Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Four months ago Queensland was devastated by Tropical Cyclone Debbie. I'm sure we all recall the headlines and saw the television footage of entire towns that had been flooded, homes made unlivable and businesses forced to shut their doors. It wasn't long ago, but it looks like this current government has a very short memory when it comes to the Cyclone Debbie recovery effort.

Recently, I made my third trip to cyclone-impacted communities. Previously, I visited with the federal Labor leader, Bill Shorten, in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone. Not long after that, I visited with the shadow Treasurer, Chris Bowen, where we visited Proserpine and Bowen and got to see firsthand the recovery efforts. More recently, I went and visited with the shadow minister for regional development, Stephen Jones, and again we visited Proserpine and Airlie Beach and got to see firsthand the recovery efforts. I want to put on record again my admiration for the work that the SES, the police, the Army, local volunteers and, indeed, volunteers from all over the country put into that recovery effort.

Whilst a lot of the urgent recovery work has been completed, a visit to the recovery centre in Proserpine gives you a full understanding of the long-term impacts, particularly those psychological impacts, that will be felt in that community for a long time. We also see the economic consequences that have been laid bare as a result of the cyclone, where some businesses have not opened and others are struggling to get back on their feet. But we in Queensland and particularly the Queensland state government have not forgotten. They put forward the application for the category D funding on behalf of local councils to the Turnbull government on 11 May. That's why this decision that we've seen from the federal government around the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements is so disappointing. Whilst the Queensland government committed $110 million in funding for projects aimed at building disaster resilience and rebuilding vital infrastructure that had been damaged by the cyclone, it wasn't until 14 July that the Turnbull government finally announced their meagre commitment. That contribution was a mere $29 million of the requested $110 million to match the state contribution. There are people in need of aid—the category D funds that were so important to this community and the local councils—and the Turnbull government instead chose to play petty politics.

As I mentioned, I was up in Whitsunday two weeks ago, and the resilience of the local community is truly inspiring. During the trip with shadow minister Jones, we spoke with local tourism reps at Airlie Beach about how they are working to get the local economy back working again. We saw Shute Harbour, which is one of the contested items that the federal government is refusing to fund, and the damage that has been caused to that by Cyclone Debbie and the importance of it as a gateway to the Whitsunday and the islands. We caught up with Tracey from Everything Office & More, which I first visited when I was in town with federal leader Bill Shorten. It's great to see her shop back up and running and in a much better state than when I last saw it, when you almost needed gumboots when you visited in April. We also visited Bowen fruit growers again, to see how their recovery is going and the impact that that is having on the markets down south.

We also caught up with the Mackay and Whitsunday mayors. The message from the mayors of Mackay and Whitsunday was consistent: they want to see this federal government stump up and make sure it is funding its fair share of the recovery efforts. If the Prime Minister and Minister Keenan wanted to do more than a quick helicopter ride into those communities, they would understand the importance of this funding to those rebuilding efforts and the confidence that it would give those communities to know that the federal government hasn't deserted them. But it's not too late. It is important that the federal government has another look at its funding commitment to ensure that these communities can rebuild.

But we've also seen some doublespeak by the member for Dawson as well. He said a lot on this matter, but it is clear that he is not being heard in Canberra. He said only recently that he was gutted to see that the quantum of funding that was delivered to the electorate was not substantial enough. I remind the member for Dawson that he is a government MP and that it is his government that is dudding his own electorate and hampering the rebuild efforts in the impacted communities.