John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Defence. Will the minister please update the House on how the Morrison government is providing critical ADF support to those communities impacted by flooding?

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. Like all of us, he's watching at the moment with this tragedy unfolding. We need to make sure that we respond in whatever way we can. We want to make sure that the emergency services workers in New South Wales receive all the support that they need. Certainly the Australian Defence Force will step up to provide that.

I can report to the House that, tragically, The Daily Telegraph reports at the moment that a person has been recovered from a vehicle that had been washed away. The advice from the New South Wales Police is that the person was trapped in floodwaters in Sydney's north-west today. At about 6.25 am, emergency services responded to reports the car was trapped in floodwaters. Officers from the Hills Police Area Command attended the scene, along with SES flood rescue, to search for the vehicle. At 1.10. pm today the vehicle was found tragically with the man's body inside. The man has not been formally identified and that investigation continues. It underscores the message that everybody from the New South Wales Premier and the Prime Minister down have been issuing over recent days, and that is: please, do not enter these floodwaters.

I am advised by the Australian Defence Force that yesterday they deployed two helicopters in New South Wales, and RAAF Base Richmond was activated as an evacuation centre. Eight civilians on four flights arrived at RAAF Richmond air base via ambulance aeromedical evacuation, including two pregnant women and others who required medical attention. It shows the breadth of the response that's required and the human reality at a time like this. We just need to continue to work very closely with our counterparts, particularly in New South Wales and Queensland, to provide a supplement to the support that is requested and that would be reasonably provided to the authorities in New South Wales.

As the minister for emergency management pointed out in his earlier answer, we have seen close to 200 ADF personnel deployed over the last 24 hours or put on 24 hours notice to move for support. We expect the number of defence personnel to climb potentially above 700 in coming days. As we know, once the floodwaters recede and the emergency and the immediate threat is dealt with, people will want to get back into their homes and businesses as quickly as possible. We want to help people get back to that position. So the recovery will be incredibly important, and the assets of the Australian Defence Force, including the amazing skill and expertise within the ranks of the Defence Force, will be deployed to help those communities return to normal as quickly as possible.