Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Everybody knows how proud regional Queenslanders are and the incredible sense of community they hold. That sense of community has never been more apparent than it was on 13 December, when Far North Queensland was impacted by Tropical Cyclone Jasper. The days following Tropical Cyclone Jasper's crossing will forever be etched in the minds of residents of Far North Queensland. In my hometown of Cairns, I watched as the rain poured heavily for days and days. As the Barron River broke, residents in Machans Beach, Holloways Beach and nearby Kamerunga, Lake Placid and Caravonica faced a terrifying day and night of unprecedented rain and flooding.

I've spoken to community members in these tight-knit communities about their experiences. The flooding of their homes and communities unfolded rapidly. It was unprecedented and unpredictable how quickly the water came. The peak of the flooding happened in the dark of the night. Most had been well prepared for Cyclone Jasper, which had passed a few days prior—or so we thought. They packed their tin food, water, torches and so on in cyclone kits that they had started to unpack, only to move them to higher parts of their homes a few days later.

A few days later, residents faced situations they never thought were possible. They spent the night sitting on their rooftops waiting to be rescued, watching their life possessions be inundated by floodwaters, having to make difficult decisions about their pets as floodwaters rose. Further north, landslides along the Captain Cook Highway cut off access to our Douglas Shire communities like Port Douglas and the Daintree. The entire community of Wujal Wujal was evacuated when weather allowed. Whole towns were swallowed by water and mud. Roads were destroyed, homes were destroyed and our community was hurting.

Despite the challenges, communities across Far North Queensland displayed remarkable resilience. Swiftwater rescue crews, the SES, the ADF and local heroes on personal watercraft braved the elements to evacuate those stranded on rooftops across the region. Locals in tinnies pitched in to help. The Queensland State Emergency Service responded bravely to the call for help, receiving an overwhelming 146 calls within Far North Queensland. Our emergency services—the unsung heroes of such disasters—worked tirelessly to rescue, protect and serve our community in the face of such adversity. It was traumatic, and there are, understandably, people in the community still suffering stress and anxiety today and likely for a long time to come.

Less than a day after the cyclone impacted and before the water started to flow, Premier Miles and Minister Watt were in Cairns announcing that they had activated joint funding disaster assistance under the disaster recovery funding arrangements to support affected individuals and councils. It was at that press conference that we expressed a sigh of relief that there wasn't more damage from Cyclone Jasper, only to watch the water flow within the next couple of days. Within a fortnight, our government had delivered almost $18 million in disaster assistance payments directly to people significantly impacted by Tropical Cyclone Jasper in Far North Queensland.

Once our airport reopened, Prime Minister Albanese and Premier Miles flew to Cairns to survey the damage. The thanks and care they showed was appreciated on the ground—and I'm sure that the slab of XXXX Gold they donated to the Ergon workers was also appreciated! Those Ergon workers gave up their Christmas holidays with their families to restore power to families in Far North Queensland, and we cannot thank them enough. That day, $64 million for cyclone recovery in Far North Queensland was announced. We provided $25 million of extraordinary recovery grants for primary producers and $25 million in extraordinary recovery grants for small businesses and not-for-profits as well. We also announced $9 million in local recovery and resilience grants for eligible councils and started to build towards tourism recovery by announcing $5 million for the region.

The Prime Minister and the Premier visited residents on our beaches that day. This included Jan, who had braved the floodwaters by getting on top of her kitchen bench as waters flowed through her home. Jan's kitchen has to be replaced, and she told me it was so hot when the power went out that she slept on the tiles in her living room.

Cairns was not the only region that was hard hit. In early January I saw for myself the damage to communities in Wujal Wujal and Degarra. When I was there I met Bill, who showed me the tree that he tied a bedsheet around to hold onto when the water went over his house. It was incredible just how high the water reached and how damaging the flood was to these northern communities. And I want to acknowledge that it wasn't just Cairns that experienced this flooding. It paints a picture of what many other communities across the Douglas region must have experienced.

Our tourism industry has been hit hard, but we are bouncing back. Our government announced $24 million for our Tourism Recovery Resilience Program to provide grants to far northern operators who have been severely impacted by this extreme weather. Helping tourism operators to get back on their feet and helping to get visitors back to our region has been a priority for our government. As Jenny Hill, the mayor of Townsville, said to me the other day, response is easy but recovery takes time.

This disaster saw an extensive response from government agencies, Ergon workers, SES, council crews, NEMA, QRA—the list goes on, and I want to thank them all. I want to thank the federal government and the Queensland government for working together so quickly to get funding and support out the door. I want to thank our local councils for the work they've done. I want to thank, more importantly, those heroes of Far North Queensland. On 21 December I met real-life hero Bret Little, more commonly known as Magoo, in Cooktown. He saved the lives of people who were trapped on the roof of the Lion's Den pub in Rossville, ferrying them to safety in his chopper. I also met Roscoe, who rescued his neighbours and various pets, homing them in his place in Holloways.

There are countless stories just like this of unsung heroes who pitched in when they were needed. But I want to pay a special tribute to the people of Far North Queensland today. The outpouring of support from our regions is nothing short of extraordinary. People have stood together, and we have rebuilt. Tropical Cyclone Jasper was the wettest tropical cyclone ever recorded in Australia. As it bucketed down an unprecedented and unpredictable amount of rain across Far North Queensland, it was deafening and daunting. Most recently, Townsville and surrounds were hit by Tropical Cyclone Kirrily. Although the damage was less severe than that of Jasper, it marks that this cyclone season is just beginning. The Ergon trucks rolled out again across Queensland.

Queenslanders are no strangers to disasters. We know that the impact of climate change means we will face more extreme weather. Queenslanders are good at being prepared, we're good at responding and we're good at recovering. But that's why our government has been so focused on disaster preparedness, mitigation and resilience, because Queenslanders know how important it is to be prepared for these disasters, to respond together and to stand together in recovery. Response is easy; recovering is hard.

But I'm here to tell people across the country that Far North Queensland is open for business. The reef is ready, and it looks great. The rainforest is open and ready for you to visit. If you want to support our community after everything we've been through—it was a very tough Christmas for some people in our region—the best gift we could receive is a visit from tourists all across Australia. So please take advantage of the discounted flights that have been provided with funding from the state and federal government and book a holiday to Far North Queensland today. It is something that will make a big difference to our small community, who have been through a really tough time.