PM: A little earlier today the Acting Chief of the Defence Force advised the nation that we have lost a soldier in Afghanistan. Yesterday in Afghanistan Corporal Richard Atkinson was killed by an improvised explosive device, by a bomb.
Corporal Richard Atkinson was very brave and a very young man. He was 22 years old. He was on his first deployment to Afghanistan. He was drawn from our First Combat Engineering Regiment that is based in Darwin.
On behalf of the nation, I want to convey my sincerest sympathies to the family and friends of Corporal Atkinson. He was engaged to be married, and I particularly convey my sympathies to his fiancée, who would be in the depths of grief today.
Corporal Richard Atkinson was killed in an incident in which another soldier was injured. That soldier is being cared for in Tarin Kot in Afghanistan. That soldier was seriously wounded.
In these circumstances, I also want to say to the family and friends of the soldier who has been wounded that our thoughts are with them and with him as he recovers from his injuries. At the request of the family, the name of that soldier has not been released.
When I spoke to the Parliament last year about our deployment and mission in Afghanistan, I said that there would be many hard days ahead. This is one of those hard days. We have family and friends grieving in this country for the loss of a young man. We have family and friends anxiously awaiting further news about an injured young soldier. This will be a tough time for those Australians.
Our mission in Afghanistan is an important one and even on a day like this - a very hard day - I want to say to the people of Australia that it is vital that we see this mission through. We are determined to ensure that we deny those who would seek to harm Australians, those who would seek to visit terror on Australian citizens here or in other places in the world, that we deny them access to Afghanistan for training in the arts of death and destruction. So, it is vital that we do continue that mission.
Closer to home, I don't believe many Australians slept well last night. I think Australians right around the nation slept badly because they were so worried about our fellow Australians in North and Far North Queensland facing this devastating cyclone. It's been a very, very tough night and I think people slept badly around the nation because we were so worried by the power of this cyclone. We were so worried about its ability to cause destruction in North and Far North Queensland.
But even as we worried about fellow Australians facing danger and very, very frightening hours, I think at the same time we knew that they were facing that danger with courage and that they were well prepared.
Today it seems that that courage and that degree of preparation has won through. I have been briefed this morning by the Head of the Emergency Management Australia and by the Deputy National Security Adviser on circumstances in Queensland. I received that briefing at 6am this morning. I have had the opportunity to participate by telephone in the State Management Disaster Group that meets in Brisbane, at their meeting, which was attended by Premier Anna Bligh and by her relevant minister as well as representatives of all of the Emergency Services.
I had the Attorney-General participate in that telephone conference with me here in Canberra. That gave us an opportunity to listen first-hand to reports from District Commanders in the affected areas and from local council leaders in the affected areas.
While reports are still early and sketchy for some parts, at this stage it appears that we have not lost any lives as a result of this cyclone. Indeed, I think many Australians would have been gladdened at heart to see this morning the news that we actually had a new Australian life, a baby born in an evacuation centre, in these circumstances.
But I do stress, these reports are early and some badly affected areas, we are still getting people in and we do not have comprehensive reports on the circumstances in those badly affected areas.
Right throughout those parts of Queensland that continue to be affected by this cyclone there is continuing danger. I do want to echo the words of Premier Anna Bligh: danger does still continue - surging tides, power lines that are down, flooding danger, and there are some parts of Queensland that are bracing for the cyclone to come across land and to still hit.
So, in those circumstances I do want to reinforce the message that people need to keep listening to and responding to the advice of Emergency Services personnel. I am sure everybody is very, very tired, very exhausted, but people cannot let their guard down yet. The danger is not over and so people do need to listen to and respond to that advice.
Even as these hours of some danger continue, our thoughts are turning to the best ways of assisting people in recovery and rebuilding.
I do want to announce that we have determined to make the Australian Government Disaster Relief Payment available to people in affected areas. This is the emergency money, $1,000 per adult and $400 per child, that can help people in circumstances where they've been evacuated, where their homes have been damaged.
We will have Centrelink personnel on the ground as soon as it is possible to do so. We have Centrelink officers and personnel in some of the affected communities and as soon as it is possible for them to do so and travel safely themselves, they will be reopening those Centrelink offices. We will then add to that Centrelink capacity as soon as we can get people into these areas with safety, but that cannot start to occur for a period of time yet, but we will make available that Australian Government Disaster Relief Payment.
We will also make available the Income Support Payment that assists people if they are unable to work for a period of time or unable to operate their businesses for a period of time because of the natural disaster, and we have activated our Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, which means that people whose homes have been damaged are eligible for assistance, and small businesses and primary producers are also eligible for assistance.
Right throughout these affected areas there is going to be a lot of damage and a lot of rebuilding to do. I want to say to the people of Queensland and to the people of the nation generally that we will rebuild.
We will rebuild from the floods. We will rebuild build from the cyclone. We will rebuild from anything that nature throws at us.
We will continue to work together and we will rebuild.
Can I conclude by mentioning a further matter in which Australians have been involved, and that is the circumstances in Egypt.
The Government is deeply concerned by the violence that occurred in Cairo overnight.
I absolutely condemn this violence, and I want to stress that we believe the Government of Egypt has to acquit its responsibility to keep people safe, and it has to acknowledge the right of people to peacefully protest.
We unreservedly condemn this violence.
Clearly, a transition is required in Egypt. The time for that transition has come. We want that transition to be peaceful and orderly. It is for the people of Egypt to shape their future, but the time for change has come. Transition, but we do want to see that happen in an orderly and peaceful way.
We are continuing to deal with the situation of Australians who are in Egypt. We made available, as is now fairly well known, an evacuation flight, a Qantas plane that has taken people from Egypt to Frankfurt. A second plane will take further Australians out of Egypt. We will continue to monitor the need for further assistance, and if further assistance is required, more planes are required, then we will make more planes available.
The emergency numbers that have been circulated in the media for people to contact in Egypt and here in Australia are still in full operation, so people in Egypt who need to make contact can do so through those numbers.
Our advice to Australians in Egypt remains the same - that is, to travel out of Egypt if it's safe to do so. And our travel advisory remains the same. Our words of warning to Australians are do not travel to Egypt in these circumstances.
I'm very happy to take people's questions.
Phil?
JOURNALIST: On the cyclone, when do you envisage it will practical for you to go and see firsthand the damage, and are there preliminary estimates on, sort of, the costs - economic costs, infrastructure costs, anything like that - at this stage?
PM: Look, it's too soon for me to give you clear advice on either. I'm still liaising and taking advice on when's the right time to go.
We're in a circumstance now where emergency operations are still in full swing and people are still getting into some communities, but as soon as it is possible for me to travel and to be on the ground, talking to Queenslanders who have been hit by this cyclone, I will go and meet with them. I am really very, very keen to do that, so the only hold up there is just the very practical problems about when travel can occur.
On estimates of damage, it's also too early to tell. As you would see from the media, we have got sketchy reports from some places. Damage assessments are still underway. Indeed, search and rescue in the sense of making sure everybody's OK is still well and truly underway in these hours, and so the focus continues to be on people's safety.
Clearly, there will be damage. People will have seen images of the damage on their TV screens. We know that there are problems with some infrastructure, with power supplies, with telecommunications, but we will only be able to give people a sensible estimate of the degree of the damage when sometime has gone by and people can get out on the ground.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there's been a fair amount of criticism of the disaster relief payments. One critic says it's encouraging a culture of entitlement, and besides, people who really weren't eligible for them were given these payments, especially in the Brisbane floods, without any check.
PM: Well, can I say two things about that.
Firstly, if there's any fraud - that is, people have claimed monies and they are not properly entitled to them - if there has been any fraud involved then we will crack down and deal with that. Centrelink already has a team that is working on any fraud issues, so just like in other areas of our social security system, if anybody's done the wrong thing then they should expect to feel the full force of the law, and there won't be any mercy shown in that regard.
On people who are properly eligible, I decided, as Prime Minister, I decided to make the eligibility requirements for this disaster relief payment the same for this set of natural disasters as they were for the flooding that hit Queensland in March last year. I decided we should have the same criteria.
I do note that the Leader of the Opposition also wanted to see the same criteria applied. Indeed, he publically called for that to occur.
So, I take complete responsibility for showing the same generosity to the people of Queensland in these circumstances that has been shown in earlier natural disasters. I think that's the right thing to do. I thought it at the time I made the decision, and I continue to believe it now.
Mark Riley?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is it true that the Queensland Government has chosen not to insure or re-insure its infrastructure assets, and that if it had in the same way that other States do it would have had coverage through its reinsurance and there would have been no need for a levy?
PM: Look, I can't help you with details of Queensland Government insurance policies. You'll have to talk to them about that, but the levy is part of the $5.6 billion package to re-build roads and rail and ports that have been damaged by flooding, and we still have damage now to assess from the cyclone.
I'm not aware of insurance arrangements that enable you to insure things like major highways, major train lines and major port facilities against this kind of damage.
Michelle?
JOURNALIST: Ms Gillard, on the flight from Egypt, apparently it was only part full because many people couldn't actually get to the airport. Are you convinced that the embassy there has proper planning in place to help people get to the airport?
PM: I think the embassy's doing the best it can in what is a very difficult set of circumstances. Difficult set of circumstances because of the disruption in the city; difficult set of circumstances because we don't want people travelling from wherever they are to the airport, where they could get swept up in a demonstration that could result in violence, and unfortunately we've seen that violence overnight.
And as you would be aware, there has also been problems with just outright lawlessness as the normal structure of society have come under strain and policing and other things have broken down.
So, I believe the embassy's doing the best it can in difficult circumstances, but these are difficult circumstances. Communications have been periodically difficult. So, I would say to Australians there to keep in touch with the embassy and we will keep working with them to make appropriate arrangements to get them out, but unfortunately we just can't wish away all of the difficulties that there are in people talking to each other in Cairo at the moment because of communications difficulties and travelling through Cairo.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister the Premier of Queensland Anna Bligh is going to make money for the disaster relief appeal available to cyclone victims now as well as those who are victims of the floods, are you going to look to extend that same criteria to the flood levy in order to use that money raised to help rebuild from the cyclone?
PM: We will have to assess the damage from the cyclone and we will meet that damages bill from the Federal budget, it will require cutbacks in other areas, there's no point sugar coating that, and I suspect when we make cutbacks in other areas to support the rebuilding, there will be people who aren't very happy about where the cutbacks are made, but we will rebuild from this cyclone and we will arrange the Federal budget in order to do that.
On the question of the flood levy, the flood levy I announced will be presented to Parliament next week, I indicated that yesterday, that we will be bringing the legislation to Parliament next week, I do want to say that we will be extending the exemption arrangements so that people who have been hit by the cyclone and who have qualified for Federal Government disaster relief payments will have the same exemption from the levy as people who have been hit by the floods and who are exempt from paying the levy.
JOURNALIST: Will that affect the amount it's going to raise (inaudible)
PM: We are looking at that, there's is clearly a cost in providing further exemption, that's likely to run into some millions of dollars, but in terms of the size of the levy, we're talking about a $1.8 billion levy, it's a smaller cost component not a substantial one.
JOURNALIST: Will it specify in the legislation that the money can only be used for flood rebuilding?
PM: Well the levy legislation, what we need to legislate is not the appropriations expenditure, what we need to legislate is the changes so that the levy can be collected. I do want to be clear, we will not reduce in any way the amount of assistance we have pledged for flood rebuilding. I have said that our preliminary estimates of damage are $5.6 billion for flood rebuilding, that's why we put together a $5.6 billion package and everything we intended to do for flood rebuilding before the cyclone we will continue to do despite the cyclone. Now of course we've got more we need to do, on top of everything we're going to do for the floods. What's the quantum of that? Well in the same way I answered Phil's question I simply can't tell you that and no one could give you that figure at this very early stage.
JOURNALIST: On the extending the exemption, if you do extend the exemption then presumably the 1.8 goes to 1.7, 1.6-
PM: Well can I just say I do believe it will be anywhere in that order-
JOURNALIST: The shortfall, will that be found in cutbacks or by increasing the levy ever so slightly?
PM: No, there will be no increase to the levy. To the extent that there is any difference between the original $1.8 billion figure and the total amount collected because of this new exemption, we will that up in other budget arrangements so that the package is at the figure that I announced last week. Can I just say in terms of the size and scale of the levy, this further exemption will be a very figure.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister do you think that it's reasonable to expect that state governments would take out catastrophe reinsurance on the global market to protect their assets and infrastructure?
PM: Look it's a question you're going to have to direct if there's a particular issue with Queensland that people want to raise then they will need to raise that with the Government of Queensland, what I know from natural disaster recovery in the past is that we've got guidelines and arrangements about how we work with state governments in rebuilding for natural disasters of any real size or scale, the Commonwealth's obligation is 75 per cent. That routinely includes money for road rebuilding, rail rebuilding, port rebuilding and that's the kind of rebuilding we need to do from the Queensland floods.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister do you have any update on the state of Defence assets, like Lavarack Barracks, whether or not they're ok through the cyclone and what the Defence Forces' role at the moment is?
PM: Yes thank you for that. The Brigadier, we've stood up a joint taskforce out of Lavarack barracks in Townsville, the Brigadier commanding that joint taskforce was on the telephone hook-up that I participated in this morning with the Attorney-General and of course with Premier Anna Bligh. They are standing ready to be tasked by local disaster management bodies, those tasks are likely to include assistance with search and rescue, assistance with clean-up, provisions potentially of bottled water and maybe foodstuffs but more critically bottled water because there are problems with water supply in some locations. They are in a position to assist with generator capacity, people would be aware that there have been large numbers of power outages because of windblown things disrupting, well the wind itself knocking into power infrastructure and then of course flying debris hitting power lines and bringing them down, so in those circumstances they can assist with generator capacity. And as we showed I think in the earlier stages of the flooding, Defence can do a series of things that you mightn't predict on the first day but do need to be done, I'm not sure anybody on the first day of the Queensland floods would have said ‘gee we'll need minesweeper capacity in the Brisbane River', but as it turned out we did to clear the Brisbane River as Defence has those kind of assets and equipment. But the tasking of Defence works through our co-ordination arrangements with the Queensland Government and there is also some tasking that happens locally so when there's a local need Defence gets in and does it if they can help.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister there were reports yesterday that Tony Abbott's called to Liberal Party members to donate to oppose your flood tax. Do you have a response to that? And secondly, how confident are you that your flood legislation will pass next week given that you have the support now of Tony Crook; have you spoken to any of the other independents and have they indicated their support or opposition to it?
PM: I've been working with some of the Members of Parliament and we've certainly been providing briefings to all independent members who have sought those briefings and I'll continue to have those discussions, but I'm confident that the Parliament will see the need to support the rebuilding the nation needs and that's what the flood levy is all about.
On the issues involving Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party yesterday and the call to donate to the Liberal Party, I'd have to say I'm just, personally I was pretty shocked by that, I haven't spent any more time dealing with the issue than being advised of it yesterday afternoon when it was starting to be reported on in the media. I was pretty shocked by it.
Thank you.