Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Why are all the media and communications positions at the National Bushfire Recovery Agency filled, while the three local economic recovery positions are still vacant? Why is the Prime Minister focused on marketing instead of delivering for bushfire survivors?

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

The local economic recovery plans start on 1 July. This has been about making sure that the commitment of an additional $450,000—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

I'll answer the question: they start on 1 July because it was very important that we engaged with the community and made sure we did it region by region. So it took time to bring the community and civic leaders together. We didn't want a Canberra led recovery. Those on the other side would like to see that it's all centralised from here. We wanted engagement with the local community. Therefore, the commitment to the rebuilding of those communities will be important, community by community. In terms of having media people within the National Bushfire Recovery Agency stood up immediately, that was important. There was important information that needed to be put out. In fact, $240 million in immediate relief was put out. It was important that the message got to people. It was important that we helped the states to disseminate information about the small business grants, the farmer grants and concessional loans to ensure that people understood what was available. They were going through trauma. It was important that we were able to communicate to them the programs that were available both centrally and on the ground. That's why we continue to put additional personnel from the National Bushfire Recovery Agency on the ground. This has been a multifaceted approach.

The next phase is recovery. It's about the local economic recovery plans—a local led recovery, not a Canberra led recovery—ensuring that locals are empowered to make decisions about what that recovery looks like in terms of Building Back Better. They should determine that, not someone from Canberra. That's exactly the strategy that we've undertaken and will continue to undertake because we want to build this nation back better for those who have been impacted. This is what it's all about: calmly and methodically working through, ensuring that the $2 billion in additional support will get out there. In fact, we said we would only be able to have $500 million out by 30 June, but we will have $1 billion of the $2 billion fund out by 30 June. That's because we've been able to communicate with those who need it the most—getting it out of our pocket and into their pockets. That's exactly what you should do in this recovery: look after them. And we've done that, calmly and methodically, and we say to those opposite that we are open and transparent, happy to work through any issue you may have. This is about more than politics; this is about people.