this government has been left asleep at the wheel. This is not some flash-flooding event that just arrived yesterday. The first flooding event was months ago, and now we've got the final route between the Northern Territory and WA cut off. And what have they done? They've sat on their hands. Anthony Albanese, when he was the infrastructure and transport minister, exercised this exemption. Barnaby Joyce, during a similar catastrophic event in 2022, exercised this exemption. Catherine King needs to wake up, recognise she can make a difference to these communities and sign the exemption so they can get in fresh food and supplies in a sustainable manner.