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

I rise to speak on and share with the Senate an event that occurred in the Northern Territory, in particular in the Top End, with Cyclone Trevor. Cyclone Trevor was a very strong cyclone that was going to be coming our way. There was perhaps the biggest evacuation effort in the Northern Territory since the post Cyclone Tracy effort of evacuating residents from Darwin in 1974. More than 2,000 residents were relocated or evacuated or self-evacuated from a number of these communities. Communities in Umbakumba on Groote Eylandt and in Bickerton Island were evacuated. Some residents stayed at Angurugu and Alyangula. Across on the mainland, there was the complete evacuation of Numbulwar, the complete evacuation of Ngukurr and the complete evacuation of Borroloola and Robinson River. Numerous outstations and homelands in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Arnhem region were also evacuated, which brought the total to more than 2,000 residents. The evacuation of our remote regions was the biggest in the history of the Northern Territory. I want to take the time this evening to thank the people involved with that massive evacuation.

Cyclones or flooding or bushfires are scary and deeply stressful times for people—times of crisis, where communication is essential, where there is a coordinated effort, where calm is very much key to trying to maintain the relocation of so many people. This evacuation also held some really historical fears, especially for some of the elders who had to evacuate and were forced to leave their communities and their homelands. It conjured up images and memories of days gone by, when they were rounded up. For a lot of the elders, there had to be certain kinds of translations and care given in explaining the importance of this evacuation and that, yes, they would be returning back home to country.

There were buses—the Bodhi Bus in particular. There were cars—people's own private cars but also those cars that assisted from around Katherine and Mataranka, Hi-Way Inn at Daly Waters and even Tennant Creek. Boats, planes and helicopters were used to get people out of the cyclone's path. We've got so many rivers in the Gulf country and the Arnhem country, so we knew that, if Cyclone Trevor maintained its course, it was certainly going to be very ferocious, with those rivers rising, isolating all these areas.

I take this opportunity to thank the agencies involved—in particular, the Australian Defence Force, who were just amazing, as they always are when they come to the aid of Australians right across this country in moments of crises. The RAAF certainly came to the aid of all the residents in these regions. I thank them very much not only for the evacuation but for the repatriation of families back to their homelands and communities.

The Northern Territory government and the Northern Territory Emergency Service personnel led this evacuation and led these decisions. Clearly, the greatest thanks and commendation has to go to Chief Minister Michael Gunner, the cabinet and the Northern Territory agencies and emergency personnel who combined together with the Australian government and the Defence Force to be able to ensure the safety of every single person in terms of this evacuation process.

In the Northern Territory government there was the Territory Families agency, the Police, the Fire and Rescue Service, the Emergency Service and Education. Thank you to the teachers out there who not only assisted in keeping calm with their students and families to leave these communities—these are the teachers who were evacuated from Borroloola and Robinson River and from Ngukurr and Numbulwar in particular—but also taught the students in the shelters in Katherine and Darwin. They were just as exhausted as anyone else. I thank them very much for being there and showing the people of the region that everything was going to be okay and that this is what happens when people work together. There was the Department of Health, the Department of the Chief Minister and all the other agencies who played a role in the evacuation and recovery efforts.

These families went to Katherine, Darwin and even Tennant Creek. I thank the people of Tennant Creek for preparing for what could have been some huge rainfall. Unfortunately and disappointingly, especially for the cattle stations in the Barkly and north of Tennant Creek who were really waiting for some of that rain to come their way, they didn't get it. But I do thank the town of Tennant Creek for being prepared for any possible evacuation from those regions of the Barkly.

Local governments played a strong role, including the Roper Gulf, East Arnhem and Central Desert regional councils. There were huge efforts by service providers and NGOs assisting people in the shelters, such as Red Cross, Save the Children and many others. I'd like to bring attention to the great work of the Larrakia People, the Larrakia Nation, in Darwin, who assisted with the buses and the transport, just being able to take the 300 or more people who were in one shelter. Also they were very much involved in transportation for basic necessities in the Darwin showgrounds where the Groote Eylandt people were located. After a while, when you're evacuated and you're staying in one area with a lot of people, you do need a bit of time out. You need to go shopping, maybe go to the movies or go and see a sporting match. You want to feel a sense of normality in a very abnormal situation. So I thank all those organisations across the Top End, the Barkly region and Tennant Creek, for their assistance in just reaching out to all these families. It was, indeed, a stressful time, and there were lots of incidents. Certainly there were concerns around the care of residents—the elderly and the people who were vulnerable.

It didn't matter whether you were black or white. Let me tell you now—on the commentary on social media which was inaccurate, completely unfair and only exacerbated an enormously stressful situation for people—that the treatment of people in these shelters was fantastic. The evidence I got was by being there. I was there at the Winnellie Showgrounds. I was there at the Marrara Stadium. I heard from families directly. They raised concerns and issues like: 'Can we have another dryer because all of our clothes are wet? Can we get a few more washing machines in? Where can we go to get some assistance with food that we might want in addition to the food we have?' People, while obviously upset at being away from home, were deeply relieved that they were not in the path of Cyclone Trevor.

To the Bureau of Meteorology and the team there, thank you for the work that you did in coordinating, along with the Northern Territory Emergency Service, the preparation. There's lots of things that can be learnt. There were some disappointments, clearly, that will come back in the feedback, but I think it's important, in moving ahead, that the Northern Territory and the people of the Northern Territory can just sit back for a minute and go: 'You know what? We did okay. We did really well, because those 2,000 people out there were glad they weren't in the path of that cyclone.' It was pretty ferocious. There are communities and outstations like Seven Emu Station and Snake Lagoon that have been really devastated.

I've just seen pictures on my Facebook page from people who are still sending me photos of some of the devastation, and it's not good. But we know that a state of emergency has been declared in these locations, and I urge people who have been severely affected to make sure that they contact the appropriate government agency for the assistance that they so rightly deserve. To the organisations that assisted with fuel—fuel was really important in trying to help those who were self-evacuating—make sure that you do the same. This is a state of emergency, and each and every person who was evacuated will be looked after. I encourage you to contact the appropriate agencies. On that note, I want to thank the people of the Northern Territory on a job well done.