Doorstop - Kedron, QLD
27 February 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm joined by Minister McKenzie and I want to thank Premier Palaszczuk and [inaudible] and the Queensland Police Force and emergency response agencies for providing us with a very helpful briefing this afternoon on the very concerning situation here in Queensland. And but not just in Queensland, the weather event that we're seeing here in Queensland is likely to move south, and we're already seeing that in northern New South Wales. And elements of this weather event are expected to return to parts of southern New South Wales as the week progresses. So this is a serious natural weather event and this is a serious natural flooding event that we're seeing impact right throughout, everywhere from Bundaberg to the border and all the way out to Toowoomba. But particularly in places like Gympie, this is a very serious situation.
And the key message that we have is it's important for people to keep safe and to remain in place where they haven't been ordered to evacuate. This is incredibly important and people should not be driving around and looking at this event and sightseeing on those things. What we need people to do is remain at home in a place of shelter, unless they've been ordered to evacuate to one of the many shelter centres that have been established by the Queensland Government. If it's flooded, forget it. This is a constant message that is given by governments all around the country during these flood events - not just for your own safety, but for the safety of those who will have to go in and assist if you get yourself into trouble. So for the sake of those incredible volunteers and the many other professional response agencies that are out there keeping people safe as best as they possibly can, those resources are needed to get to those who are going to need them in significant circumstances. And so we ask everyone to remain at home, to remain safe.
It's going to be a very anxious night here in Brisbane, as we see the rain continue to fall and the impact of this flooding event continue to have its way right across the city and right across the metropolitan area and reaching into all the creeks and the inundation of homes that we will see. But what I want to assure everyone of is what we also worked on today is the planning for the recovery has already begun, and the resources and the support that will be necessary to ensure the clean up can get underway. I commend the Queensland Government for the work they're doing with the councils in a, in a proactive way to put them on the right footing, to be able to get in there as soon as the weather event moves on, and people are able to get out there and start cleaning up again - that they'll work hand in glove together with the State Government and the local government, and the Federal Government will be supporting also wherever we are requested to do so.
So far, the Federal Government has responded to every request that has been made of us, and, in particular, I want to commend the work of the Australian Defence Force, and particularly those involved with the two Australian Army MRH-90 Taipan helicopters, which have been very essential for many rescue operations. In fact, three lives were saved yesterday as a direct result of their actions. But, as we think of that, we think of the six lives that have already been lost, and we extend our sympathies to the families of those who have lost loved ones in this terrible flood. And we also have one additional person who is missing and we fear for their safety, and and we we don't want to see additional people added to this terrible loss of life that we've seen already. And the way to avoid that is for people to remain safe, to remain at home, and to get to a place of safety where they've been instructed to do so.
Emergency Management Australia, together with the Defence Forces, have been in the very room I have just left right from the outset of these floods, and working closely together to ensure the best of the the work that is comes from the Bureau of Meteorology and others is fed into the command centre here, and the best possible responses can be put in place.
But I do appreciate the Premier opening up that briefing to me today. It is important for us to understand how we can further help. We'll be looking to see how we can help, not just in the immediate effects of these floods. I'll ask Minister McKenzie to go through the payments that we have already authorised. We will be moving into providing the Disaster Recovery Allowance into the affected local government areas, and when the additional local government areas are identified by the Queensland Government, moving into those as well. There is already the $1,000 payment, which we have activated for two of the local government areas. I anticipate that will also be going to those affected in in other local government areas, including the City of Brisbane, shortly. But then there is the Recovery Allowance, which relates to income support payments for those. There are so many businesses who have gone through so much through the pandemic, and now to face the losses through these floods, and we'll be standing with them, just as we have through the many other things they've had to go through over these last couple of years, and those Disaster Recovery Allowance payments that are made by the Federal Government will be able to support them in those areas, and further support payments will be assessed once we get through the immediate impact of the flood events themselves. So with that, I'll hand over to Minister McKenzie.
SENATOR THE HON. BRIDGET MCKENZIE, MINISTER FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND NATIONAL RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE: Thanks, PM. Well, it's great to be here in Brisbane and I commend local and state governments and emergency service providers here in Queensland for their amazing response on the ground in the face of natural disasters. As the Prime Minister has said, our Federal Government stands with these communities and affected individuals, not just now in the immediate response period, but well into what will be a long recovery, as you know all too well.
What we've been able to activate today is the a Disaster Recovery Payment, which is for those residents in Gympie and North Burnett Regional Councils. We are responding to requests from the Queensland Government specifically, so we expect that to be obviously expanded as the extent of this flooding event becomes more well known. But these are direct payments to individuals of $1,000 per person and $400 per child. When you go through an event like this, you may need emergency accommodation, you may need fresh food, you may need petrol and you may not be able to access a bank. You may not be able to access your personal items to assist you to get that cash and to support your family. Those payments will be able to be applied for from one o'clock tomorrow through Services Australia.
We also have a joint announcement with Minister Mark Ryan, and that is for North Burnett and Gympie Councils, and Minister Ryan and Premier Palaszczuk may have made this announcement earlier today, but there's an additional $180 per person or $900 for a family of up to five or more people. Again, individual payments to assist those people at this very early response time.
And as the Prime Minister has already highlighted, the Disaster Recovery Allowance will be something we'll absolutely be rolling out, particularly to Gympie and North Burnett in the first instance. That is a 13-week payment, recognising that when you do have a flood event like this, often you are cut off from being able to even get to work to earn your wage. And so we recognise that particularly for these type of events, you can be cut off for days and weeks. And so this payment is to actually support those people, individuals, as the workers or indeed small business owners who may need this particular payment. Gympie is a classic case in point. This town is split into three as a result of the rise of the Mary River, and there will be many, many people who'd love to get to their work or open their business who will be unable to as a result of that inundation.
I also look after Emergency Management Australia, and they have activated COMDISPLAN, which means we've been able to get two Taipan helicopters to this state, and they've been doing some great work on the ground over the recent period, and I know that'll continue. And we've just recently released some ADF aerial capacity to do mapping to make sure that the data we're getting from local council flood maps matches the reality on the ground. And that's going to help us not just now in how we deal with the flow and where it's heading, and and it's impact in further downstream, but also the next event. I think that's one of the great changes we're making in our response to disaster recovery at a federal, at state and local level is, yes, we're focused on the response, but we live in Australia. These events are going to occur again, as you in Queensland know all too well, and we need to be better prepared for the next time. So we're already looking at how that can happen. But we stand with you all. We're all around Australia amazed with the resilience of Queenslanders and how you just get up, pitch in and get on with it, no matter what nature throws at you. And I know that I speak for all Australians in we stand with you at, not just this week in the heavy rains, but in the long recovery to come.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Bridget.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, apart from the ADF helicopters, is there any plans to utilise further ADF personnel or send any other assistance up to help on the ground?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, if required and and as requested. The planning that is done by, you know, the excellent professional team that's here in Queensland understands the resources that are available to them and and where they're called upon, they'll be activated.
JOURNALIST: So you've offered those?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, from the very first drop of rain, pretty much. I spoke to the Premier yesterday when I was in Sydney and to get an update on where things were, and sadly things have deteriorated since then more than expected. And so we're hopeful that tonight the the forecast with this with this weather system moving and deteriorating will eventuate, and that will take some of the pressure off. But we anticipate from what I've just been briefed on it, those flood levels remaining are high for three or four days or thereabouts. Now hopefully it's not as long as that. But there's the issue of assisting with direct assistance right now, as we've seen with the Taipans and other events. We saw that some years ago up in Townsville, when the the military, the ADF there did an amazing job in supporting people in their local town. And there's there is plenty of ADF resource here in Queensland that can lend itself to those tasks so ...
JOURNALIST: So to be clear that they will be used only if the Premier asks for them?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, well, yes, that, I mean, because they're running the show.
SENATOR THE HON. BRIDGET MCKENZIE, MINISTER FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND NATIONAL RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE: Yeah.
PRIME MINISTER: That's how this works. They have a very professional team. They know what's needed. They're available to be, to be deployed. And I was speaking to the Defence Minister earlier today and on my way in here. He would have been joining us for this press conference, but unfortunately the floodwaters prevented him from actually being able to get here. So so they're at the ready. Defence is at the ready to provide whatever assistance is required and to, and that includes their equipment and not just for the immediate response, but also as we get to the recovery and the cleanup phase.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, have they been called in to help with any evacuations, the ADF? Are they helping with evacuations? What's the full extent of …
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, they have. Yes, they have. Well, they saved three lives yesterday specifically, and the Taipans are also involved in in delivering much needed supplies into places like Gympie, which, you know, has been cut off. And that's very essential. I mean, we're restocking supermarkets, things of that nature, because that is a concern. We're going to have issues with power in the short term, and hopefully that will be able to be remedied in the, in the next few days. But I think we can expect, whether there or up in Maryborough, where they're they're looking at a flood worse than the one we had in January and going back to the 1890s, I think they said on ...
SENATOR THE HON. BRIDGET MCKENZIE, MINISTER FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND NATIONAL RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE: '93.
PRIME MINISTER: 1893. So that's a very serious flooding event up there as well. And so that the Defence Force are there to help with all of those things - whether it's recovery and support evacuation if necessary, particularly in quite extreme situations, because they have the training to undertake those tasks.
JOURNALIST: Are there boots on the ground though currently and where?
PRIME MINISTER: Not as yet, not as yet. They haven't been requested as yet. And if they are requested, then you can expect them to be rolling out very, very quickly, as we've seen in in many other events. But there's no, there's no reticence on the part of the Federal Government. They are available and ready to be deployed as needed.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, speaking of the Minister for Defence, in his capacity as the Member for Dickson he set up a GoFundMe for the recovery in the Pine Waters Community. Isn't disaster recovery a job for the Government to pay for? Why is he setting up a GoFundMe and is this appropriate?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, communities and the Government respond to events such as this. In the last three years, the Federal Government has put $17 billion into such responses, so the Commonwealth Government has always done that. But communities themselves also respond. I think one of the questions I asked, what were some of the big lessons of the big floods over a decade ago here in Brisbane that are being applied now, and will be applied in in the days and weeks ahead? And the first response was the way the Brisbane community, in particular, responded and rolled up their sleeves. The Mud Army that got out there and helped clean up Brisbane after the, after the floods. And so there will be community responses and good local members will be supporting that. I have no doubt about that, and marshalling resources to achieve things above and beyond what is done significantly by the Commonwealth and state governments. So that sounds to me like someone doing their job.
JOURNALIST: Surely there's no purpose for an, for an MP to crowdfund disaster recovery when the Government has so many different disaster response funds ready to go?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm, I am a local Member of Parliament, and as a local Member of Parliament you always look to try and harness community support for responding to major disasters. That's what our, that's what our job is - to work with our communities when they're in times of stress, in times of need. So I commend Peter for what he's doing. I mean, it might, I mean, I don't understand the criticism of it, frankly. I really don't. I mean, he is working with his community to add to the significant contributions that are being made by the Commonwealth and the state and the local government. He's looking after his community. That's what a good member for Dickson does.
JOURNALIST: This disaster is geographically so much larger than what Townsville experienced in 2019.
PRIME MINISTER: True.
JOURNALIST: Similar in that the weather event's kind of just sitting on top of us. How, do you think that this could be one of the most expensive disaster recovery efforts ever?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm not making that speculation at the moment. We're just making sure that we respond to what the need is. I mean, when I remember back to the Townsville event, remember the Townsville event happened at the same time as the north western Queensland flooding event, which wiped out, almost wiped out our entire cattle industry in the north of Queensland. And that is, that's what led to the establishment of what is now the National Disaster Recovery and Resilience Agency. That Agency was born in the floods of Townsville and North Queensland, and now is the engine room for the Federal Government's broader response to all disasters, all floods, all fires, all cyclones, all things of that nature. So we've learnt an enormous amount. I mean, the last three years, when it comes to natural disasters, have been record setting - from fires. I mean, last time I sat in that room was about fires. Today I'm sitting in there about floods. We've been dealing with pandemics, we've been dealing with droughts, we've been dealing with mice plagues in New South Wales. We've been dealing with cyclones like Seroja over in Western Australia, and we see many cyclones in North Queensland. The Australian Government, working together with our state governments and local governments, have have made a very good team in responding to these. We we are world's best and that's why we sort of always seek the cooperation of the community. You can help them do their best job by keeping yourself safe and remaining where you are. I do appreciate that it's going to be an anxious night. I mean, I can, we can hear the rain falling as we've been standing here during this press conference, and we want people to stay safe tonight and ensure that, you know, people aren't going outside and putting themselves at risk because we want those who are there to help people who get in genuine need to be able to go to their aid. Ok, thanks very much, everyone.
