Australian Prime Minister Press Conference – Taree
Hi everybody, I’m Claire Pontin, Mayor of Mid Coast. I want to thank the Prime Minister and these wonderful people behind me, the Ministers, and I’ll introduce them shortly, for taking the time to come to the Mid Coast to actually see firsthand the devastation that people in this area have been suffering. It is totally overwhelming for everybody, and we’re just so thankful that we’re getting the help that we need to turn this around and actually get moving in a strong way for recovery. So, as well as the Prime Minister, we’ve got Kristy McBain, who is the Minister for Emergency Management at the federal level. We’ve got Minister Janelle Saffin, who is the Minister for Recovery in the New South Wales Government. You will know Tanya Thompson locally, who’s the local MP. Alison Penfold is the newly elected Federal MP. We’ve got Emily Suvaal at the back there, the Government duty MLC for this area. Michael Wassing, Commissioner for SES and Mal Lanyon is the head of the New South Wales recovery authority. So, thank you everybody for what you’re doing and being into this area.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Claire, and acknowledge everyone who is here, as well from federal and state governments as well as the officials who are doing such a remarkable job here, I want to thank the people who have engaged with us here this morning and this afternoon over the last hours. Rod and Milton both welcomed us to their farms. They’re going through tough times. Milton has been there for 74 years on his farm and the loss of stock, the devastation that we have witnessed firsthand, is being only exceeded by the extraordinary resilience that these Australians are showing. And I just take my hat off to them, they have been quite remarkable, and they went through not just talking about their needs going forward and the challenges that they will have to get back on their feet, but what that means as well for others. And it is a point that whilst there are people who are directly affected here, every Australian is affected as well by the fact that we’ve had a loss of dairy industries that will have an impact right throughout Australia and right throughout the economic impact here as well. But the human impact we must remember first and foremost. The loss of five lives through these devastating floods, but the extraordinary hardship that people have gone through. People have spoken about the 2021 floods and how that had a devastating impact, but that they thought that would be the peak. Well, this flood has been far worse, and the impact has been far more severe. I spoke with Lynn at Wingham when we visited there. Lynn’s 80 years old and has lived in this area for her entire life there in Wingham, and she has never seen anything like it in her lifetime, as did other people in Wingham who we spoke to firsthand. There is nothing like coming to an area and seeing people firsthand and engaging with them.
So, I want to say to those people as well who are helping out, lastly, to acknowledge them. But whether it’s the Australian Defence Force, who’ve arrived today with 70 personnel, the people from DRA – there’ll be 100 here by the end of the week – the magnificent people from the SES and from other volunteers as well. Holly Rankin here, who’s coordinating the volunteers here. This is the best of community spirit that says a lot about the Australian ethos of who we are. We look after each other in difficult times. We don’t leave people behind. And I’m here, certainly, to say on behalf of the Commonwealth Government, but I think Janelle will allow me to say, on behalf of the New South Wales Government as well and Claire, of course, the local council’s always at the forefront of dealing with these challenges. Every level of government, along with every level of Australian society, stands with this community and will not leave them behind. We’ve seen people talk about how they looked after each other. You know, Rod’s dairy cattle, dairy cows are there on a neighbour’s property, just like he looked after their property during – their dairy cows – during the 2021 floods. We’re seeing people really pitch in and look after each other, people looking after their neighbours and bringing them into their homes, people who’ve been devastated. But there are still massive challenges, and we need to understand, and certainly the Government understands, that this isn’t something that will go away in a matter of days or weeks or even months. This will take some time for recovery, but Australians are resilient. They’re tough, and we will come through this, and we’ll come through it together.
I want to say that we are activating the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment in nine local government areas. This payment helps people who have suffered the most serious impacts, including major damage to their home or serious injury or loss of a loved one as a result of severe weather. It’s a one off payment of $1,000 for eligible adults and $400 for eligible children. It’ll be available from 2:00pm tomorrow for people in the Bellingen, Coffs Harbour, Dungog, Kempsey, Maitland, Mid Coast, Nambucca Valley, Port Macquarie Hastings and Port Stephens local government areas. We’re also extending the Disaster Recovery Allowance. This is providing for up to 13 weeks of income support from people who can’t attend their work as employees or people who are self-employed and are unable to earn an income. We’re extending that to all 19 local government areas that had previously been subject to support from the Government. This will be available from 2:00pm tomorrow. That comes on top of the four local government areas, including Mid Coast here, Port Macquarie, Hastings, Kempsey and Dungog that had previously been subject to allow this support. This involves as well, comes on top of the support that is already rolling out, including Personal Hardship payments – $180 for eligible adults and up to $900 per family – in the 19 affected local government areas. The Community Recovery Support Fund that provides $1 million for all of the impacted councils just to help with the cost of cleaning up and repairing damage. And as well the primary producers and small businesses support. This provides for concessional rate loans as well as freight subsidies to help transport livestock and fodder. All of the supports, we acknowledge there is going to be more needed here, but we are ensuring as well that that support cannot just be made available, but can actually be delivered by having Services Australia set up here in the local area that has been very effective. Unfortunately, the Commonwealth and state governments have had a lot of experience in rolling out these programs, and we want to make sure that it’s done efficiently and it’s done in a way that respects the fact that the last thing that people who’ve been through this experience need is to deal with bureaucracy and red tape. We want to make sure that the money flows and it flows through in a respectful way. In addition to that, of course, at the hubs that are being established, there’s other support as well, including mental health support. One of the things that we’ve spoken about with some of the volunteers here as well is just how tough this is, and that will be for a long period of time, as well. To all the volunteers who are pitching in here, it is remarkable that people have come, whether they be SES people who we met from Western Australia, as well as from other parts of New South Wales and the east coast, or whether it be the volunteers, the gentleman who rode his bike from Victoria to help out and others as well. At the worst of times, we see the best of the Australian character, and we see that on display here in this local community.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, $1,000 for affected homes. I’m sure you can appreciate that that will barely scrape aside for a lot of families. They can’t even afford insurance because the premiums are too high. I guess, what would you say to those people?
PRIME MINISTER: We recognise that people are doing it really tough. I’ve said that more support is going to be needed. What we’re doing, though, is making sure that people have that immediate support that they need, and that’s what’s required at this point in time.
JOURNALIST: Just on that, where are people going to live? We’re going to have houses knocked down.
PRIME MINISTER: We’re at really early stages, now, of that. The Minister here for recovery might want to answer that as well, but we’re early stages. What we’re about is making sure that people are looked after in the immediate sense.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what’s the solution on that insurance in-affordability, though? People here have been hit by floods, as you said, twice in four years, say they can’t afford insurance. Is it time to look at perhaps a reinsurance pool for floods like we what is on offer in northern Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we expect insurance companies to do right by their customers and swiftly process claims. They’ve set up an office here so that that they can be dealt with swiftly. Our focus now is on the clean-up and recovery from this event. That’s our focus – the immediate needs. That’s what people here expect us to do. Yes, there are longer term issues that need to be looked at. What we need to do at this point in time, though, is make sure that people’s immediate needs are looked after.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, primary producers are saying they haven’t even recovered from last – 2021 floods. I guess, what would you say to them? Some are saying they want to give up, last time they fell through the cracks and didn’t qualify for any of the primary producer payments. Can you guarantee that every primary producer in the region will have access to the funds?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I can guarantee that the Government will be doing our best to make sure that people are looked after. In 2021 I wasn’t the Prime Minister, what we have done here – I’m on the ground here – I was on the ground here in the region on Friday as well. We’ve had our Minister has been here the whole time. We’ll continue to engage with people. We’ve spoken directly today with primary producers. We know there are challenges here. We know there are major challenges, but what we’re about now is dealing with the immediate concerns of recovery and looking after people during this period.
JOURNALIST: You said it’s immediate support for people. How soon can people expect to get money in their bank accounts to begin?
PRIME MINISTER: As I said, when I went through it – the payments – some of them have been available since 2:00pm yesterday. The others are available. Today, I went through the payments and when they’re available. And as soon as they’re processed, we have Services Australia here on the ground are ready to process.
JOURNALIST: Is the Government considering buybacks, especially for people who have been flooded twice in four years?
PRIME MINISTER: That’s a matter for the state government, but the Lismore scheme is in place. Our concerns are immediate, the immediate concerns, which is what we are dealing with.
JOURNALIST: Some residents, some residents that we’ve spoken to, feel that the assistance, the deployment of the ADF, and even your visit have come a little too late, and they felt abandoned the last couple of days. What’s your response to those comments?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I was on the ground in this region on Friday. I was on the ground here, I’m here again today. My Minister has been here non-stop, has been here the entire time, the Minister for Emergency Management. The Australian Defence Force, I saw on the main street of Taree there, they’re working. They’re on the ground here – 70 of them, 100 DRA – the Australian Defence Force personnel that I met have come from Coffs Harbour, have come from Queensland, have come from different parts of New South Wales, as well as across nationally as well. They’ve been deployed upon the request. We had Australian Defence Force in the air through choppers rescuing people. I mean that the priority in last week was rescuing the extraordinary number of people who needed to be rescued. Just to give some indication – 7,791 incidents received for this event. 795 flood rescue activations. 15,362 calls – this is as of this morning – have been received for this event. Over 600 in the last 24 hours. Damage assessment has so far been 695 of buildings have not been habitable. There’s been 165 personnel deployed from outside New South Wales SES already, and another 74 due to arrive in coming days. This has been a massive effort from the authorities as well as from the community.
JOURNALIST: How long will the Australian Defence Force be based in Taree? Is that the only area that they’ll be in?
PRIME MINISTER: No, they’ll be based here for as long as necessary. And I’ve said that if more are required, further support is required, the Australian Defence Force – I spoke to the Chief of the Defence Force yesterday. Yesterday, I was in NEMA at the national headquarters dealing with, there are a range of emergencies happening, none as severe as this, but there are a range of issues happening as well. And I spoke with the Chief of the Defence Force yesterday, as well as the Defence Minister attended the media conference, Richard Marles, and we will provide what support is necessary. The chopper was made available very quickly and rescued people. The personnel, what Defence Force can add here is engineering capacity as well. They have skills that aren’t available in other places, and they will make a substantial difference.
JOURNALIST: Have you had any further requests for ADF as of yet?
PRIME MINISTER: No, but we remain vigilant, and we remain engaged about all of these issues.
https://www.pm.gov.au/media/press-conference-taree