Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Every summer in Australia—and often the period which is dangerous is getting longer and longer—our people face the challenge of extreme weather. In the last month, Queenslanders and Victorians have been hit hard. In Victoria, fires burned through over 400,000 hectares of bushland. Authorities had been warning that the extreme conditions were the worst since the Black Summer, and the fireys on the ground said the same thing. These fires were fast moving, unpredictable and intense. Tragically, they claimed the life of Max Hobson. Max had come to cattle farming late in his working life and he went about it with all his engineer's precision, and with real passion. Our thoughts are with Max's wife, Julie, his loved ones, his friends and his community.

Over 1,000 farming properties were affected and nearly 25,000 head of livestock lost. More than 1,340 structures across the state were either damaged or destroyed. The damage done to Ruffy, Alexandra and surrounds is devastating. In Ravenswood and Harcourt, which I visited, over 50 homes were destroyed. I saw where the Harcourt Co-op Cool Stores and the neighbouring cafe had stood. Standing right on that street, the power of fire was so evident. Over 90 small businesses use that cool store:, local winemakers, brewers and apple growers. Years of their hard work burned away. So much was lost, yet the bravery and dedication of firefighters and volunteers saved so much more. As we were taken into that town by police and emergency services, we could see that the fire had devastated one side of the road. Houses that had been there were reduced to a bit of a chimney or some sign that there was a dwelling there. But across the road, really a miracle: houses intact due to the extraordinary work of volunteers, rural firefighters, police and just locals—neighbours—fighting for their properties. Quite extraordinary! If you looked at it you would not think it was possible.

At the Ravenswood staging centre, I had the opportunity to personally thank CFA members. They were not just from the local community but they had come from Rochester, which had been devastated by those terrible floods just a short time ago and which I had visited seemingly yesterday. And they came from Creswick and Mount Macedon as well to help. They included Darcy, who was a young 16-year-old volunteer on his first day in the job. As the member for Bendigo knows—I travelled there with her and the Victorian Premier—these are communities where people know each other and they care about each other as well. When fires took out the Mount Alexander ABC transmission tower, Phoenix FM, which is a 100 per cent volunteer local community radio station, switched over to carrying the emergency broadcast for three days, saving lives. One CFA volunteer, Tyrone Rice, was out fighting fires when his own home was lost. In less than a week, the community had raised over $65,000 for his family.

In Queensland, the devastation has been different but the courage and generosity have been the same. Monsoonal rain, exacerbated by ex-tropical-cyclone Koji, has caused widespread flooding across North Queensland. Previously, I travelled to Cloncurry with the emergency management minister and with the Treasurer, and we were in Cloncurry and Mount Isa. The minister went on to visit Julia Creek and Richmond afterwards, looking at the extraordinary impact that those floodwaters had had. I thank the Mayor of Cloncurry and other community volunteers who we were able to meet and thank for what they had done there as well.

Tragically, one man died when his vehicle was trapped in floodwaters near Normanton. He and his loved ones are in our thoughts today.

Primary producers have seen thousands of kilometres of roads and fencing destroyed, and around 50,000 head of livestock have been lost—at least. What I said to the remarkable SES volunteers in Hoods Lagoon and locals at the Clermont Bears footie club is the same message I took to Harcourt in Victoria: We have got your back. From response to recovery to rebuilding, we'll be with you every step of the way.

In both states, we've made the disaster recovery allowance available—up to 13 weeks of support for people who have lost income. In Victoria, together with Jacinta Allan's government, we've provided $77 million in disaster recovery funding. This is support for emergency fodder, community recovery officers and primary producer grants up to $75,000, as well as assistance for personal and financial counselling and dealing with power outages and clean-up. The Defence Force have made some of their accommodation available, as well, in Victoria. In both states, I thank all those in police and emergency services and fire services, volunteers and the SES—the extraordinary people who step up at difficult times.

In Queensland, we are working with David Crisafulli's government, who I also met with last Thursday in Brisbane. We travelled there, to Clermont, with the minister. We have provided over $66 million in support to 30 different local government areas. This includes an $11.3 million primary producer support package, in addition to $21 million in disaster recovery grants; almost $10 million for extraordinary disaster recovery assistance grants for small business; $7 million in emergency fodder for stranded livestock; and $11½ million to repair the Cloncurry airstrip, that's so important—vital—particularly for fly-in fly-out workers who work in the resources sector, in the mines around Cloncurry. In addition to that, we've provided support for mental health support and personal hardship assistance.

I know the whole parliament cares about helping these communities get back on their feet. There's no politics in any of this. When natural disaster strikes, governments work to provide assistance. I know that we always have the support of the parliament to do so, and I thank all members of the House for doing so and for engaging. I will continue to work with local members on what else can be done.

Of course, this remains a difficult period—a difficult weather period. In Sydney over the weekend, and on the Central Coast of NSW, there was a real impact as well—the impact of the extreme weather events and record rainfall in some of those communities, including in the member for Robertson's electorate and the member for Dobell's as well. This is a difficult period.

I remind people, as well, as a final thought: if it's flooded, forget it. Every time I go into a flood area, the police and people will tell you that people think that they can drive through and they know what it looks like. I know, in the member for Mackellar's electorate, over the weekend, we saw examples of that. If you can't see the ground, you don't know what's under the water; you don't know if the road has slipped away. It is simply not worth it. Please follow the advice of our police, emergency services and SES volunteers. They risk a lot to help out their fellow Australians. What they ask is that they get listened to on that advice. That way, we'll keep Australians as safe as possible, even in difficult times.

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