Mark Furner (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Emergency Management, Senator Ludwig. It is pretty ironic that I ask this question given that yesterday afternoon he, I and others were stuck in the Brisbane airport because of severe thunderstorms. Flights were delayed. I ask this question on that basis. Can the minister advise the Senate how the Gillard government is supporting communities across Australia to prepare and be more resilient this summer as we head into what is traditionally a summer of natural disasters? Hopefully, we will not experience natural disasters like we have in Queensland in previous years when we had to look at putting in place incentives and arrangements to assist Queenslanders who were affected by those terrible disasters over the last several years.