Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Darwin and Palmerston and much of the Top End were buffeted by Cyclone Fina on the weekend, with Territory resilience and spirit shining through once again. I give a big shout-out to all the people of the Solomon electorate, those living in Darwin and Palmerston, but also to all Territorians across the Top End for their work to prepare ahead of Cyclone Fina and in its aftermath. I want to thank all the first responders, everyone working in our hospitals and everyone who assisted. That work continues—to clear the roads and to get the lights back on. Power has been restored to many homes, but many suburbs are still without power. People needing urgent assistance should visit the welfare recovery centre at the Marrara Indoor Stadium.

The Albanese government, in partnership with the Northern Territory government, has activated disaster recovery assistance. As the Minister for Emergency Management said today in question time, in order to facilitate the recovery process, financial assistance has been made available under the disaster recovery funding arrangements, the DRFA, to provide immediate relief to individuals and families that have been displaced by Cyclone Fina and any flooding. Further information is available on the Secure NT website, or call the Cyclone Fina hotline on 1800888901 between 7 am and 7 pm daily, and, after that, normal emergency numbers if you need assistance.

Witnessing the response of Territorians reminded me once again of the stories of bravery and fortitude that were shared at the Cyclone Tracy 50th anniversary commemorative event that we held in Darwin, with the Prime Minister and the Governor-General in attendance, on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day last year. The organisers of that event, Remembering Cyclone Tracy, brought together many of the survivors to reconnect, to remember and to reflect on the time when we lost at least 66 lives and more than 70 per cent of Darwin's buildings were destroyed. It was Australia's worst peacetime disaster in modern times until, of course, the devastating Black Saturday bushfires in 2009. It was the largest peacetime evacuation in Australian history, with 25,000 people evacuated by air and 7,000 by road. One week later, just 10,000 people remained in Darwin.

We've come a long way since then. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries this time around. But, again, as they did 50 years ago, the Darwin community rallied together. It's important to note that this cyclone was a category 3, but in Darwin only a category 1. It can get much worse. Don't become complacent.