De-Anne Kelly (Dawson, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary Trade) Share this | Hansard source

There is no doubt that the state government attempted to give people cash. There were hundreds in the queues waiting for money—$150 for an individual and $700 for a family. This is not said in a critical way but we need to learn from these situations so that, were this tragedy to occur again, we would be much better prepared. People were standing all day in the driving rain with their children; they could not leave their kids behind. There was a lady, holding a toddler’s hand and pushing a pram, who had been there since eight o’clock and it was then four in the afternoon. Those people were asked to fill out nine pages of forms. I can appreciate that there was some risk management in all of this. Plainly, the state government did not want people who were not entitled to be taking cash away from the needy, but surely it would have been better to adopt a better system, to give people cash. If taken wrongly by those who were not entitled, it should be followed up at a later date but do not make desperate, weary, hungry people stand for eight hours and then tell them, as they were told that afternoon, ‘You’re still in the queue; come back tomorrow.’ That was one of the great sources of frustration. I appreciate the good heart behind the effort to give people cash but situations like that must be streamlined so that people get what they need quickly.

I would like to acknowledge Joe Hockey, the Minister for Human Services. I rang Joe. The Centrelink people were there and were working tremendously hard for all Centrelink customers to make sure that money was put in their accounts, but no-one could access accounts. To his great credit, Mr Hockey, with others, arranged for a generator the next day for one of the local banks so that people could access their accounts and get necessary cash. I thank the minister for taking my call at very short notice and for making the necessary arrangements to overcome that lack of cash. I know this was supported by the member for Kennedy, who was there in the queue as well.

I would like to speak very briefly about businesses. I met Guido Ghidella—a very well know identity in the north—in Babinda. Some $20 million is lost in the sugar industry—about 50 per cent of the crop. As you would know yourself, Mr Deputy Speaker Causley, sugar is a pretty resilient crop and some of it will be harvested, even with the lodging that has occurred.

I would also like to acknowledge Krista and Anne Dunford who travelled down with me. Krista came down with a heap of sausages and cooked them at one of the street kitchens later in the week. I know that the member for Leichhardt and others have acknowledged good people but I think where we can we should acknowledge those who have given up days, in some cases, to assist locals.

In the few minutes I have left, I would like to talk about some of the things that need to be done. I am very pleased, as I know the member for Kennedy is, with the Prime Minister’s announcement of the fuel excise exemption on generators and other fuel usage. I think that is a very useful start. I certainly support the member for Kennedy’s call for the power to be placed underground. The state government are no doubt facing an enormous challenge in the north, but they do receive record amounts of money from the GST and it is a good opportunity to rebuild properly and ensure that such vulnerability in the power network does not exist in the future. Where infrastructure has to be rebuilt—and the rebuilding has to be done—underground power is necessary. Yes, there is an additional cost, but it is certainly worth it and will be a good investment for protecting infrastructure into the future in Queensland.

I also support the call for Newstart moneys to be supplemented such that people can remain in North Queensland—perhaps cleaning up on farms and contributing to the community effort. The reason is that many of these people are very skilled. We want to keep the skill base in the local communities; we do not want to dislocate good employees who now find themselves without a job, not through their fault, their employers’ fault or anybody else’s fault. It is just a set of tragic circumstances. Keep that skill base in the community. Do not disrupt and dislocate them. Provide that continuity of expert skills.

Also, I do not want to see the north denuded of people. That is home for many of them. We do not want to see them move to the southern capitals. Innisfail needs its workforce and will need it again. Some bridging arrangements are required to enable them to stay there. Housing—and I have been talking to the member for Kennedy about this—is going to present an incredible challenge to people in the north.

Australia is a wealthy nation. We heard the figures the other day: our wealth as a nation and per capita has doubled in the last 10 years, and that is something to be very proud of. We were proud as well of the $1 billion in Australian government aid given to the people of Indonesia after the Indian Ocean tsunami. Australians welcomed and supported that contribution. It would be quite wrong to compare the two disasters. Thankfully, there has not been a loss of life directly caused by Cyclone Larry, but it is a time to help those facing devastating loss and to be generous—not to burden them with bureaucracy or rules and regulations but to be generous and give them a helping hand to live and work in their communities and to re-establish their businesses, their livelihoods and their futures.

It is a time to support North Queensland and to look forward. There can be a very strong future up there and, if the proper infrastructure is provided, the future for North Queensland can be even stronger. I thank the federal government for what it has done, particularly for other members of parliament, including the member for Kennedy. I look forward to being part of a generous nation’s assistance to North Queenslanders.

See this speech in context