Doorstop interview – Broome | Prime Minister of Australia
PRIME MINISTER, ANTHONY ALBANESE: Thanks for joining us. Can I say that as a result of today, it has been terrific to be able to talk with people on the ground at Fitzroy Crossing. Communities who have been doing it extremely tough. But communities that are resilient, communities that are determined to fight back and to rebuild their communities. We’ve seen massive infrastructure damage. We’ve seen people who have lost just about everything as a result of this one-in-one hundred year flood. We’ve seen massive infrastructure damage particularly to the crossings into Fitzroy Crossing that will take some time to repair. But today as well, we’ve had a media announcement about support that’s needed on the ground to help people be able to build back. That support is emergency financial assistance, it’s also support for people to rebuild their housing, as well as to look at emergency support for contents as well. In addition to that as a result of the Commonwealth taking action, we now have by the end of today eight Australian Defence Force aircraft – three fixed wing aircraft and five helicopters available making a difference here on the ground. By tomorrow there will be 200 ADF personnel on the ground making a difference. And I do want to pay tribute to all the emergency services personnel, as well as the volunteers who we’ve been able to thank during the visit here in Broome and to the Kimberley who are doing just an extraordinary job. One of the things that I find is that in the worst of times, as the most difficult of issues being confronted, Australians show the best of their character. They pitch in to help their fellow Australians and that is what we are seeing here. And the Albanese Government, the government that I’m proud to lead, will stand with you if you are facing a natural disaster no matter where you are in Australia. That is something that we have done now in too many places. Tragically, in New South Wales, in Victoria, in Tasmania, and South Australia, and here in the Kimberley in Western Australia, and that’s something that my government will continue to do. And it’s been a great privilege to be able to talk with people on the ground here, firsthand. To hear the issues that they’re dealing with and to be talking to the people who will be delivering those services to make a difference to people’s lives. Premier McGowan.
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN PREMIER, MARK MCGOWAN: Thanks, Prime Minister. Can I firstly thank the Prime Minister for coming to the Kimberley yesterday and today to observe the flood damage and to meet the community during a very difficult time. The Prime Minister and the other Ministers and the Member for the Kimberley, Divina D’Anna and myself and Senator Dodson went to Fitzroy this morning and met with the local community. Obviously it’s been a very difficult period and many homes are damaged. What was noticeable was the damage to infrastructure, the roads and the bridges were heavily damaged and that’s going to take some time to repair. That’s going to be difficult over a longer period of time than we would hope because getting those things fixed will be difficult. But we’ll put every resource we can into getting them fixed as soon as we can. We can’t provide a timeframe on that, but that’s going to affect travel and a whole range of things through the Kimberley for some time to come but there’s, apart from putting every effort we can into it, we just acknowledge it’s going to take some time. Many people’s homes have been damaged. And obviously there’s assessments going on as we speak to ensure that we get those homes assessed. And then over time we can get those homes reoccupied and get people support to get new bedding and new electrical appliances and the like, so that will take some time as well. But that process is ongoing as we speak. We also have a whole range of people out there. The Australian Defence Force, the volunteers, they’re from all over Western Australia, the DFES personnel are up there in communities, the Department of Communities personnel, they’re all up there providing support to people. The people flying in and out in aircraft providing supplies and the like. It’s actually quite a logistical exercise. A huge exercise is going on to support Fitzroy and surrounding remote communities as we speak. I’d like to thank each and every one of those people. It’s obviously tiring and exhausting work in a very hot and humid environment. So, they’re doing a terrific job in difficult circumstances. Our summers, as the Prime Minister said, the ADF people have come from the eastern states across here, the middle of the Christmas holidays to help out I’d like to especially thank them and also all the other personnel from around the state who have gone there to assist with the recovery effort as well. The State-Commonwealth Disaster Recovery Funding arrangements have kicked in. That’s something by which the State and the Commonwealth will jointly fund, the recovery of these communities over the coming weeks, months and potentially beyond. And that’s something that we will jointly support to make sure that Fitzroy and other communities are built back as well or better than they currently are at. So that’s something that will be ongoing. We had a meeting with a broad group of community members, heard all of their concerns, some of them we can solve pretty quickly, some will take longer, but we’re very much listening and are very much keen to resolve the issues as best we can as quickly as we can. I’ll hand back to the Prime Minister for questions.
JOURNALIST: Can you talk through some of those concerns raised by community members in Fitzroy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the community members raised the full range of concerns as you’d expect. For some who were from remote communities around Fitzroy Crossing it was about how they get back into their home. For others it was about, for example, there’s an issue with motor vehicles, how do they get the motor vehicles repaired so that that can then assist further recovery elements? They’re keen to make sure that power and access to basic services can be restored so that they can get back into their homes as well. There are major challenges being faced, but I believe this community was incredibly resilient. They’re positive about the future. They want to work together and there was that real sense of community and belonging, they’re very proud of Fitzroy Crossing and the community that they’ve built and they just want it to get back to normal, as soon as possible.
JOURNALIST: In really simple terms, can you just talk us through how people can access that relief?
MINISTER FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, MURRAY WATT: In simple terms, the easiest way for people to access that is through the Western Australian Department of Communities. They’re actively getting the processes up and running, including intending to send people out to Fitzroy Crossing and some of the affected communities to assist people to apply for grants. We want to make this system as easy as possible for people and not bury them in paperwork. So we’re looking and working collectively with the state government to make sure that there are personnel on the ground. Could I just mention one other form of assistance that the Federal Government is making available today in the affected council areas is the Disaster Recovery Allowance. That is a 13 week payment that is available at the JobSeeker rate for people who aren’t able to get to their work or their business because of floods, either because the roads are cut off or the business that they work in is damaged. That money can be available now to people through the Services Australia website and hotline. And also, just putting my agriculture hat on briefly, we’ve had some discussions over the weekend with the Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen Association, obviously, there’s likely to be extremely severe impacts on cattle properties with a loss of stock. We’re working through what the exact form of damage is, but one of the other assistance measures that’s been announced today by our two governments are freight subsidies for farmers to obtain, for instance, to be able to transport fodder as well and again that kind of assistance can be accessed through the Department of Communities.
JOURNALIST: Just on livestock, do you have any idea how many cattle, the percentage of cattle that was lost?
MINISTER WATT: No one has really been able to put a good estimate on that at this point in time. I have, as I say, spoken to the association over the weekend and the Western Australian Agriculture Minister, Jackie Jarvis. I think it’s fair to say it’s likely to be expensive, but it’s a bit too early to tell exactly how much.
JOURNALIST: Do we know how much a household can probably get from this assistance, generally speaking?
MINISTER WATT: So, the emergency assistance that’s been announced today is intended as immediate, relatively small emergency assistance of about $200 per person up to about $800 per household. but as the Prime Minister said, there’s also assistance for things like house repairs, household contents, and in some cases that can be worth up to about $10,000 per household.
PRIME MINISTER: Just one further thing that’s important that came up at the meeting was people getting mental health support. This has been a traumatic experience for people, and people are doing it tough and we will have to ensure that every support is given in terms of counsellors being on the ground.
JOURNALIST: The government is committed to reopening and rebuilding all of those communities all of those communities?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, they want to go back to their communities. What needs to happen is the assessments done, but also making sure that power and other essentials are put back on to service.
JOURNALIST: How costly and difficult is the task of rebuilding going to be and will Federal Government stand by us in this tough time?
PRIME MINISTER: The Federal Government has stood by all communities who have suffered from natural disasters. There’s been far too many of them, and one of the things that we know is that the science told us that there would be more extreme weather events and they’d be more intense and more often. And that is what unfortunately is playing out. We’ll continue to stand by these communities we’ll work with state government, local government and work with the communities themselves. There was a great spirit there in the meeting that was held today and I really want to thank Senator Patrick Dodson as well for the work that he’s done as a Senator here, along with the members of the McGowan Government.
JOURNALIST: Will there be federal funding for national roads that have been damaged?
PRIME MINISTER: There quite clearly will need to be some federal funding for particularly the National Network or the Great Northern Highway, I’m very familiar with, and that will require some Federal Government investment. There’s been an enormous cost to the budget of natural disasters over the seven months in which I’ve had the honour of serving as Prime Minister. Now five states have suffered major natural disasters, of which this is a major event, one in 100 year, and the people on the ground and here in emergency services as well who’ve lived in this community for a very long period of time say that this is unprecedented. And when you go and look firsthand, at the damage that was done, for example, to the bridges and the roads you see the power of this water and the difference that it’s made. What is extraordinary is that there isn’t a greater human cost. You can rebuild roads, you can rebuild houses, you can’t of course rebuild lives, and I think it is quite extraordinary that there has not been a more extreme human outcome as well.
JOURNALIST: Do you think that one in 100 year description is still accurate with the number of major floods?
PRIME MINISTER: I keep hearing this, whether it’s here or the Riverland in South Australia that still suffering of course from floods. The area around Forbes and other areas in New South Wales, at Lismore in New South Wales, Rochester in Victoria and Northern Tasmania. What we’re seeing is these events, this is only one third into the wet season, as locals here would know. So that’s something as well that in the briefing today, we’ve received some caution about what’s ahead as well because we are still very much in the wet season, and that could have a further impact that we need to be mindful of as well.
Can I just say one thing about Brazil, which is there have been events in Brazil, with action being taken after a democratic election was conducted and after President Lula was elected there in Brazil. The Australian Government stands for democracies and people should respect the outcome of elections. And the actions of a small number of people are condemned by the Australian Government, we’ll continue to convey our support to the government of Brazil at this pivotal time.
JOURNALIST: Do you think Jair Bolsonaro supporters were inspired by January sixth in the US?
PRIME MINISTER: That’s up to others to speculate. What’s very clear, though, is that when democracies have elections, it’s important that they be respected. And tragically we’ve seen here, actions that look a bit similar to what happened at the US Capitol building on January 6 after the election of President Biden. It’s important that we respect democratic processes.
JOURNALIST: Some residents or people in Fitzroy Crossing have been asking for utility bills to be put on hold, is that something that could happen for them to help them out?
PREMIER MCGOWAN: Look, all those things we’ll consider. Obviously some of them have not been able to occupy their homes and power has been turned off and water’s being turned off to some of the homes so all those things we’ll consider. There’s various payment arrangements and support we’ll provide. We’ll work through all those details as quickly as we can.
JOURNALIST: Are there plans to get the workers up here that are required to carry out these extensive repairs?
PREMIER MCGOWAN: They are always issues, as you know. It’s always difficult. But we’ll work through as quickly as we can I just urge people and ask people to be patient.
JOURNALIST: Only a fraction of the funding assigned for major recovery efforts has been spent, I guess, partly as a result of that. Are you confident that the money will flow quicker this time?
PREMIER MCGOWAN: Well, we do our best, it’s also incumbent on people to apply. And so we need people to apply so we can assess, and we can issue support. But there’s a whole range of human factors in that. But we’ll work through those issues in this case, as well.
JOURNALIST: Just on that issue of workers, then residents saying, well, if people do come to help rebuild our homes, where are they going to live, where those workers going to be?
PREMIER MCGOWAN: They are the logistic issues we need to address. The people who come in the greater drivers and the cement mixers and construction workers and so forth, need somewhere to stay as well. So it’s a big exercise, it’s not an overnight thing. I just urge people, right at the beginning of the reconstruction, to understand that this will take some time. And I just urge people to be patient, we’ll be as quick as we can.
JOURNALIST: Will rebuilding the bridge out of Fitzroy towards the NT be a priority?
PREMIER MCGOWAN: It is a priority, but I just mentioned to you all, the wet season is not over. So there could still be further floods. And so that will take some months to actually get through the wet season before any such work could even take place, so these are the issues. There’s other crossings that could be activated that we will look at, but it’s a difficult and long process.
JOURNALIST: So there are other potential crossings into Fitzroy Crossing?
PREMIER MCGOWAN: There is an old crossing that we’re looking at as to whether that can be reactivated.
JOURNALIST: Just on Fitzroy Crossing, is there an estimate of the number of houses that have been destroyed?
PREMIER MCGOWAN: Well, damaged is more the point. The estimate is about 100, was the estimate we were given this morning. And they are a community that adjoins our Fitzroy Crossing and certain parts of the township were inundated. But there’s assessments going on, on how soon people can get back into those homes so that they can be re-inhabited. Some of the people who are stuck in Derby actually come from communities that weren’t affected by the floods. So when we’re saying we want to get people back home, it’s often to communities that weren’t affected by the floods, but they were in Derby at the time over Christmas and New Year’s, and now getting home, sorry, they were in Fitzroy at the time. Now getting home is difficult. So there’s evacuation measures to actually get people out of Fitzroy back to where they come from, because where they come from wasn’t impacted by the floods,
JOURNALIST: Has any decision be made about people in the evacuation centres, putting them either in the Curtin Airbase or bringing people down here?
PREMIER MCGOWAN: All those options are being looked at, people have been consulted about where they want to go, there’s various accommodation arrangements in place. They’re often very bespoke for the individuals involved.
JOURNALIST: Do you know how many remote communities have been heavily impacted by this?
PREMIER MCGOWAN: We had four or five that were mentioned to us this morning. But the floods only just peeked at Willare and I think it was Pandanus Park last night. So floods only really just gone through, so it’s been an ongoing event now for some days.
JOURNALIST: Do you have any idea when road access to Fitzroy Crossing will be restored?
PREMIER MCGOWAN: No, I don’t.
STEPHEN DAWSON, WESTERN AUSTRALIA MINISTER FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES: I’m just going to comment about Derby. So, in relation to Derby, truckloads of food was delivered to Derby on Saturday evening. We now have a barge with truckloads coming from Dampier. It will stop and Broome, it will get here Wednesday morning. We’ll have a second one to get here Thursday. One of those will then go on to Derby with some extra supplies. Derby has not borne the brunt of the weather, thankfully. However, the water is starting to get to King Sound. So we continue to monitor things like the airstrip and Derby to make sure that Derby is still accessible by air.
JOURNALIST: And all the bridges into Derby so far have been spared?
MINISTER DAWSON: Certainly the last information I had in relation to Willare Bridge is that that has escaped relatively unscathed. Water has lapped the road at Cockatoo Creek Bridge and so there could well be damage to a couple of other places along the road. So it’s not just Fitzroy Crossing, a number of other places on Great Northern Highway will also be will have been impacted and damaged.
JOURNALIST: At Cockatoo Creek Bridge if that was damaged, is that the only road?
MINISTER DAWSON: They’re all on the Great Northern highway. So it all adds to the complexity of the situation.
JOURNALIST: So have any evacuees been brought down to Broome?
MINISTER DAWSON: Yes. So if they have not arrived yet that the intention is to bring some people to Broome over the next kind of day or so. I’ll also make the point that Rio Tinto reached out this morning, and they have a 40 bed accommodation facility at Argyle Mine that they’ve offered to the state, to DFES to either house people who are who have been evacuated, or potentially house workers if we get workers here to help with the recovery process.
JOURNALIST: And the people brought down to Broome are they at Notre Dame University?
MINISTER DAWSON: There’ll be housed in hotels in the first instance. Notre Dame have obviously kindly reached out. It’s likely that we will house potentially workers in Notre Dame, there’s lots of volunteers, lots of workers from around the state, and then that will free up hotel rooms and it’s likely then that we would have more hotel rooms available for evacuate if needed.
JOURNALIST: And those evacuees are mostly from Fitzroy Crossing itself?
MINISTER DAWSON: No, a range of places. So there were people in Fitzroy Crossing for the holidays. So some are from Fitzroy Crossing some are visiting. Over the next few days and weeks we’ll also have a challenge of moving many people who are back in the region from holiday. So there are school kids there from Broome, from Perth, and indeed from Melbourne and other places over East. So as we get towards the end of the school holidays, we’ll also have to transport them out of Fitzroy Crossing to Broome so that they can continue their journey back to school for term one.