Aussie PM Holds Doorstop Interview in Hervey Bay
I want to thank the Prime Minister for visiting Hervey Bay today. We were severely impacted by those floods – we had flash flooding right across Hervey Bay. There were more than 100 businesses affected, and many more residences. People are recovering. We have the Recovery Centre at the Library and the business recovery now in Main Street. We are working very closely with the Federal Government. We appreciate their support through the ADF, through Services Australia, and other means. It’s great to have the Prime Minister here and Senator Chisholm and Trish Mears, to see how we have been impacted by this and to support. I’d like to welcome Trish, who has been here several times since the floods to see the what has happened and to see how the Government can help with the recovery.
TRISH MEARS, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR HINKLER: Thank you very much, Mayor. I’d really like to thank all the community for the amazing work you’ve done. It’s when this sort of thing happens that resilience really comes to the fore, and community spirit comes to the fore. So not only the council workers or the emergency services, but members of the community helping each other, helping their neighbours. It was just amazing to see. We, of course, love this area, but it’s great to have one of our biggest fans here as well. And thank you so much, Anthony Albanese, our Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Trish. It’s great to be here with Senator Chisholm as well. It’s an opportunity for us to be briefed today about the recovery, about the efforts that have been made by the council, by the SES, by volunteers, and by the support of the State and Federal government. One of the things that’s been very positive amongst what has been a really difficult period is the fact that the three levels of government have worked together constructively during this period to deliver for Queenslanders and for people in Northern New South Wales. And I’ve seen firsthand the extraordinary efforts that have been done. I say to Queensland, it’s a good thing that the energy network’s still in public hands, because I think that has played a role as well in the speedy recovery. After this we’ll go visit one of the local schools that was severely affected as well to see firsthand. But I really wanted to take the opportunity to thank those workers here who have been fixing roads, fixing up people’s homes, making sure people were safe, making sure people could return to their homes, and looking after their local communities as well. At the worst of times, we always see the best of the Australian character. And here in Hervey Bay, like other communities, that’s precisely what we’ve seen. Neighbours helping neighbours, friends helping friends, but importantly as well, people helping strangers even when they don’t know them and won’t ever meet. And I am particularly pleased that the Mayor was so grateful for the contribution of the Australian Defence Force personnel as well. And I’ll carry that back to the ADF, because I know that seeing the men and women in uniform gives confidence for a local community that they’re not alone. So the whole country will back them up. And I’ll also give a shout out to Premier Malinauskas and the volunteers from the SES who came up from South Australia as well. An example, people driving for a couple of days to help their fellow Australians, is what we do at times like this. So I’m sure that this community will recover. It’s a beautiful part of Queensland and a great part of Australia. From the Commonwealth’s perspective, we have Services Australia personnel here on the ground. I’ll visit the Queensland headquarters of Services Australia tomorrow morning. This is an example of what public servants do and why we need to back our public servants to continue to do this work – whether it be Services Australia or NEMA, the National Emergency Management Agency that didn’t exist prior to 2022. And we’ve seen the coordination that’s been able to occur because of NEMA and the team there, based not just in Canberra, but Brendan Moon spent, the CEO, spent a lot of the time here In Queensland during this disaster. I can inform people that the funding out the door as of 36 hours ago, on the 16th of March, was $46,348,700. And I was so pleased that the council reported to me that overwhelmingly claims are being processed and delivered in 24 hours. That’s an extraordinary effort that’s making a difference to this community that has gone through a difficult time, but will I’m sure, manage to thrive in the future because of the community spirit that we can see witnessed here. Thank you.
https://www.pm.gov.au/media/doorstop-interview-hervey-bay