Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Residents across the north-west coast of Tasmania will never forget the devastating 2016 floods and the enormous destruction that they brought to our region, particularly the Latrobe and Waratah-Wynyard regions. It is vital that all levels of government continue to work together to ensure flood mitigation measures are in place to mitigate the impact of future flood events.

Today I'm pleased to advise the House that the federal government is playing its part as well. Both the Latrobe and Waratah-Wynyard councils have been successful in their application under the National Flood Infrastructure Mitigation Program. This crucial program is a key part of our government's long-term flood mitigation effort and ensures that local communities can invest in pre-disaster preparedness, resilience, disaster risk reduction and sustainability measures. When I spoke to both respective mayors just yesterday they told me how important this investment was to their respective communities. Flood mitigation has been a clear priority within their local region since the 2016 floods, and they were appreciative of the fact that the federal government recognised their priority.

Congratulations to both councils on your successful applications. Like the Morrison government, you are committed to keeping your local communities safe and to minimising the potential losses that individuals, landowners and businesses incur in the event of floods.