JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
ABC NEWS BREAKFAST
MONDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2022
SUBJECTS: Queensland flood emergency; Ukraine / Russia talks.
MADELEINE MORRIS, HOST: We are having a little bit of a break from the rain, that is because it is moving slightly southwards, hitting those areas like you were just talking about in New South Wales. Also, further down from Brisbane. We've seen it come down from Gympie down to Brisbane, now it is continuing its path south and that includes down to Logan, which is just down the Pacific Motorway here, not too far out from Brisbane. We have the Member for Rankin who is also the Shadow Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, who is here with this morning. Thank you so much for coming out Mr Chalmers, what's it looking like in Logan this morning?
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: It was a pretty bad night in Logan. The rain was just unrelenting, and so we're expecting a difficult day there. The warnings for Logan have been upgraded, and so for a lot of people, they'll be waking up there to a very, very difficult day, around the levels that we saw in 2017, which were very damaging in our area.
MORRIS: Okay. There are evacuation centres in Logan. Do you know how many people have actually gone there?
CHALMERS: Not yet, we're not quite aware of that yet. We're aware of the ones here in Brisbane - Kedron Wavell and out towards the Bayside at Chandler - we'll get an update on the Logan one later today.
MORRIS: So the banks of the Logan River are just one of now many rivers in Queensland which are under a major flood warning. What could it actually look like? What did it get to in 2017?
CHALMERS: Certainly we expect the low-lying parts of Logan to be underwater. Even yesterday morning, 24 hours ago or so, a lot of our roads were cut off and there was a hell of a lot of damage. So we expect there to be even more of that, unfortunately. All of the schools are closed, as you know, throughout Brisbane and Logan. The rough weather is moving south to our friends in Northern New South Wales as well. I think even here people are bracing for the high tide in a few hours time. Even though the rain has stopped for now, it was a really rugged night and I think people are bracing for a very difficult day.
MORRIS: At a press conference yesterday, there were some questions about whether there was enough warning for people in the South East of Queensland. Was there enough warning from the authorities here about what to expect?
CHALMERS: I'm not going to criticise the authorities. Certainly there was some information, whether it was early enough will be something that we can look at after we've cleaned the place up. But I think the focus right now is protecting people. Before long the focus will shift to the clean-up. I think there was a real sense of helplessness as the waters were coming up over the last 24 hours or so, certainly that big barrage of rain that we got last night. So let's focus on the clean-up.
We've been through this a few times in the last decade or so - 2011 was bad, 2017 was bad down my way in Logan City - and what always happens every single time is there's a flood of kindness that comes. People should not feel like they're on their own. Let's focus on the clean-up. If there are questions around policy or warnings and all the rest of it, we can get to that in time.
MORRIS: And there will be - and in fact there is already - some assistance which people can actually activate?
CHALMERS: That's right. So there's a disaster payment, $1,000 per adult and $400 per eligible child. If you get on the Services Australia website to see if you're eligible, and then you can apply via myGov and Centrelink. If you've had your home substantially damaged and you think you might be eligible, or you've been displaced, have a look at those websites that you can and access those payments. We want to see that money flow as quickly as possible. There will be other kinds of assistance too, as we rebuild and recover from yet another flood. But right now, if you're in that situation, check out those websites and see if you're eligible.
MORRIS: Just listening to you talking now about yet another flood - we've been through this a few times - what does it feel like actually living here in a place where it just feels it can be just so unrelenting in terms of natural disasters?
CHALMERS: I think Queenslanders are known for their resilience, but after the couple of years that we've had all around Australia, around the world with this pandemic, now this flood, the uncertainty in the world, particularly in Ukraine, but in other parts of the world as well. I think it does weigh pretty heavily on people. But again, everybody needs to recognise that you're not on your own. Whenever we go through something like this there are always people who come from everywhere to help and we'll see that again.
MORRIS: Just a final quick question there about Ukraine. It was one of the first things that you mentioned to me today. When you came down you said they've agreed to talks on the Belarus border. What is Labor's reaction to that?
CHALMERS: Obviously, we prefer to see talks over more bloodshed, but you can see why the Ukrainians are sceptical given what President Putin and the Russians have put them through the last little while. We would like to see those talks succeed, but I think right around the world people will be sceptical given what the Russians have been prepared to do with this vile and unprovoked attack.
MORRIS: Jim Chalmers, thanks so much for coming to speak to News Breakfast this morning.
CHALMERS: Thanks Madeleine.
MORRIS: Jim Chalmers, the Member for Rankin and also the Shadow Treasurer.
ENDS
