Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I spoke last week in this place on the flood levy. During that speech I recognised the great calamity the floods had caused in Victoria and Queensland. While I mentioned at the time some local damage from flooding in South Australia I did not detail it, and I wish to do so tonight. Both December and February brought storms to the lower north and mid-north regions of the state. As I said, they were on a lesser scale than the floods which Victoria and Queensland faced.

It is worth noting—it helps in understanding South Australia—that it is the most centralised state in the Commonwealth and, as a result, has a more sparse rural and regional population and a number of small councils. In fact, I have between 24 and 32 local government areas in my electorate, depending on how you define a local government area.

But, big or small, the effect is the same if councils have unpredictable emergency costs which they could not possibly have allowed for in their budgets. I have been supplied with information from affected councils—estimates of the damage—which graphically illustrates the job at hand. Councils have fairly inflexible budgets. In fact, the only way they can raise extra revenue is by raising hikes. The rest of their revenue comes through fixed grants.

The Flinders Ranges Council is centred on the Quorn and Hawker townships in the mid-Flinders Ranges. It is a very small council. They have had damages of $563,000 and this represents 43.5 per cent of their rate revenue of $1.3 million. The Regional Council of Goyder, which encompasses the towns of Hallett, historic Burra and Eudunda, is a small-to-medium council with total rate revenue of $3.7 million. They have had more than $10 million worth of damage or 265 per cent of annual rates.

The Northern Areas Council, which is centred around Jamestown, Gladstone, Laura and Spalding and is adjacent to the southern Flinders Ranges, is a small-to-medium council. It has revenue of $3.7 million and has suffered damage of $320,000—a much smaller, but significant, nine per cent of rate revenue. The District Council of Orroroo-Carrieton on the northern side of the Northern Areas Council and adjacent to the Flinders Ranges is the smallest council in the state. They have had damages of $950,000 or 154 per cent of their estimated rate revenue.

The District Council of Peterborough, which is centred on the Barrier Highway, was built as the national crossroads for the steam-train network. It has a rating base of $1.05 million and they have had damages of $2 million or 190 per cent of that base. The Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council is not in my electorate. It is immediately to the south in the member for Wakefield’s electorate. It is a bigger council with revenue of $9 million, but had $15 million worth of damage or 165 per cent of rates.

While, as I said, the damage to these councils was smaller than the damage done to councils in the Queensland and Victorian areas, it was still significant. The roads have gutters down the middle, the verges are washed away and the towns have suffered flooding. In the town of Stockport, just to the south of my electorate in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys, 20 homes were destroyed in scenes reminiscent of the Queensland floods. They received household support but the damage to infrastructure that the council now has to deal with is more than significant.

This begs the question: when is a disaster a disaster? To the individual councils, what, in dollar terms, would be an inconvenience for one can be disaster for another. In my speech on the floods I highlighted the fact that through the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, Queensland, before the latest floods had received $310 million in the last 10 years; the most populous state, New South Wales had received $194 million; South Australia had received just $17 million; Western Australia, $27 million; and Victoria, including what has been the most horrific national disaster ever and the most expensive up until this year—the 2009 bushfires—had received $323 million.

In closing, I raise these figures because I think there is a question of equity here. We know we are going to have a Senate inquiry into the national relief arrangements and the prospect of insurance for states. I think there also needs to be a re-examination of what these trigger levels are for separate states and council areas. (Time expired)