: Well, this is one of the occasions where I won't begin by saying that I'm glad to be here, because I wish this wasn't happening. But at the worst of times, what we see is the best of the Australian character. And here what we see is Queenslanders, whether they be emergency services personnel, whether it be our police and fire services, the volunteers through the SES, and of course our Australian Defence Force personnel - particularly those based at the barracks here in Townsville - but right throughout Australia. We've had choppers come from Oakey as well as from Townsville. And what we're seeing here through three levels of government and the community is working together to get through what is a really tough time.
One of the things I know about North Queenslanders, though, is that they are tough themselves. And the families and people that we've met here, including Carmel, who we talked through before about what she'd been dealing with in Ingham, is that they're resilient, they're tough and they'll come through this and we'll make sure that they get every support that they need. I want to thank David Crisafulli, the Premier, for the relationship that we've built over a short period of time. We have spoken every day about what's needed and there's a seamless operation through NEMA, our national agency. Our Minister, Minister McAllister, has been here all week and will stay here for the rest of this week. But we will continue to provide what's necessary as well. Of course, there's no better group of people to find out what's needed than to speak to local mayors and local government, because they're in touch with what's happening on the ground and we see that here as well.
Today we're announcing $8 million, co-funded community relief fund, providing up to a million dollars for the local government associations - eight of them - that are impacted by this flooding event. This will provide councils with financial assurance that they need to get on with the business of cleaning up and making their community safe. From 2pm today, we will also be activating the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment. This provides $1,000 for eligible adults and $400 for children who, for affected people in the localities of Cardwell and Giru and the local government area of Hinchinbrook. You can check your availability on servicesAustralia.gov.au/disastersupport. Or call the emergency info line that we've established, 180 22 66. That's 180 22 66. This funding is to help people who have suffered serious damage or injury as a result of the floods to help with the cost of recovery.
This follows yesterday's activation of the Disaster Recovery Allowance for eligible workers and sole traders who've suffered a loss of income. This morning we also announced through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements that we're co-funding disaster loans for North Queensland farmers, small business and not for profits. These loans have been activated for the local government areas of Burdekin, Cairns, Cassowary Coast, Hinchinbrook, Palm Island, Townsville and Yarrabah and will provide up to $250,000 for eligible primary producers and small businesses and to provide up to $100,000 for eligible not for profits so they can re-establish themselves by covering costs. Can I say that all of this is on top of the Australian Defence Force that are delivering so extraordinarily for this local community. It's been a great honour to meet the service personnel and to Lt. Col. Brian Mitchell, who's shown us around here today, from the barracks and for his team. They are doing extraordinary engineering work. As we have been here, we have seen the rolling out of the immediate fixing of this bridge so that supplies can get through. Now, that's just stage one. Stage two will be to put in a temporary bridge so that people will be able to move up and down this highway. But importantly as well, we need to build back better. We can't continue to have a view that you just do the same thing, because you'll get the same results. And we are committed to building back better, making sure that this bridge - we get a better one. One that's higher, one that's longer, one that's sustainable and one that isn't knocked out the next time there is an event like this. And can I say that's my mate Bob behind me. When I was last the Minister Bob Katter came to me about the Einasleigh River bridge. Used to get knocked out and they'd build it and then it'd get swept away again during the next event and Kurumba and Normanton would get isolated. It's madness to do the same thing over and over again and think you'll get a different outcome. What we need to do is what we did there fixed the Einasleigh River bridge, made a difference. They did it through local government. So, they were then able to use the funds to build another three bridges. It's something that I'm really proud of. And can I just say that for all the local members here, not just Bob, I know Phil Thompson's been working really hard here in Townsville as well. I know state members have been working hard and local mayors and councillors as well. But most importantly, this community has been showing community spirit, resilience and inspiring their fellow Australians with the work that they're doing.
We'll continue to be here for as long as is needed. We'll make the immediate changes that are required to provide support, but we'll also engage in how we build back better and how we build greater resilience into the community. We've established a $200 million fund, annual, for making sure that we build infrastructure and we deal with resilience. Because we are seeing in Australia, unfortunately, more extreme weather events and they're more intense. Doesn't mean everything is due to climate change. We've always had extreme weather events in this country, but we are seeing them more often. Last year was of course, the hottest year on record in global temperatures. We do need to continue to respond in the long term, but we need to look after people and it's been pleasing to work with the Premier. I'll hand to the Premier and then we'll hear from the Mayor and then the Premier and I are happy to take questions and the Ministers are here as well.
DAVID CRISAFULLI, PREMIER OF QUEENSLAND: PM, thank you very much. I've got an important update about the unfolding situation. But first, Prime Minister, thank you. Thanks very much. And I think you only had to listen to the response from the ADF troops to know what it means for you to be on the ground. It's an excellent thing. And to have three levels of government with different political persuasions all pulling in one direction shows everything you need to know about what communities deserve in their hour of need. And I can tell you this community is in its hour of need. And I said to Queenslanders, that we will be here and we will see this job through and to have Canberra rowing in that same direction will make all the difference because it's going to be a long, hard road. So, onto where we are today, there is a new wave of monsoonal rains in the upcoming few days, the Bureau has reported. We must remain alert, particularly in the area between Ingham and Bowen. Those conditions exist and you only had to see some of the showers this morning to understand the real threat that remains. The double whammy is that you have conditions where everything is so waterlogged it's got nowhere to go. So, if you have heavy rainfall in a short period of time, there is the real risk of flooding. And we're asking people to stay in communication, keep keep your wits about you and ultimately, everything remains about safety at this point in the disaster. Just on that, we've taken the opportunity to pre-deploy and to restock some resources in the knowledge that there could be some more rain in the next few days. And that looks like setting up a couple of different hubs and making sure that we do what we did ahead of this event. Pre-deploy the likes of Swiftwater Rescue and SES and Ergon crews. And I really have to say the work of those emergency services is nothing short of phenomenal. They went in early and they responded hard and the community is seeing the results of that and we're very, very grateful for what they have done. Flooding - we are seeing the rivers starting to recede. The Herbert remains at levels the likes of which I never thought I'd see after so many days. And Ramon's been in the town a long time. It remains stubbornly high. And with that comes a real challenge in the clean up and also some real risk of damage to property, business and agriculture. And it shows the kind of challenges that the North have in the weeks, months and years ahead. I don't want to forget the surrounding communities. Just up the road we've got Paluma, which remains cut off and has been for some time. They've rallied brilliantly together. But there are a host of smaller communities that are in that situation at the moment. You haven't been forgotten. And we are actively getting resources to them and are doing all we can to make sure we reconnect them and then post that, give them the services they need through those community hubs. Those hubs will be out in those communities to make sure that they can get access to the support that the Prime Minister just outlined. And we are very grateful for that and keen to work in partnership with Canberra to deliver it. I turn to water now. We, yesterday, reconnected water supply to Ingham, which was a Herculean task. There have been challenges this morning and that challenge has come in the form of the Como Road plant where the bore fields are to top up because so many people are in there actively cleaning up, there's been immense pressure and that system went offline. It was reconnected a short while ago. But it shows you the challenges that still exist and the work that remains ahead. Power - power is our priority right now. So, at the height of this we only had about 10,000 homes offline, which was quite frankly an incredible effort. And we got a chance to thank the Ergon crew today and they had some help with that early pre-deployment of those troops from the south. But to the local Ergon staff as well as those across the state, you have done amazing work, truly amazing work. To see those homes connected in Townsville and Palm and Giru in a short period of time was amazing. The challenge remains Ingham, and I want to address that in a few parts. Firstly, the main issue, the substation - we've accessed it. We yesterday got people from Ergon in, including engineers to begin that inspection process. Today I've asked the Energy Minister to get on the ground and he's walked the train line as well. And we've got busloads of resources going in there. There is a slim chance we can get power back to Ingham today. A slim chance. If that was to happen, that would be a reconnection in half the time that I have ever seen it before. To have a substation go offline and to be talking about bringing it on within a week is something I've never seen before. But that something is only achievable because of the pre-deployment of staff and the effort of those Ergon crews. We are hoping and if that was to occur it would lift the community spirit. The other challenge is obviously Lucinda. The other side of the district, the lower Herbert, we have brought in two poles and worked to stand them up to replace those that have fallen or underway. We've choppered in wires and we've barged in a generator. We are throwing the kitchen sink at this. But every day that goes by without power makes it more difficult for the clean up and more difficult for people to get off the canvas and rebuild their lives. So, it is our priority. Just to touch on the generation situation. We will continue to move generators in and that work is happening now so that we can bring on those core assets in the event that power isn't able to be re-established for a few days. Our initial modelling showed that, so those generators are going in place and will be there for those important community assets. And I've spoken to you about mobilising the hospital and the service stations and some of the retirement homes, which is important. Turning to roads. Roads remain a massive challenge. I'm joined by the Minister today and I wanted him to come and see this firsthand but I want to talk to Ollera Creek. We have three opportunities here. The immediate, using the ADF in a once in a generation opportunity to provide critical access to a temporary solution where we work through the night to try and come up with a way that we can get the next wave of cars and trucks to be able to use it and bring some normality to the town. And the third is a betterment solution to finally do this once and do it right. We cannot continue to do the same thing over and over. And the Prime Minister has outlined that and I am on a unity ticket with that. And I'll just say a stitch in time saves nine and if we can get in and it might cost a little bit extra up front, but what an opportunity not to continue to see communities have to pick up the pieces and repair the same thing over and over again. And this is our time and we can work together to make that occur. The Deputy Premier has spoken about triggering this as an applicable event for business that will enable some of those key services to operate 24/7 for a short window to enable people to get back on their feet. And with that I want to address the issue of grocery supply. The Minister convened a meeting nationally and we're very grateful for that. So, what's happened on the back of that? We've had two planes fly into Cairns today. One was to supply Weipa and there's another one that has just landed to make a third and there's another one coming in the days ahead, in fact most likely tomorrow. This is to supply those refrigerated goods. Now we spoke at the start of this. We'd asked Coles and Woolies to pre-supply some of those non-perishables and a lot of those are there. This is about those perishable items that we are running short. I also urge people to look at some of those smaller retailers, the IGAs of the world. They have access to locals, they are locals in the community and many of them have that supply. So, go and support them. But we're doing all we can to help you reconnect as well. I promise I'm getting closer before the rain. Telecommunications - a big thing. There remains people in the greater Herbert area who still don't have telecommunications, which is why getting that generator in in the next hour or two will be key to getting some of those towers back online. When I was in Cardwell the day before yesterday when I arrived, we had just got generation into Snake Creek and on the back of that, that enabled the north, the places like Cooktown and indeed Cardwell to come back online. But four or five days is a long time without communication, particularly in a disaster. And we're working overtime to reconnect that. And then long term getting the power back on will ensure that those generation assets can be tasked to other areas to the south if they are needed. Schools - 22 schools remain closed, but that's a hell of a lot of schools that have been brought back onto line and normality is starting to return. There are 48 early childhood centres out. Now, I said at the start of this event that, that we would update at the same time as schools were closing. And we've done that. We've reached the phase now of bringing schools back on. So, what I've asked the Minister to do is just keep a longer window because ultimately, planning to take your kids to school is a lot easier than planning not to have your kids at school. So, just continue to look at that website closures.qld.edu.au or Google 'school closures Queensland' and you'll get it. And that is up to date, live, and you can see if your school is open. And that will continue to be updated throughout the day. Finally, to the people of this magnificent part of the world, before I hand over to a magnificent Mayor, I can't underestimate how big a task this is going to be. But we're here for you and we know that you are strong enough to get through. But resilience doesn't mean you get left on your own. And we're here to see the job through. And whether or not you've got mud on the wall or you're without power or you've lost everything, or in the case of those two families who have lost loved ones, we are here for you. For the long haul, and we must see this through. We're pre-deploying in the event of another wave, but we're not going away until the job is done. And I want this proud region to know we got your back and we will get you back on your feet. Ramon - Hello, mate.
RAMON JAYO, HINCHINBROOK SHIRE COUNCIL MAYOR: Thank you, Premier, and I'll keep this short. And I cannot - I cannot - thank Prime Minister and the Premier enough for what has happened to do for our community. This bridge alone is going to make a big difference. I've got a community that's really hurting at the moment and right here, right now, they're screaming out for re-supply. It's been very difficult to get anything into our town for re-supply at the moment because we've been restricted to helicopter access. The problem with the helicopters is the weather, as you see, is closing in all the time and the access is reduced. So, this road is going to just enhance our capacity to get supplies in and get them out to our community. So, I'd like to thank thank you, Prime Minister. What is being achieved is just unbelievable. On behalf of my community, I'd like to thank the Premier for the state resources that have been thrown at us. Those services that we have received, we just could not have got through this event. And I'm talking an event where we've received over 1,700 millimeters of rain in about six days. And I would also like to thank my council, my workers. I've got council workers who have not slept more than four hours in seven days. So they've been the ones, particularly the boys with the water and everything. So everyone has pulled together. But thank you, we could not have done it without your support. Thank you.
BOB KATTER, MEMBER FOR KENNEDY: I just want to make a brief observation. The Prime Minister and Premier are dead right, we keep doing this all the time. Please can we divert the Upper Herbert? If we divert the Upper Herbert, this doesn't happen. Half a million people are trapped on this coastal plain. If a cyclone comes in or anything, we need a tunnel to get off the coastal plain. And the Prime Minister put the first money into the alternative highway. So the alternative highway, Prime Minister, it's far from being an alternative highway. Two, we need a tunnel to get there, which is only a kilometre long. And thirdly, we need the diversion of the Upper Herbert, or in my lifetime, which is pretty short now, there's going to be a lot of, a great loss of life there. So those three things need to be addressed. That really needs to be done. Thank you very much Premier and Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Don't worry, Bob, there's a lot of life left in you, mate. And thank you, Raymon. We're all happy to take questions on these issues, firstly.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the bridge. When can we expect the supply bridge to be completed and then the temporary bridge so that residents can start going to and from Ingham?
PRIME MINISTER: What is remarkable is that the supply bridge can be expected to be completed today. We've seen extraordinary amount of work being done. Now the secondary issue will take longer, will take days to go forward. The longer term solution, in talking to the engineers and talking to Queensland government, we have a bit of a model for that which is the work that we did on the Yeppen Floodplain south of Rockhampton when I was the Minister. You don't want to shut down this road while you fix it. So it will need a new alignment. That will take work to be done. But obviously we'll work, I've said very clearly when it comes to the Bruce Highway, I want work to happen as soon as possible. I don't know if you want to add anything to that or you're right? Thanks.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, will the Government consider expanding assistance with the Joint Commonwealth State Disaster Recovery Fund for those affected by flooding outside black or pink zones?
MINISTER MCALLISTER: Thanks very much. And the question goes to the kinds of financial support that might be available for households in this region. We've worked very closely as the Australian Government, with the Queensland Government, to stand up payments. And my counterpart, Minister Leahy, has been a very good partner in this regard. First set of measures that we were able to put in place were hardship payments. They're available for people who've had white goods damaged, lost bedding, these kinds of things. And yesterday we extended by a significant number the locations within Townsville that those payments would be available. We have also indicated that they are available across a much wider number of flood affected areas in the region. Yesterday, as the Prime Minister said, the Commonwealth Government activated the Disaster Recovery Allowance. It's a payment for people who have lost income and haven't been able to go to work. And today the Prime Minister indicated our intention to activate the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment. It's $1000 for eligible adults. It is in the affected locations of Cardwell and Giru and the local government area of Hinchinbrook, which of course incorporates the town of Ingham which we've been talking about so much this morning. This is a payment for people whose house has been substantially damaged. It's a payment for people who have experienced serious injury. And we do encourage people to get onto the Services Australia website and check whether or not they are eligible. It should be possible to apply from 2pm this afternoon.
JOURNALIST: What about Bluewater? There's a lot of homes that have been completely inundated there. Will they be eligible for that $1000 payment?
MINISTER MCALLISTER: Our expectation is that we will continue to assess what's required from communities as we move through it. The damage assessments are only now being undertaken. At this stage we've moved very quickly to provide support for a number of locations in Cardwell and Giru and here in Burdekin. But as we learn more, we're open to discussion about what else might be required.
JOURNALIST: The first couple of days the disaster management team were saying there was another through in that area. Shouldn't they be able to Inaudible.
MINISTER MCALLISTER: We are open to working with the Queensland Government to really understand what's required to activate support. As I said, it's something that we're in the very early phases of this emergency. We anticipate continuing to work hand in glove with Queensland to make sure people have what they need.
JOURNALIST: Premier, have you had an update on the missing man who was swept away in flood waters in Ingham?
PREMIER CRISAFULLI: I'll make a couple of observations. We had a briefing from the Deputy Commissioner Shane this morning. The active search is no longer in flight. But if that gentleman or if anyone who knows that gentleman knows about his whereabouts, if would be good if they were to come forward. But there doesn't appear, he doesn't appear to be in harm's way. But we're asking if people have information to come forward.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you going to Ingham now?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you can see the problem here. This is the road, that isn't possible at this point in time. But we'll continue to engage and we've got the mayor here and it's been great to be able to have that opportunity.
JOURNALIST: There's a train right next to us, you're watching residents get on there and go back to Ingham. Why can't you go?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm happy to go wherever I'm requested to go. But we are engaged, I'm certainly happy to go with the Mayor. If the Mayor wants us to rock up, I'm more than happy to do that. One of the things that I've done is to make sure as well that we've engaged in a constructive way. I spoke with the Premier, we spoke days ago about the appropriate timing for me to come. We've had the Minister on the ground here, I assumed the Minister and, I don't know whether you went in by chopper or how you got there -
MINISTER MCALLISTER: Chopper.
PRIME MINISTER: They went in by chopper. And at a time where, quite frankly, our resources, we want to be helping people, not moving politicians.
JOURNALIST: This event, how does this show the important of not just the rebuilding of the Bruce, but the future flood-proofing of the Bruce?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I met with the Mayor during a drive when I drove from Cairns right through to Brisbane more than once. Drove from, also from Barcaldine, from the west across and then down as well. I'm very familiar with the Bruce Highway which is why I'm passionate about making a difference. When I was the Minister I increased six times the funding in half the time of the government that I replaced. And our first announcement of this year was $7.2 billion to fix the Bruce in priority areas. And it is a one-off exception as well because I understand this is an issue of people getting around, but it's also an issue of safety. Forty-two Australians lost their lives on the Bruce Highway last year. And that is why when you go up and down this highway, we need to do better. My government is working constructively with Queensland to make sure we do just that.
JOURNALIST: On another note from Canberra, why have you backed away from the Party's long-standing position on mandatory sentencing?
PRIME MINISTER: What we've done, through our legislation, makes sure that we have strong legislation. We are the first Government to introduce legislation about Nazis and other hate symbols. We did that last year. We're strengthening the legislation today. We want people who are engaged in antisemitic activities to be caught, to be charged and to be put in the clink. That's my priority.
JOURNALIST: Peter Dutton just held a news conference in Canberra demanding an independent inquiry into why you weren't notified for more than a week about the planned caravan terrorist attack. Would you support that call?
PRIME MINISTER: So Peter Dutton wants resources of the Australian Federal Police and the intelligence agencies to stop doing what they're doing, chasing down these criminals, arresting them, putting them in the clink. Instead, he wants a political process. Says more about Peter Dutton than anything else. My priority is to work with our agencies. I support the Australian Federal Police, I support ASIO and our intelligence agencies, including the Australian Signals Directorate and the work that they're doing.
JOURNALIST: Is it fair (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I get briefed regularly, and what they want is for us to be successful in doing what we're doing. An additional person was arrested yesterday under Operation Avalite. There have been multiple arrests, multiple charges. And what you need to do when there is an activity which involves people where the AFP have said very clearly that people are being paid they don't know who's doing the paying, is to track those people through intelligence. You track who's ringing them, who's paying them, where are the payments being made. You track the money trail. You don't have to be someone who watches CSI every week to know that that's the important process, not these political games. I frankly think it's extraordinary that Peter Dutton thinks this is the way to go. But for Peter Dutton, there is no issue too big for him to show how small his approach to politics is and to attempt to play politics. What I will do is to back intelligence agencies. What I will do is to not reveal information that is sensitive for things that are ongoing investigations. This is an ongoing investigation. I find it remarkable that Peter Dutton says that should stop while we do some sort of party committee process.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said you don't want to make a running commentary on what the US President says. But has your Government reached out to the US on more detail on Mr Trump's proposal?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, we will continue to take our position, which is what we have done for a long period of time. It's a bipartisan position for a two state solution.
JOURNALIST: Your British counterpart, Kier Starmer, says Palestinians must be allowed to rebuild and return to their homes in Gaza. Do you agree?
PRIME MINISTER: What do you think a two state solution is? Thank you.
