Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every summer in Australia—and often the period which is dangerous is getting longer and longer—our people face the challenge of extreme weather. In the last month, Queenslanders and Victorians have been hit hard. In Victoria, fires burned through over 400,000 hectares of bushland. Authorities had been warning that the extreme conditions were the worst since the Black Summer, and the fireys on the ground said the same thing. These fires were fast moving, unpredictable and intense. Tragically, they claimed the life of Max Hobson. Max had come to cattle farming late in his working life and he went about it with all his engineer's precision, and with real passion. Our thoughts are with Max's wife, Julie, his loved ones, his friends and his community.

Over 1,000 farming properties were affected and nearly 25,000 head of livestock lost. More than 1,340 structures across the state were either damaged or destroyed. The damage done to Ruffy, Alexandra and surrounds is devastating. In Ravenswood and Harcourt, which I visited, over 50 homes were destroyed. I saw where the Harcourt Co-op Cool Stores and the neighbouring cafe had stood. Standing right on that street, the power of fire was so evident. Over 90 small businesses use that cool store:, local winemakers, brewers and apple growers. Years of their hard work burned away. So much was lost, yet the bravery and dedication of firefighters and volunteers saved so much more. As we were taken into that town by police and emergency services, we could see that the fire had devastated one side of the road. Houses that had been there were reduced to a bit of a chimney or some sign that there was a dwelling there. But across the road, really a miracle: houses intact due to the extraordinary work of volunteers, rural firefighters, police and just locals—neighbours—fighting for their properties. Quite extraordinary! If you looked at it you would not think it was possible.

At the Ravenswood staging centre, I had the opportunity to personally thank CFA members. They were not just from the local community but they had come from Rochester, which had been devastated by those terrible floods just a short time ago and which I had visited seemingly yesterday. And they came from Creswick and Mount Macedon as well to help. They included Darcy, who was a young 16-year-old volunteer on his first day in the job. As the member for Bendigo knows—I travelled there with her and the Victorian Premier—these are communities where people know each other and they care about each other as well. When fires took out the Mount Alexander ABC transmission tower, Phoenix FM, which is a 100 per cent volunteer local community radio station, switched over to carrying the emergency broadcast for three days, saving lives. One CFA volunteer, Tyrone Rice, was out fighting fires when his own home was lost. In less than a week, the community had raised over $65,000 for his family.

In Queensland, the devastation has been different but the courage and generosity have been the same. Monsoonal rain, exacerbated by ex-tropical-cyclone Koji, has caused widespread flooding across North Queensland. Previously, I travelled to Cloncurry with the emergency management minister and with the Treasurer, and we were in Cloncurry and Mount Isa. The minister went on to visit Julia Creek and Richmond afterwards, looking at the extraordinary impact that those floodwaters had had. I thank the Mayor of Cloncurry and other community volunteers who we were able to meet and thank for what they had done there as well.

Tragically, one man died when his vehicle was trapped in floodwaters near Normanton. He and his loved ones are in our thoughts today.

Primary producers have seen thousands of kilometres of roads and fencing destroyed, and around 50,000 head of livestock have been lost—at least. What I said to the remarkable SES volunteers in Hoods Lagoon and locals at the Clermont Bears footie club is the same message I took to Harcourt in Victoria: We have got your back. From response to recovery to rebuilding, we'll be with you every step of the way.

In both states, we've made the disaster recovery allowance available—up to 13 weeks of support for people who have lost income. In Victoria, together with Jacinta Allan's government, we've provided $77 million in disaster recovery funding. This is support for emergency fodder, community recovery officers and primary producer grants up to $75,000, as well as assistance for personal and financial counselling and dealing with power outages and clean-up. The Defence Force have made some of their accommodation available, as well, in Victoria. In both states, I thank all those in police and emergency services and fire services, volunteers and the SES—the extraordinary people who step up at difficult times.

In Queensland, we are working with David Crisafulli's government, who I also met with last Thursday in Brisbane. We travelled there, to Clermont, with the minister. We have provided over $66 million in support to 30 different local government areas. This includes an $11.3 million primary producer support package, in addition to $21 million in disaster recovery grants; almost $10 million for extraordinary disaster recovery assistance grants for small business; $7 million in emergency fodder for stranded livestock; and $11½ million to repair the Cloncurry airstrip, that's so important—vital—particularly for fly-in fly-out workers who work in the resources sector, in the mines around Cloncurry. In addition to that, we've provided support for mental health support and personal hardship assistance.

I know the whole parliament cares about helping these communities get back on their feet. There's no politics in any of this. When natural disaster strikes, governments work to provide assistance. I know that we always have the support of the parliament to do so, and I thank all members of the House for doing so and for engaging. I will continue to work with local members on what else can be done.

Of course, this remains a difficult period—a difficult weather period. In Sydney over the weekend, and on the Central Coast of NSW, there was a real impact as well—the impact of the extreme weather events and record rainfall in some of those communities, including in the member for Robertson's electorate and the member for Dobell's as well. This is a difficult period.

I remind people, as well, as a final thought: if it's flooded, forget it. Every time I go into a flood area, the police and people will tell you that people think that they can drive through and they know what it looks like. I know, in the member for Mackellar's electorate, over the weekend, we saw examples of that. If you can't see the ground, you don't know what's under the water; you don't know if the road has slipped away. It is simply not worth it. Please follow the advice of our police, emergency services and SES volunteers. They risk a lot to help out their fellow Australians. What they ask is that they get listened to on that advice. That way, we'll keep Australians as safe as possible, even in difficult times.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to join the Prime Minister in acknowledging the deep hardship being experienced by Australians across our country as they confront the devastating aspects and impacts of fire and floods. From communities facing catastrophic bushfire conditions along the New South Wales-Victoria border and in parts of South Australia and Western Australia to families and businesses still reeling from widespread flooding in Queensland and northern NSW, Australians are once again being tested by a landscape that is both extraordinary and unforgiving. I am always reminded of the beauty and the terror from Dorothea Mackellar's iconic poem.

In recent weeks, I've been on the ground in flood affected communities across North Queensland. I've been in Cloncurry, Julia Creek, Richmond and Mount Isa, speaking directly to families, pastoralists and local leaders whose lives and livelihoods have been turned upside down. The No. 1 thing you see in their eyes is exhaustion, fatigue, but, behind it, there is great anxiety for what the future holds, great pain for what they've gone through and great, great shock. I've also spent time with emergency services on the New South Wales-Victoria border in the upper Murray region, where I spent 17 years of my life as a farmer and where my family and community still lives. So it was very close and personal to see firsthand the damage that was done there only recently. It reminds me that those communities are, too soon, going through something that they went through in 2020 in the Black Summer fires. Similarly, for North Queensland, 2019 was a time of dreadful flooding.

I want to say that when the weather is at its worst, Australians really are at their very best, and the most important thing is to acknowledge those who are directly affected. That includes families who are forced to evacuate. But when fires and floods have an impact like this, we must always put our farmers front and centre. They are the people who work the land, the people who care for their livestock and the people who will only leave their farms if they absolutely have to. When I look at the picture of Max Hobson, who lost his life in the Longwood bushfire—and I pass on our deepest condolences to his family—I see a farmer. I see an iconic bloke from the bush and his stoicism, fortitude, calm and commonsense. You can imagine him leaning on the rails at the stockyards, coping with everything and dealing with the highs and lows of life on the land. It's a life that he has now lost, and his family and community are devastated. There are those who've lost homes, there are those who've lost stock, crops, machinery, fences, businesses or treasured belongings, and there are those who are trying to keep going while carrying the emotional weight of having been through it all before.

I want to place on record the opposition's gratitude to those extraordinary Australians who respond on the frontline. To our volunteer firefighters, our SES crews, our police, our paramedics, our Defence personnel, our council workers and the many community volunteers: a really big 'thank you'. As I met crews from the CFA, from Queensland and from the NSW RFS in the Tallangatta incident centre in north-east Victoria, it was quite clear that they'd all dropped everything to be there, and that's what you always see. Whatever they've left behind, they have done so willingly to come and lend a hand.

I particularly thank our aviation crews and pilots. I've seen helicopter pilots in outback Queensland flying mission after mission from dawn till dusk. They are as exhausted as the people they are helping, knowing just to get that last load of hay, pick up that last stranded person or see some evidence of where stock might be gathering might help and support them the next day. We thank them and every person involved in the planning, coordination and logistics that support these efforts.

Recovery is a long process. It takes time, it takes resources, and it takes support. It requires governments at every level to stay engaged, not just in the immediate crisis but in the weeks and months that follow. In Richmond, I heard directly from local leaders and landholders about all those practical realities of recovery: restocking, rebuilding fences, restoring yards and managing animal welfare—it's always at the top of the list. The anguish and heartbreak of a farmer who has lost his land and his fences but not his cattle or sheep is a totally different experience from one who has. The anxiety they have for their cattle as they recover is beautiful to behold because it demonstrates that bond between those who manage the land and the spirit of Australia.

But we heard something so important there from the mayor in Richmond. He said, in words that stayed with me, that disaster packages save lives, literally. He said that, in 2019, support announced in the midst of a crisis changed the course of people's lives and gave hope to those who felt they could not continue—and hope matters in disaster recovery. It's not abstract; it's real. It's often the difference between despair and the determination to rebuild. That's why it's so important that assistance is delivered quickly. The goal must be to help people get back on their feet, not to add further strain through complexity or bureaucracy at a time of such profound loss.

I want to assure Australians in these affected areas, as I know the Prime Minister has, that they're not alone. They often feel that a lot of attention is paid in the days after the disaster, as it should be, and then those communities can fade from our public consciousness. I know that everyone in this parliament is determined that that not happen—that we are there for those communities over the years ahead. Remember that they are Australians who don't ask for help, but they need a lot of help, and so we must make sure that they get it.

Australia has faced disasters before. We'll face them again. Every time, we are reminded of not only the power of nature but the resilience of the Australian people. I know that spirit will carry communities through the difficult days ahead, and the opposition stands with all those in this place and the other place to support them in whatever way we can.

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

In accordance with the resolution agreed to on 19 January, I will call on questions without notice.