Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McDonald for her question. Clearly, as a Northern Queenslander, she understands the importance of disaster recovery in her home state. We all know that North Queensland cops more than its fair share of natural disasters. I'm sure everybody in this place remembers the absolutely devastating impact of the flood events in 2019, which left large areas of the state under water. There is no doubt that all governments—and that includes the federal government—have a role to play in ensuring Australia's preparedness for and response to natural disasters. That's why this government, the Morrison-McCormack government, is investing in resilience measures that will ensure that our regions, as well as our urban areas, are in a better position to respond to any future natural disasters. This includes the $260 million in joint funding with the states and territories to implement the National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework.

This framework sets out what we need to do to reduce disaster risk, both now and into the future. The government has also committed $88 billion for a world-class disaster resilience and research centre. The centre will provide all tiers of government with advice regarding disaster mitigation and resilience building. The government has also committed $25.9 million to the National Aerial Firefighting Centre, a centre that will coordinate our fleet of aerial firefighting specialised equipment that's able to support our states and territories, a matter in which I'll acknowledge that Senator Griff has a very strong interest. The Morrison-McCormack government is absolutely committed to supporting Queenslanders, as it is across the rest of Australia, to prepare for what will be, unfortunately, the next disaster, because we know that disasters will continue to occur.