Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This time last week, The Gap in the Ryan electorate looked as if a bomb had been dropped on it. The evening before, Sunday, 16 November 2008, a storm hit Brisbane with incredible ferocity and violence. It was indiscriminate in its impact and its damage, and it was so extensive that perhaps no street in The Gap was untouched. Roofs were torn off homes, walls of homes were ripped apart and fences of homes were pulled down as if they were matchsticks. People who had swimming pools woke to see that they had imploded. People who have houses in Payne Road, Waterworks Road, School Road, Hilda Road, Kaloma Street, Weemala Street or Riaweena Street have never seen anything like it before.

As the federal member for Ryan, I want to take the opportunity to first of all pay tribute to the quality of the people of The Gap. Their courage, fortitude, resolve, remarkable spirit, inner strength and sense of humour in getting on with the business of cleaning up after this act of nature that destroyed so much can only be admired by all of us who were untouched by the storm.

I also want to take the opportunity to thank the Prime Minister and the federal government for providing $1,000 to each adult and $400 for each child in The Gap to contribute to the recovery from the terrible impact of the storm. This is appropriate use of taxpayers’ money. This is a sign of compassion. This is good government.

I also want to take the opportunity to thank the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Turnbull, and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Ms Bishop, who very kindly came to the Ryan electorate in a sign of support to me as the local member and as a sign to the people of the community that the opposition’s thoughts were with all the residents of The Gap. I especially want to say thank you to all those in the emergency services, ENERGEX and the council who gave their time in difficult and dangerous situations to try to reconnect electricity to households and to rescue people and animals.

Some of the stories of the compassion and the kindness of volunteers really are remarkable. It is a sign of the very best of our country. It is something that we should all take note of. We should have that spirit not only in times of disaster and crisis but at every time, on every day and in every year that goes by. As Australians, we can and should come together. Of course in this situation where the storm devastated homes and affected families, it is all the more significant.

I want to thank Rotary, the Salvation Army and all those community groups that came together to help from the very first hours of Monday morning. Those in The Gap deserve the salute of all Australians. Unless you have been through what they have been through, you cannot understand the emotional as well as the physical trauma of the storms on Sunday. It continued to rain throughout the week, and that continued to damage the suburb of The Gap. On Monday, I went on radio and asked for tarps because that was what was asked of me. By the end of the day, I had dozens of tarps dropped off at my office—a remarkable sign of community spirit in the Ryan electorate. I also thank companies like Domino’s, who donated boxes and boxes of pizzas to all those hundreds of people waiting to have their applications processed for the federal government assistance.

To all those who gave their time, including Red Cross, you really do deserve the very best wishes and gratitude of those in The Gap. Again I say in the Parliament of Australia: thank you to the neighbours and young people who came out with chainsaws to cut away trees. I spent Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in The Gap. I thank the Attorney-General for coming on Thursday as well to show his support. This was a gesture much appreciated. All those in The Gap will never forget Sunday evening the 16th and the damage done to their beautiful suburb. (Time expired)