Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lingiari. She's a fierce advocate for her community, and her community has been severely impacted by floods and cyclones. Thank you for all the time you've spent with me in my office speaking about that. We know Australia's experiencing increasingly frequent, severe and complex natural disasters, and it requires a coordinated response from all levels of government. And that's why the Albanese government supports all Australian communities to prepare for and respond to disaster.

In just the last high-risk weather season alone, we saw 60 severe weather events, impacting more than 190 local government areas. I saw firsthand the impacts on our communities, from Harcourt in Victoria and Dolphin Sands in Tassie to Julia Creek in Queensland and Katherine in the NT—homes and livestock lost, businesses closed and major infrastructure damaged. And, tragically, we lost community members, including first responders.

Our government has made substantial investments in emergency management, from establishing the National Emergency Management Agency to create a single nationally coordinated—

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