Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion so eloquently moved by the Prime Minister. We have lived through a summer of disaster, of flood, storm and fire, and it is right that this parliament should pause at some length to reflect on that, to mourn the dead, to offer words of comfort to the suffering, to congratulate everyone who has responded to this with courage, professionalism and good old-fashioned Aussie grit and also to congratulate the Prime Minister for the effort that she has made over recent weeks and again today to be with the victims of the floods. Whatever political disagreements we might have, she has shown a decent heart.

This disaster crept up on us. It began in December in New South Wales with floods in our west which destroyed vast expanses of wheat, cotton and other crops, causing enormous financial loss and much mental stress for people who have just suffered through a decade of drought. Then, in early January, the floods hit Central Queensland, severely damaging the towns of Bundaberg, Emerald, Dalby, Rockhampton and smaller settlements such as Theodore and Condamine. Hundreds of homes were inundated at that stage, dozens of major businesses were left out of action and thousands of head of stock were drowned, but it just got worse as the summer went on. Floods hit the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Floods hit central and northern Victoria and floods extended into northern New South Wales. Then we had the inland tsunami: the almost explosive floods that hit Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley, particularly the town of Grantham and the settlement of Murphys Creek. More than 20 people were killed and, tragically, nine are still missing. We can scarcely imagine the horror of having a loved one plucked from your arms and we can scarcely imagine the terror of seeing safety recede, and yet we try to stand with the people who have been through that. Many of us were with them in the field in the aftermath of these tragedies and all of us stand with them today. Then there was Cyclone Yasi, arguably the worst in 90 years to cross the Queensland coast. There was more flooding in Victoria and, finally, there were the fires in Western Australia.

We know that this is a land of droughts and flooding rains. We have had floods before; we will have them again. We have had cyclones before; we will have them again. But this has been a summer of epic proportions. I am just trying to remember the electorates which, one way or another, have been impacted. I do not claim this list is exhaustive but in Queensland it would seem to me that the electorates of Leichhardt, Kennedy, Dawson, Capricornia, Flynn, Wide Bay, Maranoa, Hinkler, Longman, Petrie, Ryan, Brisbane and Wright, most of all, were impacted. In New South Wales, the electorates of Richmond, Page, Cowper, Parkes and Riverina; in Victoria, the electorates of Murray, Mallee, Wannon and Flinders; and in Western Australia, the electorates of Durack, Canning and Pearce were all impacted. Every local member has stood by his or her people in this tough time. It is our duty to stand by our people in tough times. Members of this House have risen to their duty in these tough times.

If I may, I want particularly to mention, not because they have done more than others but because their work has impacted on my consciousness, four members of this parliament for their work during the flood. I want particularly to mention the member for Maranoa for ensuring that Centrelink guidelines, this time, have been as generous as previous guidelines. I want to thank and congratulate the member for Groom for his badgering of insurance companies to try to ensure that, wherever possible, the fine print did not deny people the payouts they believed they were entitled to. I want to congratulate the member for Ryan. Weeks before her electorate was directly impacted she was working as a Red Cross volunteer in Emerald, without any publicity. Finally, I want to acknowledge the work of the member for Wright. I think all of us know that at times the work of a local member is not so different from that of a parish priest. I want to say that in their local member the people of Wright found a friend, a counsellor, a comforter and an organiser par excellence over these recent difficult weeks.

As the Prime Minister mentioned, there have been many acts of heroism. Mother Nature has been at her worst, but human nature has largely been at its best over this summer. Like the Prime Minister, I congratulate everyone who rose to this occasion, particularly the police, the firefighters, the health workers and the SES volunteers, who have responded with their customary professionalism to difficult circumstances. There have been a host of local heroes. I imagine that most members will, at some point in time, mention the local people who have performed far above and beyond any call of duty in these last weeks. I want to particularly mention, as a representative of hundreds of others, Andrew O’Brien, who helped to organise the recovery centre at Gatton, and Peter Souter, a recently retired Army major, whose own property was cut off but who, once he was able to join local people, took on the job of organising the recovery centre at Murphys Creek.

But, of all the acts of heroism, there was none more emblematic of the Australian spirit than that of Jordan Rice, who I think should be to this generation what Simpson and his donkey were to earlier generations: a reminder of the height of selflessness to which individuals can rise. Obviously, it is for others to decide on an appropriate honour to confer upon this young man, but I hope that the Honours Secretariat will at least consider the possibility of a posthumous Cross of Valour for this person who rose so magnificently to a terrible crisis.

Hundreds of thousands of Australians now face the future after a summer of unanticipated difficulty. I acknowledge and thank the government for its response to the flood, storm and fire emergencies. It is right that the government properly instituted Centrelink payments. It is right that business recovery grants, business recovery loans and income support payments should be put in place. I have every confidence that the officers of government will do their best to ensure that these programs are administered competently, humanely and swiftly. In a spirit of helpful bipartisanship, I say to the Prime Minister that we will be here to do our best to ensure that that occurs. I suggest humbly, again in a spirit of bipartisanship, that the government look at whether some of the precedents from Cyclone Larry and the relief effort after that event could similarly be adopted this time.

Like the Prime Minister, I want to assure the Australian people that, in the days and weeks and months ahead, when the attention of our nation has perhaps drifted elsewhere, when they face ruined houses which are slow to be rebuilt and perhaps recalcitrant insurers or bankers, when their infrastructure is perhaps not restored quite as quickly as they would like, we will not forget them—they will not be alone.

Like the Prime Minister, I have done my best in recent weeks to try to be with as many people as I have been able to who have been impacted by these floods. Just on the weekend, I was roundly abused by a man at Tully who had lost his house in Cyclone Yasi. It is right that that citizen of this country should have had the opportunity to abuse a member of parliament. That is an important safety valve in every democracy. We should hear those complaints, and I assure you we will hear them in the weeks and months ahead. But I also think it is right that as many of us as possible, including members whose electorates were not affected, should do their best to visit those electorates that were affected, because, if we do not go, we will not understand and, if we do not understand, it is difficult to respond.

Finally, let me say that, for the vast majority of Australians touched by these disasters, they have been at their best. When our country is on trial, government, politicians and political parties should also be at their best. We have seen the best from the Australian people; I hope that in the weeks and months ahead they will see the best from us. We in the opposition will be doing our best.

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