Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I suppose it is not very often that I sit in the House and listen to the honourable member for Brisbane and agree with every word that he says, but today I do. It is interesting that it seems to take a time of great adversity for us to fully appreciate the values we share. We learn how we are able to work together and we realise that the things that unite us are very much more important than the things that divide us.

The North Queensland area over the years has had its share of cyclones. Cyclone Larry was a category 5 cyclone and, as such, was in the most extreme variety of that force of nature. I know Innisfail quite well. Prior to my being elected to office, I used to do legal locums. I used to manage practices as a junior legal practitioner and, I suppose, make mistakes at other people’s expense. I suspect I gained about 10 years experience in one, as I was privileged to manage various legal practices throughout the state.

I spent some time in Innisfail, and during that period I got to know many of the locals. I am well aware of how resilient North Queensland people are. I grew up partly in North Queensland, and both my parents are from North Queensland. We were always aware of the constant danger of cyclones. There was always a cyclone that threatened during the cyclone season. It is, however, a tragedy when a cyclone of the strength of Cyclone Larry descends and sweeps all before its path, creating devastation which is almost impossible to contemplate.

I want to place on record my admiration for the response of the Australian government and the Prime Minister—and the Queensland Premier, for that matter. The Prime Minister in the parliament a couple of days ago gave full credit to the level of cooperation between both governments. He said he was liaising regularly with the Premier of Queensland. Together, governments could not have performed any better in helping to improve the situation after the devastation wreaked by Cyclone Larry.

I think General Cosgrove said that the only way to avoid a cyclone would be to pick Australia up and take it 200 miles in another direction, out of the cyclone area. I was very heartened when the Australian government—and, presumably, the Queensland government—cooperated in the appointment of General Peter Cosgrove to oversee the reconstruction after Cyclone Larry. I have long had a concern that we force our senior military officers out of their positions at far too early an age. When a person is the Chief of the Defence Force, he is not expected to be as fit as he would have been when he was a new recruit. Over the years, those at senior levels of the defence forces acquire an amazing amount of expertise. It seems that we push them out in their prime. However, to continue to use people like General Peter Cosgrove—and I know we have used other former senior officers; I suppose the Governor-General himself is a former senior officer—I think is important.

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