Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The National Bushfire Recovery Agency admits that months and months after bushfires ripped through Snowy Monaro not one out of 119 bushfire affected properties has been cleared of debris. Why is this Prime Minister spending money on marketing instead of bushfire survivors?

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Obviously, on the properties that were damaged across Eden-Monaro, we're working with the New South Wales government to make sure the clean-up is taken as quickly as it possibly can. You have to appreciate there are some complexities. You have to understand there's complexity around the clean-up in that some of those buildings contain asbestos. It took time to get personnel into those areas to make assessments about whether there was asbestos and whether any unsafe trees had to be felled so that they could get people in safely. You cannot put other Australians in harm's way. These are professional men and women who make these assessments. They are held by the state governments, who pay them to make sure that they keep all of us safe.

The New South Wales government has done that. In fact, they have made a commitment to have all homes in New South Wales cleaned up by the end of July. In Eden-Monaro, let me tell you what the numbers are as of 16 July. In the Snowy Valley LGA, 188 homes have been cleared out of 208. In Snowy Monaro, 11 out of 31. In Queanbeyan, 48 out of 64. In Bega Valley, 375 out of 431. In Eurobodalla, 570 out of 610. The New South Wales government, to which we made a commitment to pay half the bill, engaged contractors to undertake this in a professional way to keep everyone safe and get people whose lives have been uprooted by this fire back into recovery.

This is a complex program. I have to congratulate the New South Wales government in being able to do this in a professional way and as quickly as they possibly could. South Australia is in fact completed. Victoria will not be completed until the end of August. We make sure all this data is available on the National Bushfire Recovery Agency website. There is full transparency to make sure everyone understands the progress of every program in which the federal government runs itself or in which we ask the state governments to run on our behalf. We are working collaboratively together. We're not going to blame the states. We're going to work with the states, because this is above politics—this is about people.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the Manager of Opposition Business is seeking the call?

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, on the tabling of a document. The minister just quoted from a document that provided different numbers to those that the government has otherwise provided. I'd ask him to table it.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Was the minister quoting from a confidential document?

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister was quoting from a confidential document.

Opposition members interjecting—

All can I do is ask the minister if he's reading from a confidential document. He said that he was. I take the minister at his word. A document can contain more than just the material that the House is after.