Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight in adjournment to make a contribution on behalf of—and to report to the Senate about—the Daly River community and the residents of Daly River. It's a community over 230 kilometres south of Darwin, and many of you may have heard, over the last couple of weeks, of heavy rain there. It is the wet season in the Top End, and so, naturally, there is excess water flowing, particularly when we have heavy lows or cyclones. In this instance, it was incredibly heavy rains.

The Daly River community were evacuated to Darwin last week following those torrential rains. I want to give my praise to the Northern Territory Emergency Service, who ensured that the town's 380 residents were evacuated safely to the Foskey Pavilion in Darwin. Many of these residents were evacuated by helicopter. There is a sealed road to Daly River from Darwin, down the Stuart Highway, but, obviously, in this instance, all roads were cut.

I also want to thank the people of Darwin. They have provided additional food, shelter and services to all of those residents from Daly River. It was certainly heartening to read about. On my own visit to the Foskey Pavilion, just before I came here for parliamentary sittings, I spent time with residents at the Foskey Pavilion to see how they were going. It certainly wasn't raining. It was very hot and humid; that's the wet season for you. But they're making the most of a transitional stage. They're not home; they're on Larrakia country and they're being well looked after.

There are quite a number of children, from preschool age right up to secondary school, and those children have been able to attend school in Nightcliff. It was certainly important to listen to the parents. They are pleased that, even in this evacuation crisis, their children are attending school. I'd like to extend a very big thank you to the teachers at Nightcliff Middle School and St John's College, who've taken it upon themselves to make room for additional students to go to their school. A very, very big thankyou to those teachers and the staff there in both those schools.

I understand teaching staff have also taken the opportunity to introduce the students to a range of organisations and programs, including the Be Crocwise campaign. Even the Darwin City Library is getting a visit, as well as Defence, and, of course, AFL Northern Territory. I'm sure it's an experience many of these young children from Daly River won't be forgetting any time too soon. And I'm sure they'll be keen to get back home.

Lastly, I would like to thank both the Northern Territory government and the federal government, who, through the jointly funded NDRRA, are also making financial assistance available for clean-up operations and to repair any damaged essential public assets. And there are certainly the charities—the Red Cross in particular. It was wonderful to be able to spend time with them and listen to some of the issues that they might need help with in terms of logistics. On the whole, it was terrific to be able to be there with the families from Daly River at the Foskey Pavilion, and I certainly look forward to seeing them again, and, hopefully, seeing them back at the Daly River community.