Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

These remarks are important at this time of natural disaster in our nation and for us in the Territory as well as we begin the cyclone season that could potentially see 11 cyclones. At the outset I want to acknowledge all the community groups, first responders, the families helping families and the mates helping mates around our country at this distressing time. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. However, we as a federal government also understand that you need a lot more than just thoughts and prayers. You need action and you need a supportive federal government working cooperatively with the states and territories and local government at this time.

With a sense of pride I contribute to this debate on the Emergency Response Fund Amendment (Disaster Ready Fund) Bill 2022. The Albanese government has started delivering on its promise to create the new Disaster Ready Fund to help our communities all around the nation prepare for natural disasters. Despite the member for Riverina's admiral defence of one of his local members, it also has to be said that over the past decade we saw from those opposite a failure to really help Australians prepare for floods, fires and storms.

It's hard to think that we had a $5 billion fund sitting there ready to go and yet it did not spend a cent since its establishment in early 2019. While that fund was sitting there untouched it was accruing millions of dollars of interest, and that interest could have been spent to help those Australians who had been battered by floods and fires to rebuild their lives and protect their communities. I think it's fair to say that those opposite could have done more. We need to learn from that, and we are.

When they as a federal government did belatedly start offering assistance they too often started playing some political games with the states, particularly if they weren't from their political organisation. That is unfortunate. Dividing people and not showing national leadership at a time of crisis are I think partially responsible for the decision the Australian people made in May this year.

As so many Australians are experiencing now, floods or even having water creeping towards your home is devastating for people and for communities. We reflect on our experience in the Northern Territory. With the Katherine River in the Northern Territory there have been seven notable floods in the last 100 years. My wife, Kate, was in Katherine for the 2006 floods. She described it as a feeling of creeping dread. That's what so many families feel. I heard on morning TV the other day someone around Echuca talk about that creeping dread as the floodwaters crept closer to their house.

It was a big one though in Katherine in late January 1998. A tropical cyclone developed in the Gulf of Carpentaria. As I said, the Territory is entering the cyclone season. There were three days of steady rain over that Australia Day period in 1998. Four people died and thousands of people were evacuated. Our Minister for Emergency Management, Senator Watt, previously said about the arrangements of the former coalition federal government:

It is unconscionable that communities have been left at risk while money is available to keep them safe.

I don't want to make a partisan point here, but I do want to thank the minister for coming to Darwin recently. We spent some time with the NT disaster response people at the centre, and I also want to acknowledge the people at the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, who were part of the Northern Territory's response apparatus to natural disasters both on homeland and in our region.

The natural disaster funds should be used to help communities prepare for disasters. We don't need to be told that they're going to be more frequent. We know that climate change and the La Nina weather systems—a third one of which is forming—mean that we're going to have more floods. We're already dealing with a really wet country across our nation. Down the whole east coast and beyond, the ground is absolutely full with water, and we're expecting, as I said, an unusually early start to the cyclone season. We've had a lot of rain already; there's going to be a pause this week, but there's more rain coming after that. A number of our remote communities have to evacuate every year as those storms approach.

Many Top Enders also carry the scars of Cyclone Tracy, which honourable members would be aware of. But honourable members might not be aware that, almost 50 years ago, when Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin, at least 71 people died. All Territorians worry about the future. So I'm delighted that this Disaster Ready Fund bill will lead to real action in terms of both mitigation and support for those who will inevitably be affected by worsening weather events. This fund will provide up to $200 million per year to invest in mitigation projects like flood levees, which are really needed in places like Katherine; cyclone shelters, which are needed throughout the north; and fire breaks and evacuation centres in the Northern Territory and around Australia.

Our government will not repeat the mistakes of former governments. With the communities, we will prepare for natural disasters. We'll protect lives and livelihoods, and we'll hopefully then see much lower damage from floods, fires and cyclones. I will note that, in order to deliver security for natural disaster impacted communities, the government will also honour the 2022-23 Emergency Response Fund commitments that were announced by the former government. That includes $150 million for the New South Wales Northern Rivers region, which is being hammered once again, and $50 million for the Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program. It's appropriate that they are honoured.

My heart goes out to the people of Lismore and the Northern Rivers area. They've had an incredibly tough time, and they're still recovering from previous flood events. I want to acknowledge all of them, no matter what side of politics they're on. I also particularly want to acknowledge the work of Janelle Saffin, the former member for Page, who is now a New South Wales member of parliament. She's been working with her community through an incredibly difficult period. Our thoughts as Territorians are with the people of the Northern Rivers and all around the country where they're facing disaster. We've seen the devastating consequences of not being prepared when natural disasters hit, such as in the Black Summer bushfires and the recent floods. As I said, we know there's more to come. We want Australians to be as protected as possible to weather those storms, and I'm proud to be associated with this bill.

Sitting suspended from 13 : 03 to 16 : 04

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