Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Personnel. What support has been provided by the Australian Defence Force to support natural disasters that have occurred over this summer, and how is that support prioritised?

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank my friend the member for Hasluck for her important question. I know she'll be pleased to know that many reservists who participated in assisting with the floods in WA's north were from 13 Brigade, the brigade that the member for Hasluck has supported through her work as a member of 109th Signal Squadron.

I'd like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the hundreds of defence personnel and reservists who sacrificed their summer breaks to support their fellow Australians when they needed it most. There is still flooding throughout northern, western and Central Queensland, with some local resupply disruptions continuing. Flooding is forecast to continue to impact the Darling River communities in coming weeks as water continues to move downstream. Meanwhile, flooding has peaked and is slowly beginning to fall along the length of South Australia's River Murray. The House, of course, will be aware of the unprecedented flood damage caused by Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie as it continues to impact parts of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Through Operation Flood Assist, our ADF personnel have helped with sandbagging, levee construction, evacuation support, transport and logistics, clean-up support and air traffic control. In just the last five weeks, up to 275 ADF full-time and reservist personnel at a time worked hand in hand with the Western Australian departments of fire and emergency services and of communities to ensure that people from remote and regional communities were relocated from floodwaters, helping more than 1,200 people.

I thank both the member for Durack and Senator Dodson for their advocacy for their communities throughout the flood emergencies. They both joined me on the ground in Broome to receive briefings on the work of the ADF in the flood efforts and to thank them for their work. I'd like to thank the Prime Minister, the Minister for Emergency Management and the Minister for Northern Australia, who joined the Premier of Western Australia, the WA Minister for Emergency Services and the WA Minister for Community Services, who have all visited the flood zones. Thank you for your support for the communities of WA's north-west. Defence remains responsive to changing requirements and remains ready to respond to requests for assistance around Australia.

I'dlike to remind Western Australians in Broome, Derby-West Kimberley, Wyndham-East Kimberley and Halls Creek: you are eligible for assistance under Commonwealth-state disaster recovery funding arrangements. Services Australia staff are on the ground in Fitzroy Crossing and Broome to ensure people get the assistance that they need. I'd like to remind those communities in the north of WA that, under the Albanese Labor government, we don't believe that it's your postcode that should determine your access to disaster support but your need. When communities need help, we will make sure that that happens.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition on indulgence, briefly.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

on indulgence—On behalf of the coalition, I want to thank the men and women of the Australian Defence Force for their tireless effort over many events, from the east to the west, from the top of our country to the furthest point south. They are there in the hour of need. As the minister rightly points out, they will go to the aid of Australians, they will provide logistics support, and they will help in the recovery and in the rebuild, as we have seen in various floods and natural disasters around the country.

I want to pay tribute to all of those who have spent time away from their families. If you join the Australian Defence Force, you're there to protect and to defend our country. It's not their first call or first preference to be deployed on some of these operations, and we're respectful of that, but they do lend a very significant hand. They provide a lot of support to those communities, and we would work very closely with the government—there's still the outstanding issue of medal recognition for those in relation to recent deployments. We very strongly support the awarding of that medal. It would send a very clear message to them and to their families for the sacrifice that they've made in our country's name. We would be very willing to entertain those discussions with the government.