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

():  These floods have hit the Northern Territory hard, capped off by Tropical Cyclone Narelle over the weekend, which brought more rain.

The federal government has been supporting Territorians on the ground from the start. The federal minister for emergency management, Kristy McBain MP, the member for Eden-Monaro, has been to the Top End and the Territory multiple times, and not just for this flood event in Katherine and surrounds but earlier this year as well. And the federal assistant minister for regional development, Senator Anthony Chisholm, was in the NT last week. Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, as well as my friend and colleague Marion Scrymgour MP, the member for Lingiari, have spread out right across the affected communities, working side-by-side with locals and helping to drive the recovery. We've rolled out real support for Territorians doing it tough through jointly funded federal and Northern Territory government payments that are providing up to $1,537 per family in immediate relief, up to $1,160 for temporary accommodation and up to $8,843 to repair and replace essential household items. Unfortunately, that is going to be needed by many Territorians.

On top of that, the Australian government disaster recovery payment is also available across Katherine and communities including Nauiyu, Palumpa, Beswick, Berry Springs and Darwin River, with $1,000 per adult and $400 per child for those directly impacted by this weather event. It's expanding to Daly River and Lansdowne from today. If you have lost some or all of your income because of this disaster, you may also be able to access the Australian government's disaster recovery allowance. And this is alongside the ADF assisted evacuations from Numbulwar on the east coast of Arnhem Land as well as personnel from RAAF Base Tindal on the ground in Katherine helping out with the clean up and recovery. I give a shout-out to all the ADF personnel and emergency response teams and all the local community volunteers who have helped during the evacuation process, which was as smooth and well managed as it could be given the challenging conditions.

I also recognise the opening of an Australian medical assistance team. AUSMAT field hospital in East Katherine, delivering critical health services during the disruption of the Katherine Hospital due to the flooding. The AUSMAT field hospital is operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, ensuring Katherine residents maintain access to emergency and essential healthcare while normal hospital operations are disrupted. The field hospital will deliver a 20-bed emergency department and primary health service, including acute care and resuscitation capability, a one-bed maternity delivery suite to support urgent birthing needs, an on-site medical laboratory and radiology services including portable imaging. Up to 25 clinical and support staff will operate the facility to ensure continuous service delivery. A further 20-bed inpatient unit supporting both adult and paediatric patients has also opened, providing additional surge capacity during this period of significant health service disruption. AUSMAT personnel can remain deployed in Katherine for up to 28 days, ensuring sustained support to the community as recovery efforts continue.

The National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, NCCTRC, coordinates the Australian government funded capability established to ensure Australia's preparedness for and response to both domestic and international health emergencies. The NCCTRC has been funded by the Australian Department of Health, Disability and Ageing since 2004, established after the 2002 Bali bombings. It maintains Australia's deployable health emergency response capability through the AUSMAT program. I want to thank, through Dr Len Notaras, the director, the entire team for their excellent work.

The federal government is also helping with infrastructure—and no-one is pretending it's a small job. The Australian government is making solid investments. We are delivering $40 million each to upgrade the Victoria and Barkly highways and $100 million for the Buntine Highway, all impacted, and $60.3 million to strengthen and widen the Carpentaria Highway. In 2025, we committed a further $200 million to upgrade the Stuart Highway, which, unfortunately, again was cut during these weather events. We're investing $2.8 billion in NT infrastructure over the next decade, and there's more to come as recovery work continues. Recovery doesn't happen overnight, and no-one is pretending it will. But Territorians can rest assured that the federal government is with them for the long haul.

I note this week the Northern Territory government finally announced the start of a tender process for a youth engagement hub at a new location in the suburb of Leanyer. We announced a youth engagement hub as an election commitment in 2022. We were working with the then Territory Labor government, and a site was chosen at the old Casuarina fire station on Dripstone Road after significant consultation. Ever since the Youth Shack Backpackers at Casuarina closed in 2021, there has been a great need for a place for young people in our community to drop in and access support and connection. The fire station site was chosen due to its centrality, including proximity to the large Casuarina shopping centre, bus services, mental health services such as headspace and areas where young people not only live but study and work. A detailed consultation process was undertaken and designs developed for that site. In preparation for the construction process, the men's shed was moved to a temporary site before the construction of the youth engagement hub could begin. Funding was allocated to the Darwin Men's Shed for their new site at Marrara.

The fire station was removed, the site was made ready for development of the youth engagement hub—and then nothing. The incoming CLP government has moved the location based on a shonky and small petition to parliament. This petition was not reflective of the community in the local area where the youth engagement hub was going to be. Over 50 per cent of the only 90 signatories weren't even from the local area; they were from Palmerston and the rural area. And only 16 per cent of the signatories were from the surrounding suburbs. Again, that's a piddling amount of people, and I suspect that the petition was simply sent out to the CLP distribution or membership list. It was an absolute travesty, after all that work.

This was a shovel-ready site where the Casuarina Square owners were going to provide internships and traineeships in retail at the Casuarina Square shopping centre for those young people, engaging effectively within walking distance. It was all scrapped. After 18 months of nothing in the time since, they're now saying they're going to build something or reach out through a tender process. That is a shame. The CLP NT government have let down young people in the Territory and, by extension, the whole of the northern suburbs. I want to thank the owner of Casuarina Square, Warren Ebert, who was fully supportive of the youth engagement hub being adjacent to the Casuarina shopping centre. But I want to put on the record the shonky decision made by the NT government and their inaction over 18 months, which let down our young people, particularly those in the northern suburbs.

As opposed to these delays in providing services for young Territorians, the Albanese Labor government is delivering effective programs on the ground for young Territorians. I was proud to be at the opening of one of those, directly funded by the NT government with other partners, providing direct support for young adolescent boys in the suburb of Palmerston. I look forward to the youth engagement hub opening for young Territorians.

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