Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to cover two important issues that I think are worthy of some attention. The first is the tabling today of the interim observations from the Royal Commission into Natural Disaster Arrangements, better known as the bushfires royal commission. In its introduction the royal commission interim observations note the unprecedented nature of the bushfires which Australia saw in so many parts of the country in the summer just gone. Of course, we tragically saw 33 lives lost and over 3,000 homes destroyed. It is now estimated that about three billion animals in Australia were killed or displaced by those fires. Of course, millions of hectares were burnt, including World Heritage listed national parks.

When we look back on those bushfires I think all of us remember, with great shock, how poorly prepared this government was. Today's interim observations from the royal commission demonstrate some very major shortcomings in this government's approach to handling those bushfires last year. They are only interim observations. Final recommendations will be made when the royal commission tables its final report in a couple of months time. But, in the meantime, there are some very important observations that the royal commission has made and that I certainly hope that the Prime Minister and his government take on board.

We all remember the terrible response we saw from the Prime Minister after the last bushfires—not being in the country, refusing to take responsibility, telling people, 'I don't hold a hose, mate,' and, I have to say, some of the same abrogation of responsibility that we continue to see from this Prime Minister now in relation to the aged-care crisis. Unless there is a photo op involved, he doesn't want to be there and he doesn't want to take responsibility. We saw that over and over again in the bushfires last year.

As I say, this interim report makes clear that there is a lack of national coordination between the Commonwealth and the states and territories in relation to natural disasters, with the inquiry finding that current arrangements 'might not be suitable to facilitate national decisions'. The royal commission has found that Australia is likely to experience more frequent and intense natural disasters due to climate change, with a growing risk that disasters will become too great for one state or territory to manage alone. Sadly, our ability to prepare for and respond to natural disasters in this country remains impaired by a government that has too many people who want to deny the existence of climate change and the impact that it is having on the world around us, including the fact that we are likely to see more frequent and intense natural disasters. I truly do hope that the government can overcome its own divisions on climate change so that we can put in place the measures required to keep Australians safe from these sorts of disasters in the future.

The royal commission has found that many recommendations from 20 years of natural disaster inquiries 'have not yet been adequately implemented'. It also found that confusion, gaps, and inconsistent technology and procedures plague information sharing, evacuation planning and essential infrastructure. It found that aerial firefighting capability must be reviewed in order to meet current needs, and it said that simplifying Australia's confusing bushfire warning system has taken 'too long' and should be 'finished as a priority'. Finally, it found that fragmented recovery efforts meant that bushfire victims were forced to repeatedly retell their stories and register for services in the aftermath of the fires.

I welcome what the royal commission has had to say and I very much look forward to seeing what its final recommendations will be, because the fact that it was able to find just those things in only its interim findings shows us that we have a long way to go in making sure that the government are up to scratch when it comes to planning for, responding to and recovering from natural disasters. If there is one message that I want to give the government, having received this report today, it's that they just cannot afford to repeat the failings that we saw last year. They failed to prepare for the bushfires last year. The Prime Minister refused to even take meetings with people who wanted to give him advice about how to avoid the worst of those fire conditions, and we saw the consequences from that. I truly hope that the government listen to what the royal commission is saying and that they don't fail to prepare in the way that they did last year.

Just today we saw the outlook through spring for bushfires issued by the peak body, the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre. They've indicated that, while overall the fire conditions we face this spring aren't as severe as what we faced this time last year, there is still an above-average fire risk in significant parts of the country, particularly in my home state of Queensland. So this is a threat that we will continue to face into the future, in addition to other natural disaster threats such as floods and cyclones.

There are already worrying signs that the government is not preparing adequately for the coming disaster season. We worked with the government to pass legislation about 18 months ago to establish the new Emergency Response Fund with $200 million a year available to be spent on disaster recovery and mitigation. We have already seen one financial year pass with not a single cent spent from that Emergency Response Fund. So there was money available there that could have been used for disaster mitigation, whether it be building flood levees, bushfire fire breaks or evacuation centres—all sorts of things that could come in very handy this coming disaster season. The government has failed to spend that available money. Again, it is an instance of this government being more concerned with making an announcement rather than actually following through and delivering on what it promises. So, as I said, let's hope the government does take these interim observations seriously, gets its act together and makes sure we are a lot better prepared for the coming fire season than we were last year.

The other matter I want to turn to tonight is a vote that occurred earlier today in the Senate regarding a motion that I moved along with Queensland Labor senators to try to shore up the rights of mining workers in my home state of Queensland. I'm very pleased that Senator Canavan is here to hear about this, because he certainly wasn't in the chamber when the matter was being debated earlier today. Today, with this Senate motion, Senator Canavan and his Queensland LNP colleagues failed the test. They failed the test that they had tried to set for Labor repeatedly to measure our support for coalminers in the state of Queensland.

We've all heard Senator Canavan and his colleagues over many years now try to set themselves up as the friends of coalminers. Senator Canavan even goes as far as getting out there and trying to dress up like a coalminer in order to hoodwink miners into thinking that he is on their side. Today, he showed his true colours. Today, Senator Canavan and his LNP colleagues from Queensland showed once and for all that, when they say they like mining, what they really mean is they like mining bosses but they don't support mining workers. The motion that we moved today called on the government to withdraw its support from a High Court case that it has joined that seeks to enshrine forever the rort that big mining companies and labour hire firms use to employ full-time long-term coalminers as permanent casuals.

When Senator Canavan goes to the mines, he doesn't like to go and meet actual mining workers, and he certainly doesn’t like to go and meet casuals. He just prefers to dress up as one and get lots of photos taken while he goes off and meets the boss. But I've met those mining workers. I've met them in Moranbah. I've met them in Middlemount. I've met them in Tieri. I've met them in Rockhampton and I've met them in Gladstone. These are people who are engaged as casuals by labour hire firms and are employed to do the same work week after week, year after year. In every other thing but the way they are classified by their boss, they are permanent workers. But, because they are employed as casuals, they don't get the job security of permanent workers, they don't get the leave entitlements of permanent workers and they don't get any of the other benefits that the permanent workers they work with get. This is a situation that Senator Canavan and the Queensland LNP are happy to see continue. That's why they've joined with WorkPac, a labour hire firm, in their High Court appeal to try to keep this permanent casual rort in place.

It is not good enough. If you're going to be in Central Queensland, like Senator Canavan, and try and dress up like a miner, tell miners that you care about them and that you're on their side, you could at least have the decency when you come down to Canberra to vote with Labor to try and get this government to back off the permanent casual rort.

Senator Canavan interjecting—

I know he doesn't want to hear it and I know that he's embarrassed because he likes to dress up as a miner. But he doesn't like to vote for miners. Senator Canavan is all about the dress-ups. He's not actually about delivering the results to the miners. He just likes to put on a dirty shirt and pretend that he's a miner, then he likes to fly down to Canberra and vote with the mining bosses and the Liberals, who want to do over those mine workers that he says that he cares about. Senator Canavan's actions and the Queensland LNP's actions today were absolutely gutless. They weren't prepared to back Labor and take on the big mining companies for this permanent casual rort. We are on to you. We are not going to let you say one thing in Queensland and another thing down here. We are going to hold you to account.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order. Senator Watt, I'll let that sentence go. I just urge senators to keep in mind personal reflections. Collective reflections on parties are one matter. Personal reflections on the attributes of senators may cross the line.