Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I acknowledge and thank the member for Page for this motion. Residents in his electorate and throughout Lismore were hit particularly hard by the flooding caused by Cyclone Debbie. I would also like to acknowledge my colleague the member for Richmond and the residents of her electorate in northern New South Wales who also came into hard times from the impact of the cyclone. Cyclone Debbie wreaked chaos and devastation for Australians all the way up the east coast. When it crossed the coast on Tuesday, March 28, and in the days and weeks following, communities have felt the effects—from Mackay and Townsville in North Queensland all the way down to northern New South Wales and beyond.

As we just heard from the member for Forde and the member for Rankin, whose electorate is a 15-minute drive from my local community, homes and businesses were inundated by flood water, including the famous Yatala pie shop, which was flooded all the way to the ceiling. The Logan and Albert rivers reached levels not seen in 40 years, and around 100 properties were evacuated. Further north, 650 properties were declared uninhabitable and more than 65,000 customers lost electricity supply as Cyclone Debbie brought torrential rain and gale force winds. Sadly, three Queenslanders lost their lives, with further tragedies in northern New South Wales through this terrible event. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families and their friends.

This truly was an awful event on any scale. However, as Queenslanders have shown before, it is through the worst of times that we show our best. Almost 5,000 Queensland government workers were deployed in preparation for and in response to Cyclone Debbie. Their work, alongside volunteers and charity workers, has made an incredible difference. I pay tribute to the emergency personnel, state emergency services, rural fire services, police, fire brigades, the ADF and other emergency service men and women who put their own lives at risk to save others. Led by Brigadier Chris Field throughout this disaster, your invaluable work and contribution does not go unnoticed, and we thank you for your tireless efforts.

I want to acknowledge the Palaszczuk government for their thorough preparation and swift response in the days leading up to Cyclone Debbie, throughout the disaster and continuing through today, helping Queenslanders recover. In this time, more than 100,000 grants have been paid out to Queenslanders in need following Tropical Cyclone Debbie, totalling more than $28.4 million. On top of this, the Palaszczuk government has committed a further $1 million to associated charities, including the Red Cross, to assist with recovery efforts. This support was matched by the Queensland business community, including companies such as BHP, Rio Tinto, Adani, QBE, Peabody, Shell, Tabcorp, Woolworths, Coles and IGA, who made significant contributions to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

Following on from the recovery process, the government has released a two-year state recovery plan called Operation Queensland Recovery. Today I call on the Prime Minister to continue this good work and jointly fund the $220 million assistance package to further support Queenslanders that the Premier has proposed through the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements. This joint fund, of which the Queensland government will fund half, will be a $220 million package to provide additional assistance for communities, businesses, industry and the environment. We need this government and the state government to work together to make sure that the local communities receive the help they need and deserve. It was only last year that the Prime Minister was caught out dragging his feet to the table when $1 billion in disaster relief funding to Queenslanders was delayed by six months by the Commonwealth government. We know that there is an opportunity for this federal government to partner with the Queensland government. Today I call on the Prime Minister to work with the Palaszczuk government to jointly fund the recovery package. Our local communities have been through enough in Queensland. They deserve support from this Commonwealth government.

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