PRIME MINISTER:
Nature flings its worst at Australians and it has certainly happened here in The Whitsunday region but it is bringing out the very best.
I want to ask first Brigadier Chris Field, who is the Commander of 3rd Brigade and the State Recovery Coordinator to talk about the work that he is leading with State Emergency Services, Police and 1,300 members of the Australian Defence Force. We’re also here with the Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, the local Member George Christensen, the Mayor of The Whitsundays Andrew Willcox and the Liberal leader Tim Nicholls.
So, Brigadier?
BRIGADIER CHRISTOPHER FIELD, AM, CSC:
Thank you, Prime Minister. I’d firstly like to recognize the outstanding communities of North Queensland for the remarkable resilience in the face of this natural disaster. Also the state and local emergency services who are working nonstop and they’re still on their feet doing great work for Queensland.
The Australian Defence Force is well postured with both maritime land and air assets supporting the local efforts and will continue to do so.
As the area becomes more accessible over the next few days, you will see more and more Australian Defence Force assets joining our state and local government partners.
PRIME MINISTER:
And Brigadier, the HMAS Melville is coming to provide water, fresh water and supplies to Daydream Island this morning?
BRIGADIER CHRISTOPHER FIELD:
Yes, Prime Minister, we’re fortunate the HMAS Melville has been on task conducting port surveys but she is also going to support the Daydream Island people with emergency support and also to do evacuations if required.
PRIME MINISTER:
And Andrew, you need to get some electricians in here to get the power back on?
MAYOR ANDREW WILLCOX:
Exactly right.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah, the Brigadier is going to fly them in from Townsville.
MAYOR ANDREW WILLCOX:
Appreciate the assistance, but also I appreciate the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader Mr Shorten coming up into our area. There’s no politics in this, you’re just helping us out and we appreciate very, very much what you’re doing for us.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well the whole nation is united supporting you. Our Defence Forces, as I said, working with the police, the emergency services - we’ve met them, congratulated them, thanked them for their work. The resilience of the community is backed up by the whole nation.
And Bill, we’re on a unity ticket here today aren’t we?
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION:
Yeah we are.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good on you, mate.
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION:
I just want to add my words to the Prime Minister’s - we congratulate the strength of the local community.
Australians should realise that the storm may have passed but the work has just begun.
And we were privileged to see residents, small business people - they know they’ve got a power of work to do but the rest of Australia should not underestimate the degree of difficulty they face. There’s been a lot of rain. There’s a lot of infrastructure down. The people are still cut off from different areas in this local region. Australians should get behind them. But what I’d also say to insurance companies is the storm may have passed but there’s still obligations by insurance companies to people that have policies. And in coming weeks and days and months, all sides of politics will be vigilant to make sure that people’s legitimate and bona fide claims aren’t tied up in fine print and red print and legalese.
Again I just congratulate the community.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister what can you tell the people of this region about what sort of federal assistance package will be in place?
PRIME MINISTER:
Right well all of the National Disaster Recovery Assistance is available. There’s assistance available right now, for immediate needs. We’ll be providing support for the reconstruction of local infrastructure. I’ve made an announcement today which will mean the council can get to work straight away, bringing on labour, using their own assets and they’ll get the benefit of the federally supported funding. The formula will be 75 per cent with a natural disaster of this scale - 75 per cent federal, 25 per cent state. But we’re making sure that those funds are going to flow and the council in particular can access it straight away.
So that’s very important to you isn’t it Andrew?
MAYOR ANDREW WILLCOX:
Exactly and thanks Prime Minister for fast-tracking that as well. We do appreciate it.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister what are the challenges like the lack of power and water? How concerned personally are you about rising anxiety and tension?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, we understand the anxiety that people have, particularly when they're out of fresh water. That's why the ADF is getting fresh water out to the islands, and we have - how many helicopters do we have - 12 available right now. So they will be getting supplies out to remote communities, or communities that have been cut off.
George, a number of your communities here are going to be cut off for some days by road, aren't they?
GEORGE CHRISTENSEN, MEMBER FOR DAWSON:
Well, they are. You can't access Bowen, here, by road from the south or the north - same with Proserpine, same with Airlie Beach. Little communities up and down the rural northern coast from Mackay - like Midge Point, Seaforth, also cut off – so it is very, very difficult. And these people, yes, they probably are going to be frustrated as days pass by and they haven't got services like power and water and even telephones being connected, but I think that everyone does recognise that it is challenging times with the weather and you know, the Ergon workers, the Telstra workers, the SES volunteers and our emergency service personnel are doing as good a job as they can in very, very trying circumstances, along with our ADF personnel that are assisting too.
PRIME MINISTER:
And we have the helicopters. We can move the emergency workers, the people from Ergon and Andrew were talking about the electricians to get the power back on. The roads are blocked - blocked for how long do you think?
BRIGADIER CHRISTOPHER FIELD:
Again, depending on the weather, we thought we were winning until we had that big storm last night and then we were back to actually square one. The weather report is that it is going to clear later on today. We are hoping that's the case. Once we have got access, we can fix it.
PRIME MINISTER:
Chris, we'll get those workers in quickly by helicopter, and so that they can get started. So we are getting that under way today.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, what message will you take back to people in, say, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia that obviously have no real understanding of what's gone on here? How will you describe this to them?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, this is, as I said, an example of nature flinging her worst at Australians. The people of The Whitsunday region, the people of North Queensland, Far North Queensland are very familiar with cyclones. They are very resilient, but the whole nation gets behind them and supports them.
Our ADF is here. Our 1300 men and women of the ADF, servicemen and women, are working here now. This is the largest pre-deployment of the Australian Defence Force in advance of a natural disaster in our history.
The Bureau of Meteorology did a great job in identifying this low, recognising that it could develop into a cyclone, and that's why the planning was able to be put in place. And you've seen great leadership at the Local Government level, the state level, and at the federal level, working together.
So this is a very concentrated, team effort by all of our agencies, but above all, as the mayor and George understand best of all, as locals, the spirit of this community, the resilience of it.
Just talking to Michelle, you know, who was driving us around the town this morning - she has got a pumpkin farm that has been beaten up, she has got zucchinis that she says she was going to pick yesterday, so they are mush now.
So farmers right across this region will be hard-hit.
This area exports $450 million of farm produce a year. It is a food bowl and it is going to be hard-hit and it will take some time to recover. And that's why we are here to show our support and our commitment.
As Bill said, this is a very bipartisan effort. We are all behind the people of The Whitsunday region, the people of North Queensland as they recover from this storm.
JOURNALIST:
Bill – it is a very short tour, but have you seen enough to actually get a good gauge?
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION:
What I've seen is that the people here are going to have to work hard to get back on their feet, but what I've also seen is they will get back on their feet, and I agree with what Malcolm said.
And in the addition, what I would say to Australians, if you want to help in the medium to longer term - The Whitsunday region is a great place to holiday. They will tidy this up, they will be back on their feet and I think the best way the rest of Australians can help is perhaps when you are thinking about your next holiday – come to The Whitsunday region.
PRIME MINISTER:
Bill, that's a great message, and we are going to provide some additional support. I have been talking to the Minister for Trade and Tourism Steven Ciobo about that, because Bill is right, it is a really important point, the storm has gone, the clean-up will happen, and then it's back in business. And sometimes people forget that, and either don't make holiday plans or cancel them. So we want the tourists back.
The other thing I would say, and again we will all say this with one voice - if it's flooded, forget it. Don't walk in, swim in, drive in floodwaters. If it's flooded, forget it. Be safe. There is still plenty of risk out there.
This is the time to be safe, follow the advice of the authorities. They are looking after this situation, and when the floodwaters are down, and as the clean-up proceeds everything will get back to normal and the tourists will be back and we are urging them to come, aren't we Bill?
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION:
A beautiful place to come for a holiday.
PRIME MINISTER:
Absolutely. That’s it.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, will you be able to get to Airlie Beach or have you seen over The Whitsunday islands and the damage there?
PRIME MINISTER:
We won't be getting to Airlie Beach today because we have got to get back to Parliament, but we are going to see some of the damage in the Proserpine area. But obviously this is a short visit. But I know Tim, you will be back up here -
TIM NICHOLLS, QUEENSLAND OPPOSITION LEADER:
Yes.
PRIME MINISTER:
Tim Nicholls will be back up here with his state colleagues, as well, inspecting the situation and of course providing our support and encouragement to the outstanding work of the emergency workers, the ADF and above all, such a brave and resilient community.
Thank you all very much.
[ENDS]