JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN
 
SENATOR MURRAY WATT
SHADOW MINISTER FOR DISASTER AND EMERGENCY MANANGEMENT
LABOR SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
LOGAN
MONDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2022

SUBJECTS: Queensland and Northern New South Wales flood emergency.

MURRAY WATT, SHADOW MINISTER FOR EMERGENCY MANGEMENT: Thanks for coming along today and it's great to be joining Jim Chalmers, the federal Member for Rankin and Shadow Treasurer in his patch. Where we are today is Paradise Road in Slacks Creek, and if you were able to look a little bit further around you'd be able to see the back of the IKEA building , something that many people know from driving along the M1. But as you can see from these floodwaters, it's not possible to make it through here at the moment and it could be at least a couple of days before those floodwaters are down. This is an example of the level of flooding that we're now seeing in Logan City, obviously that is spreading further south into the Gold Coast, and there's a very serious situation now in Northern New South Wales as well.

I've spent the morning getting around parts of Brisbane to inspect some of the damage with Madonna Jarrett, the federal Labor candidate for the seat of Brisbane. There are many businesses underwater in places like Rosalie. We've seen extensive flooding right along the Brisbane River in places like Toowong and other places too. It's a reminder that the level of damage is significant and we are going to need to see significant federal government investment to assist with the clean-up. I received a briefing on behalf of federal Labor yesterday afternoon from Emergency Management Australia, Bridget McKenzie's department. And I want to thank Bridget for organising that briefing. During that briefing I raised, on behalf of a range of Labor MPs, the need to broaden the region that was going to be receiving disaster assistance payments, and I'm pleased to see the Prime Minister respond to that and open up disaster assistance to a broader range of areas in South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales from today.

It's important now that that declaration has been given, that the money flow out very quickly to people. There are going to be thousands of homeowners and businesses right across South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales in a world of pain after this flood , and many people have been through this not too long before. In Logan, we saw a huge flood in 2017. Obviously, in Brisbane in 2011. Ipswich in 2013 as well. So this is something that people have had happen to them not that long ago, and they will need to get federal assistance as quickly as possible. We all know that in other disasters recently, particularly the black summer bushfires, we haven't seen money get out the door as quickly as necessary from the federal government. And I'm really keen to ensure that the feds respond quickly this time around and get that assistance flowing.

I've also been on the phone to Justine Elliott, the Member for Richmond. Now that these floods are affecting Northern New South Wales as well, we're keen to see ADF support deployed there as quickly as possible, to a number of areas, and I know that Justine is working with the federal government and local councils to get that to happen as quickly as possible as well. So just a reminder to everyone, stay safe, these floodwaters are going to stay quite high for a little while to come before we'll all have the opportunity to get stuck in and help clean-up, but in the meantime please be safe. Please don't drive where you shouldn't be. We've understood just recently that another fatality has been recorded in Queensland, bringing the total to eight. It's a constant reminder that if people go into floodwaters when they shouldn't be there, their lives, literally, are at stake. So please be safe. We'll be standing with you and working cooperatively with the federal government to make sure that people get support as quickly as possible. Hand you over to Jim.

JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: Thanks very much, Murray. Can I thank Murray for his tireless work as the Shadow Minister in our team with responsibility for Emergency Management, and for all of the briefings that he has been providing and accessing on behalf of the federal Labor team.

Our hearts go out to the people of Lismore who are going through an incredibly difficult time. The people of South East Queensland know a bit what that looks like, having been through some incredibly difficult days. This is not over yet, as the people of Lismore can attest. It's not over yet here in Logan or in Brisbane either. In many places the floodwaters are still rising.

Over there in Waterford, we're expecting the floodwaters to continue rising beyond the highs that we saw in the 2017 floods here in Logan. As Murray said, this is Slacks Creek here. It's one of many roads cut-off in our local community. You can see a submerged four wheel drive out there, and there's a number of examples like this all throughout Logan. 

We want to thank the SES, the other first responders and emergency workers, for putting themselves in harm's way to look after the rest of us. Just last night in Logan alone, something like 600 call outs for the SES. So we are so grateful and so appreciative to everyone who puts themselves in harm's way to look out for and look after others. We're seeing that once again, the very brave people of the SES, the other emergency workers and first responders. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts for what they have done. We know from previous floods - and there's been too many - that often the most difficult time is actually when the floodwaters begin to recede.

It is a heartbreaking time watching the floodwaters come up, but often when the floodwaters start to recede is when people are doing it especially tough and the clean-up begins. There's a lot of people in our community and further afield who want to know how they can help. At times like these we typically see a flood of kindness and generosity, a flood of humanity, as people put their hands up to help each other out, whether it's to clean up or to keep people safe. The best thing people can do for now is to register their interest with Volunteering Queensland on the website, there's some really useful information there as well for people to register their interest, so when that big Mud Army gets going again, the big army of volunteers in South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales gets going again, it's possible to register your interest that way.

We are a very tough and resilient country. We've been through this sort of thing before of course. People will get through this. It's important that people understand that they're not on their own, there is help. There are the payments that Murray mentioned. There is the volunteering. Neighbours looking out for neighbours, suburbs looking out for suburbs. This is the very best of the Australian spirit that we see at difficult times like these. 

So to everyone involved in the effort, we say thank you. It's going to be difficult days ahead as the floodwaters recede and the full nastiness of the damage is revealed to all of us. People have gone through a lot the last couple of years. The world is an uncertain place. We didn't need this, but we will deal with it together in the way that we usually do.

ENDS