Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The scale of the flooding crisis across Australia means that we have had to make some difficult decisions to find the necessary funds to provided emergency recovery assistance to individual communities, small businesses and primary producers. We also need to rebuild roads, bridges, ports and community infrastructure damaged by the floods. We have invested $5.6 billion to rebuild Queensland and areas across Australia—not only Queensland has been damaged by flood; it also affected parts of New South Wales and Victoria. As the Prime Minister has said, every dollar will be spent effectively and every dollar will go to the region that needs it most.

The government understands the community’s concern that we have a coordinated response to the flood disaster, and that is why we have been working closely with the Queensland government to ensure a coordinated response to disaster recovery. The Commonwealth is putting in place a proper governance arrangement to ensure taxpayers get value for money. In addition, I have been appointed as the lead minister for the Commonwealth with responsibility for the reconstruction of Queensland. To ensure we can rebuild Queensland after these significant events, there will also be the Queensland Flood Recovery Cabinet Committee, of which I will be a member. The Prime Minister has recently announced the creation of the Australian Reconstruction Inspectorate, led by Mr Fahey, and Commonwealth officials have been appointed to the board of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority. We have also made available Major-General Mick Slater—