Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

North Queensland is in the grip of yet another devastating flood crisis right now. Just as clean-up from the initial downpour had begun, more rain swamped the region in the last couple of days. We breed them tough in NQ, but this is a really challenging time. Ingham and areas around Townsville are inundated. From thousands of homes, about 800 are still without power; 20 schools remain closed; hundreds of residents have been evacuated; and, tragically, two people have lost their lives and another is missing. My heart is with those families and with the entire North Queensland community facing this latest flood crisis.

On behalf of the Australian Greens, I say a heartfelt thankyou to the incredible SES personnel and all of those working on clean-up and the bridge rebuilds. I pay tribute to all the locals showing the true Queensland spirit by helping each other in times of need. These floods are a scary indication of the extreme weather events that are becoming more frequent and more damaging as the climate crisis is turbocharged by the big parties' addiction to coal and gas. Australians are already paying the price of these fossil fuel disasters. The recovery and rebuild efforts cost an estimated $13 billion each year, and that's not to mention the human toll and the emotional cost that they wreak.

Meanwhile, fossil fuel corporations continue to reap major profits, get mega subsidies, pay little tax and turbocharge climate destruction. We know that coal and gas are the major cause of the climate crisis, and both big parties are taking more. Labor has approved 32 coal and gas projects, and Mr Dutton wants expensive nuclear that would prop up coal and gas in the interim. The Greens want to stop new coal, oil and gas and make big corporations pay their fair share so that we can support climate affected communities as we transition off fossil fuels.