Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Capricornia for her question. At a time of climate change across Australia, it is very important that the Bureau of Meteorology provide a proper range of services not just for our national needs but for local needs as well. Of course this has been highlighted given the extreme weather events we have had in recent times in Queensland, New South Wales and elsewhere. In the case of Rockhampton, I know from the honourable member of the excellent work done by her local Bureau of Meteorology office there. That is why I have asked the minister responsible to ensure that the Bureau of Meteorology there not only continues to operate but also continues to operate all the meteorology services that it has provided in the past. These are of particular importance to local areas in regional Australia and in rural Australia. Of course, beyond that, we need for the same reasons to ensure that meteorology services are delivered in those other areas which have been the subject of recent debate as well: in Cairns, Townsville and Launceston—where I have also received representations from local members.

If you look across the meteorology system in the country, you see that there are particular gaps. I refer in particular to one which exists around the Queensland town of Emerald. Today I am announcing that the government will be funding a new radar in Emerald to better meet the needs of that community: its farmers, its families and its businesses. Emerald has a high level of need for these sorts of services, as we have seen recently in the unseasonal weather events in that community. I look forward very much to working with the member for Flynn to ensure that this new radar is properly rolled out and the systems and meteorology services associated with it.

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