Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister's department has told Senate estimates that the decision to delay the national emergency declaration following recent record-breaking floods was a subjective and personal decision made by you, Prime Minister. How on Earth can the Prime Minister justify delaying that decision for a full nine days when the need was so clearly there and flood victims were so desperate for help?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) | Link to this | Hansard source

Those opposite may not be aware—they're not aware of a lot of things; they're not aware of how to put a budget together, for a start, amongst many other things—that the first response of the government in relation to all of these issues was to get the support there immediately.

Now, the Leader of the Opposition interjects with, 'Oh, yeah.' Well, I'd have liked him to go and speak to the chopper pilot from the ADF, as he was winching people off roofs, and describe his efforts on that day as 'Oh yeah.' I'd like him to tell them that. What we've seen from this leader of the Labor Party over the last 3½ years—

I'm just taking your interjection.

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. The Leader of the Opposition on a point of order?

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

It goes to relevance. The question wasn't about me. If it was, I'd be quite happy to have a debate about the fact that I spoke to the flood victims, unlike you—

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat. The Prime Minister is being relevant to the question, and I return him to the question.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. If the opposition leader wishes to interject, then he should expect me to respond—and I will, because when I was in Lismore I was at the dairy farms, I was in people's homes, I was at their businesses, and I was there with the leadership of the councils and their officers to ensure that the support we provided has been timely and targeted. And it was being welcomed by the mayor of Lismore again today, as it was by the mayor of Ballina when I met with the mayor of Ballina. So, we will continue to provide that support. That was the immediate response that was necessary, to get the financial support in place, to get the ADF there supporting them.

And on the matters involving the state of emergency declaration, I consulted with both the Premier of New South Wales and the Premier of Queensland. The Premier of Queensland did not wish us to declare a state of emergency in Queensland.

Andrew Wallace (Speaker) | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Griffith is warned.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) | Link to this | Hansard source

I listened to her and I took her advice. The Premier of New South Wales was happy to do that. The state of emergency declaration does not trigger payments. It does not trigger ADF involvement. It does not trigger either of those things. Those two things are the things we did immediately. The state of emergency assists with the recovery works and the facilitation of the processing of recovery efforts after the flood event. If the Leader of the Opposition spent more time understanding responses rather than politicising them, as he has done through fire, through flood, through pandemic, through cyclone—this Leader of the Labor Party has politicised every national disaster to his shame.