Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. While his state has been impacted by the flooding, obviously nowhere near the extent to which it has occurred in Queensland and in other states, it nevertheless has had an impact and I have been kept informed by not only the member for Lyons but also the member for Braddon, whose electorate also has been affected. My advice to them has been the same that I have been giving to local governments as I have visited many parts of the devastated sections of this country. I have seen the devastation firsthand and the reality is that we all know there is going to be a massive rebuild required. That rebuild has to be based upon a partnership with the states, which the Prime Minister has referred to. This has been the practice through governments of both persuasions over many years.

It is clearly important for those states in this partnership to develop a statement, a strategic indication of the priority projects that need to be replaced. In doing that, they have to adhere to this principle that the Prime Minister has also referred to: value for money. The partnership is one that involves not just governments—and when I say ‘governments’ I do not just mean us and the states; I mean local government—but the private sector, the not-for-profit organisations and in particular the insurance industry. This is a framework that we as a government are developing. But that framework will be best served if there is local input. We are committed on this side to drive regional development and creative solutions which produce a more efficient outcome, and we want local input. It is important for us all in terms of the path forward to ensure that the strategic partnership I talk of is shaped by that local input.

I have had the opportunity in many of the visits that I have made to engage in discussions with not just the mayors of the particular towns affected but the mayors of the surrounding towns and to involve in those discussions representatives of Regional Development Australia, Because we need to get the strategic links with these councils in terms of the infrastructure to be replaced.

I said at the outset that the rebuild task is going to be massive; it is. It is going to require new resources as well as creative application of existing programs to see where the reprioritisation and reuse of existing programs does not just meet the task of the rebuild but also addresses the key issues which many areas have raised, and those include better flood-proofing and flood mitigation, the betterment concepts. That is why we do have to be creative.

I mention the task of involving new resources. That is why the levy is important. Let’s not kid ourselves that this can be done simply through existing programs. I personally believe that existing programs can help, but this is a requirement for the nation to pull together. And that is why this parliament as a whole needs to show to the rebuild the same resolve and cohesion that has been there in the recovery and clean-up. Get behind the levy; support it in the interests of the nation.

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