Perin Davey (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the , Senator McKenzie. Minister, we've recently seen some extensive flooding across Australia—including in my state, around Griffith in the Riverina; to the north of the state; in Queensland; in Western Australia; and in South Australia—to the point where we have seen disruptions to our freight supply chains as well as incredible damage to a lot of small businesses and farms. Can the minister update the Senate on what the Liberal and Nationals government is doing to support communities affected by these flooding events and this severe weather across the country?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How's that going?

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, Senator Watt!

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's great to be back. Thank you so much, Senator Davey, for the question. With La Nina, the floods that over the last three months have swept across our nation, particularly the east coast, have been catastrophic and devastating, with the loss of so many lives. We stand shoulder to shoulder with affected communities and individuals as they make their way through natural disasters, respond and recover, and build natural resilience into the future. We've got the $85 million Natural Hazards Research Australia money. We've got $40 million dedicated to strata resilience. For the North Queensland flood recovery, we were able to put $1.58 billion on the table. There is $2.8 billion which has been committed to the bushfire recovery and $600 million for preparing Australia to better respond to natural disasters in the future. There has been $13 billion from this government to assist impacted workers through the COVID response, through both the pandemic leave disaster payment and the COVID disaster payment. Our government has put in $12 billion, in conjunction with states and territories, to support these affected communities through natural disaster.

In fact, no government in our nation's history has stood with Australians in times of need like the Liberal-National government has. Through bushfires, cyclones, earthquakes, floods and COVID, this government has been providing boots on the ground and financial assistance to both individuals and communities to help them in their time of crisis. We're helping people recover with funding for clean-ups and financial assistance for small businesses and primary producers. In the last three months alone, we've activated assistance for natural disasters 20 times, with $50,000 grants for primary producers. (Time expired)

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Davey, a supplementary question?

Perin Davey (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Minister. Can you also explain to the Senate how our government is utilising the Emergency Response Fund and strengthening Australia's emergency response and disaster preparedness so that we're ready for emergencies instead of waiting for them to happen?

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

cKENZIE (—) (): Thank you very much, Senator. We live in the country of droughts and flooding rains. The next natural disaster is simply around the corner. In this country, we spend 97 per cent of our money and effort on responding to a natural disaster and only three per cent in preparing for the next one. Our government is fundamentally flipping the response of the federal government in this country to get ahead of that. The Labor government is playing games and politicking with the Emergency Response Fund. It is being used and spent in exactly the way it was designed—in fact, in exactly the way the Labor Party voted for it to be used and spent. The fundamental issue they seem to forget is that this is a future fund. That side of politics has not seen a future fund they cannot wait to raid, that they cannot wait to spend in the here and now. They're salivating to get their hands on it, instead of actually ensuring this money is put away to prepare for catastrophic disasters in our nation's future. (Time expired)

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There was a lot of noise in the chamber, Senator Keneally. There was an excess of interjections from one side of politics. Senator Davey, a second supplementary question?

Perin Davey (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. Can the minister please outline how the government is mitigating disaster risk and building our national resilience?

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

(—) (): We're not just focused on recovery; the Liberal-National government is also focused on mitigating disaster and building our resilience. We're the first government to have dedicated an entire agency with the sole focus of ensuring we are as prepared as we can be for natural disasters, built on solid research and science. That agency is the NRRA. The government's National Climate Resilience and Adaptation Strategy positions Australia to better anticipate and adapt to climate variability, improving climate information services to contribute to our future disaster preparedness. Under our government, $210 million has been invested to ensure Australian Climate Services was stood up, to use world-leading expertise and to focus on supporting the NRRA and Emergency Management Australia decisions related to preparedness, response and community recovery from disaster. And we have the PAP, the National Flood Mitigation Infrastructure Program— (Time expired)