Brett Raguse (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence: I rise today to speak about the Queensland floods. Of course, it would not be fitting to fail to mention the other adversities that our communities around the country are experiencing at the moment. So I would like to pass on my sympathies to the people of Victoria, in this time of great sorrow and mourning. We know Australia to be a country of extremes. In the words of Dorothea Mackellar, who wrote that wonderful poem, My Country, we talk about ‘her beauty and her terror’—the beauty and terror of nature in this country. The recent tragedy in Victoria and the floods in Queensland just show the complex fabric of our society—not only the people, but also the natural conditions under which we live.

While no-one can predict these extreme circumstances, we do live in a land of extremes. The contrasts in this country are tragically obvious as we deal with the conditions of fire and flood and consider how we, as a community, deal with the issues that confront us right now. Through these disasters, however, communities tend to band together and governments will also band together. This was quite obvious in the chamber in our previous sitting week where both sides of the House came together to offer condolences and to speak about those tragedies in Victoria and also the tragedies that confront us in Queensland. These are more extreme when there is a large loss of human life. We must commemorate the loss of life and understand the tragedies of those communities. But the people who are affected by flood have to go on living in their communities, and the rebuilding is no less of an effort for that. In North Queensland, those communities are confronted with this difficulty.

I was honoured to attend, last Friday evening in Logan City, a fund-raising event, called ‘Logan Cares’. The newly-formed Logan City Council—formed after the amalgamations of last March—brought together a larger community and one which was very diverse. It was a wonderful opportunity for this community to come together on an initiative of the President of the Logan Chamber of Commerce, Mr Bill Richards, and the new mayor of Logan City, Mayor Pam Parker. That event was supported by many businesses and many other community organisations. So some good can come out of adversity. And when you looked at the community coming together, you could see the multicultural nature of the city of Logan, with 160 countries and cultures represented. The dance acts and the performances that were put on to raise money were an amazing coming together, and people who were part of that event saw what wonderfully diverse cultures we have in the city of Logan.

On that evening it was announced that the city would make a $100,000 contribution to the donations to support people in Victoria and those in the Queensland floods, with 70 per cent going to Victoria and 30 per cent to Queensland, providing much-needed money at this time. On the evening, while that $100,000 had been committed by the council, there was also the offer to match, dollar for dollar, any money raised at that event.

The community of Logan is very diverse. They are not necessarily a wealthy community by any standard but they were able to raise $36,000 on that evening. Matching that dollar for dollar would obviously double that amount. I was very proud on that evening not only to be a resident of Logan City but also to be the federal member. I promised the people who were involved in that fundraiser that night that I would certainly pass on to this House my appreciation of what they were able to do as a community. I want to give special commendation to Mr Bill Richards, the President of the Logan City Chamber of Commerce, who, through the Chamber of Commerce, organised all of the businesses to contribute in so many ways. I also commend Mayor Pam Parker for the initiative and what she was able to bring to that particular night. In fact, as the mayor of that city, she was very touched by the fact that people gave so much on that evening.

One organisation in particular was the Bendigo Bank, which for a whole range of reasons is associated with Victoria and the fires in that state. The Bendigo Bank has spread its tentacles all over this country in community banking and is very large and proud in the city of Logan. Mr Col Nelson, who is the chair of the Queensland arm of that banking group, contributed $5,000 on that evening. It was wonderful to see the involvement of the Bendigo Bank, which was affected in both communities by the events of the last few weeks.

Over 62 per cent of Queensland has been disaster declared as part of this cyclonic event—over one million square kilometres has been affected, in about 48 shires within the region. To give you an idea, it is an area almost the size of South Australia. Of course, the member for Kennedy made representations in the House during our last sitting week about the way that it was affecting his electorate, with a vast area of his electorate under water. The Queensland government estimates that there is about $234 million worth of damage to roads and local and state government infrastructure. Towns in Far North Queensland, like Ingham, have been affected as well as the residents of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Karumba and Normanton. As I mentioned, the member for Kennedy made representations about that the other week.

It is important to note that these large weather events are not foreign to these communities. In fact, if we go back in the history of Queensland, I certainly remember from growing up in Queensland—and I am sure the member for Blair remembers also—the cyclone warnings coming over the radio or the TV and putting us almost in a state of panic. We were certainly on alert but almost in a state of panic. I remember well that in the sixties this was quite a common event. Queensland has been significantly affected by cyclones for more than a century.

While we are making comparisons with Victoria now in terms of where events rate on the tragedy scale, it is interesting to note that probably one of the largest natural disasters involved Cyclone Mahina in Far North Queensland back in 1899, which claimed nearly 400 lives. It was probably not well recorded simply because of the vast and sparse settlement of the time. Tropical and cyclonic events can do major damage, we know, with the potential for loss of life. On that occasion, a storm surge created a wave nearly 10 metres high that swept inland and took so many lives. There have been others: Cyclone Ada; Cyclone Tracy, which of course hit Darwin; and Cyclone Wanda, when a depression settled over Brisbane back in 1974. The member for Blair would remember that very well.

That experience certainly made me understand what floods and flood damage could do. I remember the city being under water for nearly seven days and, as a 14-year-old, venturing into my aunt’s home to try and help salvage her belongings. I remember, as the water was going down, wandering through water chest high, watching refrigerators float and seeing all those personal possessions that were just ruined by floodwater. I will never forget the stench of opening the fridge after it had been under water for nearly seven days. Of course, the people in North Queensland are experiencing that right now. It is tragic, it is awful, and it is not dissimilar to the effects that people in these fire ravaged areas of Victoria are also experiencing now. It is all loss and it is something that people will take a long time to overcome.

In 2006, Cyclone Larry devastated many people, and the damage to banana plantations in North Queensland caused the so-called banana drought. The reality is that it significantly damaged a community. At that point in time, as a ministerial adviser in Queensland, I had a firsthand view of the effects. You understood the dedication of the emergency services workers there on the ground and the generosity of the community—generosity we see currently in Victoria and with the floods in Queensland. You understood the resilience and the tenacity of the people who were affected. Our best wishes go to those people who are affected in Victoria and certainly, too, to those people who are currently suffering the ravages of flood in North Queensland.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence: as the member for Forde was saying, those of us who come from Queensland know all about floods. He mentioned Cyclone Wanda. In 1974, my community of Ipswich was devastated by flood. My parents’ home was about eight feet under water, and we lived elsewhere for six weeks thereafter. We had to move a couple of times. I will always think fondly of the Australian military, which came and rescued furniture at the last minute. My parents would have lost everything but for the wonderful men and women of the Australian Defence Force who came and did so much great work. Those of us in South-East Queensland, like the member for Forde, and me in the seat of Blair, feel tremendous empathy for the people of Far North Queensland. North Queensland is in chaos. It has been raining heavily almost every day for weeks, if not months. Emergency services in North Queensland have logged more than a thousand phone calls from people in distress, and we are only in the middle of the wet season.

Fortunately, the weather forecasts are that the rain may abate, but the floodwaters have inundated towns in Far North Queensland for many days and some are still cut off. Between Cairns and Townsville, a beautiful part of Queensland, people have been hit very hard. The people of Ingham have been hit extremely hard. Food drops have been commonplace for many, and water has also been needed. Sanitation has been an issue, and disease has also been a challenge for those experiencing a way of life which for Queenslanders is quite common but to those from other states is quite foreign. Many of these people live in what we call queenslanders—high, raised houses. It is very sad to see what they have had to endure. They have floodwaters underneath them and, as the member for Forde said, have been sitting up in their houses on stilts with floodwaters raging through their streets like rivers. They are also faced with the perils of crocodiles. Disease, pestilence and those other sorts of problems caused by fauna are also very serious.

They have had tremendous challenges—highways cut off, railway lines destroyed, bridges made impassable and thousands of homes affected by flood. Hundreds of people have had to stay in emergency accommodation, and more than 60 per cent of Queensland is flood affected. As the member for Forde said, an area roughly the size of South Australia has been flooded. Like many Queenslanders, I have travelled to Far North Queensland on many occasions. We feel affinity for the people of the north. We love North Queensland; it is where we holiday. We have stayed there. Many of us have worked there. We love the Great Barrier Reef, the sugarcane farms, the banana plantations, the Daintree Rainforest, Port Douglas, the Kuranda markets, the Atherton Tableland and the mines of Mount Isa. We love the beauty of North Queensland. Queenslanders really feel this very hard and deeply.

We Queenslanders are different. We love our provincial towns. We love our places like Toowoomba, the Gold Coast and Ipswich. Our patterns of settlement are very different. We have the Sunshine Coast, Hervey Bay, Maryborough, Bundaberg, Mackay, Townsville and Cairns—major provincial centres. Brisbane does not dominate Queensland like Sydney dominates New South Wales or Melbourne dominates Victoria. These country towns are the lifeblood of Queensland, and we must support them and their people in all that we do.

I am very pleased that the Prime Minister sent up Dr Craig Emerson, the Minister for Small Business, Independent Contractors and the Service Economy, and the member for Rankin—a Queenslander who understands Queensland—to assist his fellow Queenslanders. They need help, not hindrance. We must give everything we can. I am pleased he took with him Mr James Bidgood, the member for Dawson and Mr Peter Lindsay, the member for Herbert. Those members represent Townsville and those rural areas that have been so affected. These North Queensland members share Townsville and the surrounds, so travelling to Townsville and Far North Queensland to view the tragedy that is unfolding was a very appropriate thing for the Prime Minister to do as regards those members.

Sadly, there has been loss of life, and our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones and friends and who have suffered so much property damage. Livelihoods have been lost. The cost is incalculable to industry, particularly rural industries like the banana industry and the sugarcane industry. Members of the emergency services from South-East Queensland have gone north to help their fellow Queenslanders. Queensland Emergency Services and the Queensland Department of Communities had a flood line. That has been available to many people, who have made use of those services, as well as the Commonwealth government services. Centrelink has had recovery centres up north and has received many applications for emergency assistance, particularly from places like Ingham.

We have provided substantial assistance through the federal government. The Australian government disaster recovery payment has been made available to those people who have been adversely affected—$1,000 per eligible adult and $400 per child. The statistics that I have, again, indicate that the Far North Queensland floods have resulted in applications for that assistance being made for 14,804 adults and for 8,981 dependants—a total of 23,785 people. That is a fair sized town. That is a lot of people. In addition to that, the North Queensland floods Income Recovery Subsidy payment has been given to 953 people. That is, of course, in the month of February.

We are talking about a huge cost to people, and the federal government has come to the party along with the wonderful contribution made by the Queensland government and local councils. But it has been local people who have shown courage and commitment. They have shown bravery beyond their call. They have made a huge contribution in terms of caring for their fellow Queenslanders. As the Deputy Prime Minister was speaking so eloquently about the flood victims and particularly the bushfire victims, I thought of the passage in the Bible where St Paul refers to the church in Corinth. They were quite a dysfunctional church and they were fighting amongst themselves and he told them they were the body of Christ. It reminded me of the unity of Australia—we are one body whether we are from Tasmania or from the Torres Strait. From Fremantle or Byron Bay, we are one but we are many. We are one people, and we need to care for those in the body of Australia. We need to care for our fellow Australians. That shows our humanity; that shows our affection; that shows our community spirit. That is what it means for us to be truly Australian, to care for those in need.

I have to say that I thought that the Treasurer, the member for Lilley, spoke brilliantly on this topic on 9 February 2009. He said that the events in North-Western Queensland are a catastrophe. I think that aptly describes it. He said these words, and I think they are worth repeating:

We in the Australian government stand ready to do everything we possibly can to assist the people in the north, as we will in Victoria. Whether it is fire in the south or flood in the north, we have to summon all our national strength and all our compassion to assist people to deal with these terrible challenges.

My community has shown tremendous heart in helping those down south as well as those up north. I pay tribute to the efforts of the Ipswich City Council and the businesses in my community, all of whom rallied together with the emergency services at a church service conducted at St Paul’s Anglican Church in Ipswich under the auspices of Reverend Matthew Jones. He spoke about the heart of the community and what we needed to do to care for our fellow Queenslanders. Pastor Mark Edwards, who is the senior pastor of the biggest Pentecostal church in my electorate, spoke brilliantly and compassionately about the challenges and what we need to do. I want to pay tribute to the Mayor of Ipswich, Paul Pisasale, for the fine words he spoke and, for her very moving speech, to the state Labor member, my very good friend Rachel Nolan, who spoke with real heart and real sincerity about the challenges. Like me, she is someone from Ipswich who has endured flood and tempest.

I want to say to our fellow Queenslanders: we are with you, we are praying for you, we are helping you and we will not forget you. Thank you to governments at all levels for the help you have given the people of North Queensland. I want to say to them: our thoughts are with you; we remember you every day.

Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence: I am very pleased to have the opportunity to join with my Queensland colleagues, and of course chief among them the Prime Minister and the Treasurer, in speaking to this matter. It is nice to have such a big group of Queenslanders in this term of the parliament to join with. In speaking to the matter, I want to echo their words of comfort and support for our fellow Queenslanders in places like Ayr, Ingham, Karumba, Tully and everywhere in between who have endured so much in recent weeks and who will live with the slow, frustrating and expensive job of clean-up and recovery for many weeks and months to come.

It was two weeks ago that I was first scheduled to stand here and speak of the floods affecting my home state of Queensland. Since then, thankfully, the floodwaters have receded in some of the worst affected areas, particularly Ingham, but other parts of the state such as Longreach and the central west have had to deal with flooding rains in the interim and the floodwaters continue to cause enormous hardship and economic damage to those communities that have been cut off for a month now in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The extent of flooding and the scale of damage is something we have not seen in Queensland for many, many years. Even as a lifelong Queenslander, it is hard to comprehend the scale of the flood zone. It is one thing to quote the figure of 60 per cent of the state being under water but quite another thing to grasp the on-ground reality of what that means in a state as vast as Queensland. In Ingham alone the floodwaters reached a height of 12 metres, leaving 3,000 houses inundated. That is just one town across a flood affected area the same size as South Australia.

Of course, we cannot forget our friends in New South Wales because that state has not been spared either in the last two weeks. Northern New South Wales coastal towns and the western town of Burke were declared natural disaster zones as well, with a mounting damage bill and dozens of people evacuated.

In North Queensland, the devastation has reached catastrophic heights, with people missing in floodwaters. I think three people have lost their lives in this flood event, and there is a damage bill that was last estimated at $210 million and growing. And we know that it will grow. It is too soon yet to assess the full extent of damage to large outback properties—the damage to fences and infrastructure and the loss of stock that will be revealed when the waters recede. As we have heard from previous speakers, there is also an enormous infrastructure repair job that needs to be undertaken across so much of the state. Even places like Central Queensland that have not experienced the kind of floods that they have had further north are seeing massive potholes and damage to roads, bridges and culverts, so it will be a big job repairing the damage right across the state.

Central Queensland is very fortunate, I have to say, to have escaped the worst of the damage, but we know how tough floods can be. In fact, it was one year ago that I rose in the House to speak of the floodwaters that swept through Emerald and Mackay and made their way down the mighty Fitzroy River to my home town of Rockhampton. As I said then, flood gripped all corners of the Capricornia electorate, but the community rose together through the turmoil. Countless volunteers and emergency relief workers toiled on the massive preparation for the floods in Rockhampton and the clean-up in those Central Queensland towns.

This same process is now taking place in the north of Queensland and in New South Wales, and that will continue. Volunteers and emergency service workers are putting a huge effort in up there and I congratulate them. I do not think anyone here in the parliament could praise the emergency and volunteer workers in our country enough right at the present time, if indeed ever.

There is a big job ahead, not just cleaning homes but also fixing roads and infrastructure, as I mentioned, and getting our freight and transport services moving again. The full clean-up could take six months or more, and the risks of disease and problems with mosquitos will linger even as the waters recede.

Sixteen emergency services personnel from Central Queensland flew north during the worst of the flooding to assist with the recovery effort. The specialist team went equipped with flood boats, trailers and equipment. They worked on emergency management, doorknocking, a general clean-up and the loading and unloading of helicopters. I am told by the acting area manager for emergency services in Rockhampton that at that time a further 75 workers were on standby to assist. I am pleased and proud to know that those people in Central Queensland were putting their experience of flood recovery to work and putting their hands up to assist their fellow Queenslanders in the north. In the last couple of weeks we have received some minor flooding in parts of Capricornia—some big falls of over 100 millimetres near places such as Nebo—but nothing like what has fallen further north.

Fortunately, farmers in my electorate will be welcoming this summer rain and what it will mean for their crops and pastures. I certainly hope that they do not have to face the same challenges that are being felt in the north. Those challenges include destroyed crops, drowned and malnourished livestock, fences swept away and sheds destroyed. In the Gulf, where the floods have been occurring for a month, the threat of stock dying from malnutrition is real, with no sunlight to grow adequate grass for feed. It is estimated that upwards of 100,000 stock could die from the floods, and graziers need help to keep that toll as low as possible.

I was pleased to hear the announcement that the federal and state governments are working together to pledge $3 million on fodder drops. We are doing our best to save all the cattle that we can in areas—like the lower reaches of the Norman, Flinders and Cloncurry river systems—that have been hardest hit. The government is also providing financial assistance to residents of North and Far North Queensland affected by the floods. There is a one-off lump sum payment of $1,000 for adults and $400 for each child to help support their recovery.

Cane growers have been particularly affected by this flood. Cane growers in the north are looking now for sunshine, to let them get on with the recovery process. The growers in my electorate near Sarina and in the Pioneer Valley will have watched the events in the north with heartfelt commiserations. According to the Canegrowers organisation, the worst affected areas are around Ingham, Tully, Innisfail and Babinda. The Burdekin has also suffered flooding, while to the south, near Mackay, they have so far escaped the damage. Ian Ballantyne, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Canegrowers organisation, says that the full extent of losses in the sugar industry will not be known until the crop is harvested later in the year, but there is no doubt there will be an impact.

When a sugarcane crop is lost, the financial impact is not limited to the individual farmer. Whole communities are built around the sugar industry. It sustains many jobs and small businesses, and the links between farm, industry and community are very strong. When something like this hits, it hits hard. Farm workers, harvesting contractors, mill workers, train drivers and small business suppliers to the industry will be facing an uncertain time as they watch the skies for more rain and watch for signs of recovery in the cane fields. I sincerely hope they find what they are looking for.

Thankfully, we know now that the floodwaters are dropping quickly. We can only hope that those affected have some extended relief from the rain so that they can begin the clean-up in earnest and get their lives back on track. Let us remember that, in the first 10 days of February, Ingham received 999 millimetres of rain—more than most places receive in a year. And I am sure that the people in North Queensland would be very well aware that the wet season may have more in it yet. I keep remembering that Cyclone Larry, which caused so much devastation to Far North Queensland in 2006, hit on 20 March—and that is still some weeks away. I hope for the sake of North Queenslanders that there is no repeat of that kind of cyclone activity or further monsoonal rain. They have had enough.

In concluding, I extend my heartfelt condolences to all the families whose homes and lives have been thrown into chaos by these floods. Our thoughts especially extend to the families of those whose lives have been lost in the floodwaters.

It made me very proud in the last few weeks to hear the stories about people in North Queensland who had been so badly affected by the floods whose first thoughts were for those people who had suffered in the bushfires in Victoria. The stories that we heard, about people sloshing through floodwaters in places like Ingham to actually hold fundraisers to raise money and to donate goods to people recovering from the bushfires in Victoria, were a real testament to the spirit and the enormous heart of the people of North Queensland. I am very proud of my fellow Queenslanders when I hear those things.

But now it is time that we, here, must share their hurt and loss, and pledge ourselves to assist in all ways that we can to help them with the work of recovery and rebuilding what has been left by the floodwaters. We will be there for the long haul, and we hope that we can just get some sunshine so that we can get on with that job.

Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence: I rise in support of the comments that are being made by my Queensland colleagues. This is one occasion that I rise to speak but I do not say that it is a pleasure to do so. It would be much better if we did not have to give condolences about the loss of life and the damage that has occurred in North Queensland. We in Queensland know that we have a wet season and that it comes every year; we expect it. But that does not make the cyclones and the devastating floods any easier for the people of Queensland, the people of Australia and those who are directly affected by these devastating floods. In fact, the floods that have occurred recently in North Queensland have resulted in as much as 62 per cent of Queensland being declared a natural disaster flood area. To put that into perspective, I heard recently that that is an area about the size of South Australia. It is hard to fathom that sort of area being under water. Of course, much of the major flooding has occurred around Ingham and around Herbert River.

There has been loss of life since the flooding season began in November 2008—too much loss of life. We need to do more to educate people about the risks associated with flooding, whether they are from playing in swollen creeks, in river beds or just in stormwater drains. There are too many lives lost as a consequence of the sorts of activities that, at the time, people young and old think are fun but which certainly lead to dire consequences for them and their families.

Just as we have heard in the last day or two that the threats of fire continue to exist in Victoria, the threats of flooding continue to exist in North Queensland. It is true to say that, in the areas of Ingham and those worst hit, the water is starting to recede but, as recently as this morning, there were flood warnings being issued for areas such as the Georgina River and Eyre Creek, the lower Flinders and the Norman river systems, the lower Diamantina River, the lower Thomson River and Cooper Creek. So the risks continue to exist, and we need to assist those people on the ground as much as possible so that, if they need to evacuate their homes prior to those rivers bursting their banks, they have help to do so.

We also need to assist in the clean-up process, which is going to be long and difficult. Although these homes may still be standing, they are severely damaged. The belongings inside people’s homes cannot merely be cleaned; they need to be destroyed and replaced. Many people in the Ingham area have reported that they have scrubbed and scrubbed their homes but they are still reeking, and there is a real, legitimate concern that there may be health consequences arising from the floodwaters having gone into these homes.

It is not just people’s homes that are being damaged. People’s jobs are being affected and people’s businesses have been lost as a consequence of these floodwaters. And, of course, the wet season is not over yet—there is more to come. It is pleasing to know that the state Premier has set up a disaster relief appeal fund and that the Prime Minister has already announced funds to go to the relief of both the Victorian fire victims and the Queensland flood victims. In addition to that, we know that people across Australia are digging deep to support people who have been affected by these devastating floods.

In Queensland especially we are acutely aware of the fact that we need to be providing financial relief and food, clothing and other necessities to people in the north, just as we are doing in the south. I have certainly had many people come to me asking how they can assist in relation to Victoria and North Queensland. One thing that we should look at for those people who still want to give those goods—when we know that the Red Cross are asking for people to stop sending certain goods down south because they cannot store them anymore and, right now, they are after financial assistance—is whether they could be used up north in Queensland.

So far, in north and north-west Queensland, the early damage estimate for flooding exceeds $190 million. At its peak in Ingham, the number of homes with external inundation numbered 2,900, and more than 50 of those had floodwaters through their living areas. Sixty people were evacuated to emergency accommodation at Ingham State High School at the peak, and in Karumba and Normanton 17 homes suffered from inundation and nine of those homes are flooded throughout. However, the number of claims and the full financial impact of this disaster will, of course, only be known once waters recede and repairs begin.

I would like to pass on my personal thanks to the Queensland police, Emergency Management Queensland, the SES and the Department of Communities, along with community volunteers and local councils. Emergency service workers, Ergon and government and non-government agencies such as the Salvation Army, Lifeline and the Red Cross have been invaluable and are doing amazing work in relation to the Queensland floods. This year the SES has taken 2,388 callouts already and, as I said, I do not think we have seen the end of that as yet.

I would also like to, on behalf of myself and my family, pass on my condolences to all of those who have lost loved ones and who have lost livelihoods and their homes to these floods. It would certainly be remiss of me to not also pass on at this time my condolences to all those who have been affected in the Victorian fires and those who are still facing dangers as a consequence of ongoing fires.

Jon Sullivan (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence: my purpose here today is to join with my Queensland colleagues in this discussion concerning the widespread flooding that has beset much of our state. Before doing so, I want to take a moment, on behalf of all the people in my electorate of Longman, to place on record our sorrow and sympathy for the predicament that our fellow Australians in Victoria face as a result of the recent catastrophic fires. In the preceding condolence motion, many members of this parliament spoke at length with great eloquence, compassion and, in a number of instances, personal experience and knowledge of those fires and of the people so severely affected by them. Like them, I offer our condolences to those who have lost family members, who have lost friends, who have lost much loved pets and livestock, who have lost precious family historical items and documents and who have lost their homes and all of their possessions.

Like the speakers before me, I offer our admiration and respect for the women and men who fought to protect the lives and properties of the people in the communities first endangered and then, in many cases, devastated by the awesome ferocity of the fires. Our feelings are magnified by the knowledge that not only were many of these men and women volunteers but they remained at their posts, helping others as their own properties were threatened and then destroyed. We marvel at the courage and determination of survivors who insist that they will rebuild their communities. I, as part of this parliament and also as part of the government, am committed to ensuring that we do all that we can to provide whatever is needed to help these communities in their recovery, and not to forget them. I should note that such is the extent of the sympathy for the Victorians whose lives have been changed forever by the fires that the flood victims in North Queensland are donating their disaster relief funds to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal. In their estimation, these people are worse off than they are.

Natural disasters are a frequent feature of the Australian landscape. In Queensland, they are regularly the result of destructive winds and flooding rains, of cyclonic activity and/or monsoonal troughs. But, in this case as well as that of the monsoonal trough, cyclones Charlotte and Ellie have also brought heavy rains. Paluma Dam, which is halfway between Ingham and Townsville, and Hawkins Creek, which is west of Ingham, have each received more than 2,600 millimetres of rain since the beginning of the year. In the old system, that is more than 102 inches. The extensive flooding that we have seen in Queensland in recent weeks is unusual only in its extent. More than 60 per cent of the state, over one million square kilometres, has been inundated by floodwaters at one time. Each flood-affected community has experienced flooding before and knows it will do so again.

To say that floods are a regular feature of the lives of many Queenslanders I think in no way diminishes the impact that floods have on our citizens, communities and economies. As of this morning, flood warnings remain current for the Diamantina, Thomson, Georgina, Flinders and Norman rivers, as well as for Eyre Creek. And it is still raining. In the 24 hours to 9 am this morning, Halifax and Lucinda in the Mackay area received just under 250 millimetres, or 10 inches, of rain. Ingham has experienced what may be its worst ever flood—certainly its worst flood in the last 30 years. The Burdekin Dam was at one stage releasing enough water every five hours to fill Sydney Harbour, which will no doubt revitalise advocacy for the Bradfield scheme. Gulf communities have been cut off since mid-January and can expect to remain isolated for at least another four weeks. Throughout Far North, north and central-west Queensland, dozens of vital roads have been closed or are opened only with load restrictions. Many remain closed still.

Estimates of the cost of damage to infrastructure caused by the floods have exceeded $200 million. But, as Queensland’s Emergency Services Minister, Neil Roberts, has conceded, we will not know the true cost of the damage until all the water has receded. So the cost could be many hundreds of millions of dollars more. Stock losses and private property damage will total many millions of dollars.

Many speakers in this place in recent days have called to mind the imagery of Dorothea Mackellar’s famous poem My Country, which I note was originally entitled Core of my Heart. This poem contains not only the oft-quoted lines of ‘I love a sunburnt country’ and ‘Of droughts and flooding rains’ but also the lines ‘For flood and fire and famine, she pays us back threefold’. It is difficult to imagine how the community affected by the Victorian bushfires will reap a threefold benefit. It is also difficult to imagine how the cane farmers on Queensland’s north coast will benefit threefold. But history does show that Australians are a resilient lot. It shows that in Queensland rains that fall on our peninsula in the Gulf region, in the west and in the channel country do bring with them rewards for those who make their living in those unforgiving landscapes.

I join with the member for Petrie in acknowledging the good work that has been done in the flood affected areas by people from the Queensland Department of Emergency Services, the Queensland State Emergency Service, the police and other civilian and government agencies, in particular those who do so on a voluntary basis. This is what this country has been built on: mates helping mates. While they acknowledge that their problems are insignificant in comparison with those of bushfire victims in the south, the people of flooded Queensland do face difficulties in their recovery, and I know that I and other Queensland based members of this place will ensure that their plight is not forgotten.

Arch Bevis (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence: I think it is very appropriate that the parliament is taking time to record its concern and empathy for those affected by the floods in North Queensland. I should note at the outset that the parliament has quite properly acknowledged the terrible devastation throughout many parts of Victoria from the bushfires. The fact that our country can experience such extremes at the same time has been a cause for poetry, but for those directly affected it can be a cause of great tragedy.

If you live in Queensland long enough, chances are you will go through a drought and you will also go through a flood. Those of us who were born and bred in Queensland tend to get a bit used to both of those things, whether it is in South-East Queensland, in Brisbane, or anywhere up the coast and a good deal of the rest of the state. It is a peculiar set of circumstances that Queensland can have somewhere in the order of 60 per cent of its landmass flooded and more than 40 per cent of its landmass officially declared drought stricken. It is a harsh land, and it has been a difficult time, especially for many on the land who rely upon the elements to make their living, whether that is with cattle, with sheep or with agricultural produce.

As I said, if you live in Queensland long enough, you will go through both droughts and floods. I have had the experience of going through a couple of floods in South-East Queensland and in travelling through the North in the seventies. As I was watching the terrible scenes in Victoria unfold with regard to the fires, I have to say that my mind switched to the only comparison I could make from my own life experience, which was during those times of flood. I have to confess that I do not think there is a comparison. I think that the horrors we have witnessed in Victoria take on a totally different dimension from the sorts of things we see in flooded areas. But floods do bring a level of devastation upon houses and upon lives, although thankfully there has not been the loss of life in this flood as there has been on other occasions. But, for the people who are isolated and have been for some weeks, and may yet be for some weeks, it is a major life-changing event. It makes it very hard for them in their daily lives, whether they are young and involved in school and education or are adults trying to get on with their business.

Throughout all of this, as we have seen in other natural disasters this year and in the past, the response of the Australian community and of local citizens is something we can be genuinely proud of. The first responders—the ambulance services, the fire brigade and the police—do an outstanding job, and the State Emergency Service do a wonderful job. You have to remember that in some of these communities many of these services may well be volunteers. Certainly the SES are volunteers and, in some cases, there are ambulance volunteers, as well as volunteer fire brigades. These are people whose own homes and families can be under threat but who readily give their time to safeguard the community.

I also want to acknowledge the wonderful work of the Australian Defence Force personnel. Towards the end of last year, a mini cyclone ripped through parts of Brisbane, including the suburb where I live. On the scale of things that have occurred since it does not really rate, but for a period of some days people were without power and without drinkable water and the like, and it was an enormous comfort to people in that situation to see the various emergency services out doing their work to restore normal service. I have to say, and I know it is the view of the people in the streets around where I live, that when we saw the Army trucks turn up and the soldiers clearing the debris and actually getting tarpaulins on roofs and doing that sort of work that we know needs to be done, at Keperra and at The Gap, in the suburbs that were hit by that storm, it really did lift our spirits. I can only imagine that the spirits of those in North Queensland, who have suffered the ravages of this storm would have been lifted by seeing the level of support coming from those emergency services organisations, the volunteers and our defence personnel.

I am reminded of the cyclone a couple of years ago that ripped through North Queensland, through Innisfail, and the reaction of the community there. At the time I commented on the Australian community spirit that was on display then and that we have seen in these recent natural disasters here in Australia compared to the response that, sadly, we had seen in Florida not that long before, after Cyclone Katrina. There was no looting in Australia. There was no violence. There was a well-organised support mechanism for the people who were most in need. I can remember seeing pictures of a shop owner in North Queensland who had decided that the goods in the shop were going to be ruined because there was no electricity, so he decided he would just put on a barbecue for everyone in town. ‘Come along and have a free sausage and a free steak; in a couple of days the meat’ll be no good so we might as well have a party!’ He effectively gave the food to the community.

I thought there was something wonderfully Australian about that response, and I do not know that you would see it in too many countries around the world. It clearly was just the natural thing for that fellow to do and, from the newsreels that I saw, there was no shortage of people in the community who thought it was a pretty good idea as well! That sort of support, that sort of community spirit, is something that I think, as Australians, we should hold dear. It is something that we should protect and cherish, because I am not sure that everybody around the world would react in the same way; indeed, when we see what goes on in some other parts of the world, we know that they do not. I think there is just a wonderful sense of having a common bond.

I say to my fellow Queenslanders in the north: you have the understanding, support and best wishes of your colleagues in South-East Queensland. Indeed, we could do with a bit of that water down our way! It would be nice if the clouds moved away from you and came down to our corner of Queensland. We have all been through it in Queensland and we know that there is resilience amongst the people of Australia—that people do get out; that they will re-establish themselves, their families, their businesses and their activities; and that they will do that within a short time of the waters receding. I say to those who are affected: you are in our thoughts. Even as we have spent time in this parliament acknowledging, appropriately, the terrible disaster in Victoria, the people in North Queensland have been in our thoughts. I know that they will bounce back. The Rugby League season is about to start, and I have no doubt that there will be plenty of those North Queenslanders out there supporting the Cowboys. And when they are at those football matches they will exchange stories about what happened in the course of these floods.

But, in all seriousness, our thoughts are with them. I want to commend again the volunteer services, the first responders as well, the Defence Force, and the state and Commonwealth governments, who have both acted properly, as all governments should, in dealing with these tragedies. I wish those in North Queensland a quick return to a normal life.

Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence: I start my comments on the tragedy of the floods in Queensland by referring to Victoria first. As this is my first opportunity to speak about the fires in Victoria, I want to put on the record just how devastating, tragic and deeply felt that disaster must be for Victorians. We know it has been devastating for all Australians so it must be doubly so for all Victorians. I know that the communities in Victoria will rebuild. They will pick themselves up and band together. The government and the parliament, everybody in this place and the community will do everything in its power to commit to rebuilding those fire-ravaged villages, small towns and little hamlets dotted throughout Victoria that have been destroyed.

We also need to spare a thought for just how long the rebuilding might take in Victoria. In some cases this is not a natural disaster because arson was involved. It may take years for some of those communities to rebuild. But I know they will rebuild, though they may never quite be the same again. My thoughts are certainly with them. The massive loss of life is something that is difficult to comprehend and understand—how many whole families and whole communities have been affected—and in some way all Victorians are touched by what took place. In fact all of us right across Australia may know someone, or have a relative or a friend, that lives in the state of Victoria. My deepest sympathy, empathy and thoughts are with all the victims’ families, the victims, the volunteers and all the people in Victoria who are trying to deal with what is the very worst of circumstances.

I have heard with great pleasure—if that is the right word to use—the comments made by particular members whose own electorates have been devastated by the fires, particularly Fran Bailey, the member for McEwen. Her electorate has been deeply affected and it must be a very, very difficult thing for her as the local representative to have to deal with the situation and try to do everything that she can.

I want to pass on my thanks to the Prime Minister for the way he has taken it upon himself not just to visit—I think that would be too light a way to put it—but to feel, be with and share as much of the pain as he could with our Victorian colleagues and to try to better understand, be supportive and be there for those people who have lost so much. Also I want to place on the record my thanks to the Leader of the Opposition and all the other members of the House. This has been a harrowing experience. Sadly it is not over as there are yet more fires in Victoria and it is probably going to be some time before those fires are completely extinguished and communities rebuilt.

I suppose that is the great irony and uniqueness of Australia in that at one end of Australia we can have flooding rain and at the other end scorching fires and drought. It is a fair distance from the north of Queensland to the south of Australia in Victoria. That is the great irony, tragedy and uniqueness that is Australia, the tyranny of distance. My thoughts are certainly with all the people of Victoria. In terms of what has happened in my own state, as we have heard from other members, it may be hard for other people to comprehend, but Queensland is quite a large state and covers a lot of surface area. To have 60 per cent of that state flooded with water is an enormous coverage of land. It is an enormous amount of water.

In some parts of Queensland, the high-water mark has hit more than 12 metres. It is hard to imagine what communities do when where they live is completely underwater—covered by an ocean. I have seen photos, as I am sure many other members have, of just how bad it is up north. There are huge inland lakes, huge oceans, covering massive parts of Queensland. It needs to be noted that in that part of Queensland they have received a full year’s worth of rain in just one month. And, as has been said by others, we are only halfway through the wet season, so there is still more to come. We do not yet know how bad it will get in Queensland.

I want to take some time to congratulate Queenslanders on a variety of fronts. One thing which really touched me, and which I have talked to many people about, is the generosity of Queenslanders in putting other people before themselves. I have spoken to the many Queenslanders who have contacted my office or approached me while I have been out in the community. The flood victims themselves have actually said: ‘Sure, it’s bad up here, but it’s nothing on the scale of what has happened to Victorians. If you are going to do anything, we are okay. We certainly need some help, but please divert your energies, donations and other efforts to the fire victims in Victoria.’ To actually put somebody else in front of yourself at a time when you need help and your community needs assistance is a pretty special quality. To me, that is something unique and special about Australians—our way of life, our culture and the way that we deal with natural disasters. For Australians, it seems to be almost like a rallying call—a call to arms, in a way—where we step up to the mark and help other people before we help ourselves. This is not always demonstrated in other places. It is just really touching to see that Queenslanders—and, in fact, all Australians—can be so generous, particularly in their own time of need, and think of others.

I also want to make special mention of our emergency services people: the SES, our police, our ambulance officers, the Australian Defence Force and a whole range of volunteers—ordinary people—who just step up and volunteer inordinate amounts of their time to help others in their community. These volunteers are not just relying on the government, not just relying on somebody else. They say, ‘We are going to get in there and organise ourselves to do things to help others.’ There are incredible stories around of some of the things people did, and they will be the stuff of legend for many years to come. I heard of one lady who just wanted to do something small. She just wanted to contribute something, so she organised to donate some blankets. She donated them to a local group. Word got around, and that led to other people giving things to her to further donate. What started out as just a small pile of blankets turned into a room full of essentials. This turned into several rooms full of gifts, food, blankets and essential items, which then turned into truckloads of goods and finally ballooned into a whole warehouse. It is a lovely thing to hear. It is a great story.

We heard a story just before from the member for Brisbane. He recounted the shopkeeper who had realised that, given what was happening and that there was no power, he was going to lose all his stock of sausages, meat and other things. In a true Australian, egalitarian way, he decided the best thing to do was have a barbecue and put the beers on—and to do it for free. It is really touching to hear those stories. It is the human side, the nice side, of tragedy and disaster. These are the stories of a whole heap of ordinary people doing everything they can.

I also want to spare a thought for the real impact that these events—the fires in Victoria and the floods in Queensland—have on people’s lives. It is really serious, whether it is a fire or a flood that destroys your life. Even if you survive, you often lose your home. In fires, it is absolutely certain that your home is gone and it will never be the same again. For people in Queensland, their homes may still be there and the waters may recede, but their homes will never be the same.

I remember as a child being in the great 1974 floods. My family lived in Inala in the western suburbs. For people who do not know, it is the equivalent of Broadmeadows in Melbourne or Greenway in Sydney—a working-class, western-suburb electorate. I remember living in that part of the world as a child. We were lucky because we were pretty high up. We were a fair way out of Brisbane but were fairly high up on the hill, and we were one of the few houses that were spared. The water lapped pretty close to the family home. Luckily, we had a dinghy, so we could get around the suburb. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, given the floods that have taken place in Queensland, but I only have good childhood memories. I hope that is the case for other children in the floods; I know that will not be the case with the fires. At least with the floods, perhaps children will not have bad, hurtful memories that carry on for many years. Sadly, I know that will be the case for fire victims, because the trauma of that is much more severe than the trauma of floods.

I remember looking out to Brisbane and seeing, literally, an ocean stretching as far as the eye could see. I know that is the case up in North Queensland. People have lost their homes. They have lost their schools. Their businesses would have been completely ruined. Even if there is insurance, rebuilding is a difficult, emotional task; for some, it is a task they cannot cope with. There will be not only the physical rebuilding but also the emotional rebuilding. There is the need for everybody—for community, for government and for bureaucracies—to understand what it will take. These widespread disasters impact on jobs and infrastructure. Roads and bridges get washed away. I saw this horrible picture of a pothole—and, believe you me, there are quite a few potholes in certain places in Queensland from time to time—that was the size of a station wagon. The water had come in under the road and created this massive sinkhole. All of this is going to cost a lot of money to fix. It will take a lot of effort on the part of governments, both state and federal. Of course, it will take the efforts of local government, as well.

The fires and the floods create health issues, the fires with smoke inhalation and dust in the air and the floods with fungus and algae, not to mention the problems of there being no clean drinking water and sewerage waste floating around in water sitting dead in parts of towns and cities. It is not just the simple things like loss of power, not having access to fresh food and all those issues; there are also the clean water and hygiene issues. Australians have this wonderful quality that I have talked about, a quality that we see in a variety of ways. We see it on the sporting field and at other times, but we never see it as strong and as profound as when there is a disaster. The ability of Australians to band together and support each other in a way that cannot be manufactured or confected or artificial is something that happens naturally. It happens out of people’s consciousness and their real belief in other human beings and what can be done to help. That is something that makes me very proud. I know it will make all members of parliament very proud.

Nature delivers a lot of cruelty and, in my view, it delivers it indiscriminately. It delivers it in any country, on any people, often without warning. We have seen it in countries such as Indonesia, with tsunami; in Japan, with tsunami and earthquakes; in America, with massive flooding; and in Bangladesh. We have seen the massive loss of life from earthquakes in China and in countries right across the world. We see it now here in Australia. It is normally a custom for us, as Australians, to be on the giving end. We help others. That is what we do; we love to do it. I think it gives us a sense of pride. Perhaps our isolation from the rest of the world provides us with that internal—maybe even emotional—need to give to others so that we feel more connected. Maybe it is because we like to be good neighbours; maybe it is because we actually like our neighbours in the Asia-Pacific and all the other people who live around us. It is always the case that, when there is a natural disaster overseas, we are one of the first countries to step up and volunteer not just money but also people, help and expertise. We try to be there for others. We have seen that on countless occasions, and I am very proud of that as an Australian.

This time, when it has been our turn to be on the receiving end of two disasters, I have been really touched by our neighbours, who very quickly, and without being asked, volunteered. They volunteered cash donations, they volunteered to assist and they volunteered people. This was from countries like Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and other countries who are not wealthy, certainly not by our standards. We are a very wealthy country. Regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in today economically, we are still a wealthy country compared to countries like Indonesia and others. But these countries probably felt not just a sense of duty but also a sense of neighbourly support for us—we have always helped them, yet we have never asked for anything in return, so they thought they would just offer their assistance. I am really proud of them for that, and I think it will draw us closer and closer as neighbours that share the Asia-Pacific region. It is something I will talk about at other opportunities. I think it is something really significant that we should note in terms of the relationship we have with our neighbours.

Can I conclude by saying that I feel a lot of empathy for those involved in the tragedy that has gone on in North Queensland. It is certainly not on the scale of the loss of life and tragedy that has happened with the fires in Victoria, but I am very proud of everybody in the way they have reacted and responded in these circumstances. It certainly does make you very cognisant, as a member of parliament, of how good people can be, and that is something that we need from time to time. We often talk in this place about the bad things that happen, only the darker side of human nature, but witnessing the beautiful side of human nature is something we all ought to stop and acknowledge. Again I put on the record my thanks to and appreciation of all the volunteers—everybody who has donated even just a dollar, who has given of their time, who has been there to support others, who has lent a shoulder to cry on or who has been involved in some way in assisting all the victims in Queensland and all the people in Victoria affected by the fire.