THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
VIRGINIA, BRISBANE, QLD
TUESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 2024
SUBJECTS: BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY'S FLOOD WARNING INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADES, FLOODING IN NSW AND QLD.
TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: It's fantastic to be here at the Bureau of Meteorology's facility in Virginia, in Brisbane with my colleague, Minister Jenny McAllister, to talk about progress on the Bureau of Meteorology's Flood Warning Infrastructure Upgrades. This is an absolutely vital investment.
Since 2015, the previous government was told that it was important to bring our national flood gauge system up to spec. We know that when people get early warnings of floods, they are better able to protect their lives, their safety and their property.
Although successive governments had warnings that the flood gauge system around the country was patchy and incomplete, it took the Albanese Labor Government to act on these warnings, and the progress today is impressive.
We've already seen flood gauges brought back into repair after cyclone activity in Cairns, in Bundaberg, Townsville's being worked on right now. In fact, by the end of the year we'll see 69 flood gauges brought under the auspices of the Bureau of Meteorology and brought up to spec.
By the middle of next year, we expect 200 flood gauges to be completed. Over the next decade we'll see around 1,500 flood gauges around Australia, brought into the Bureau of Meteorology network and to be upgraded so that they are state of the art and working well, like the flood gauges that you see behind us.
By doing this, we can give Australians early warning of flood activity, which makes it easier for them to prepare themselves, prepare their families and their property, to better protect life and property.
This investment is almost a quarter of a billion dollars over the next decade. Activity started here in Queensland, because it's Queensland that's at greatest risk of flood. So, we're focusing in the first instances on Queensland and the northern rivers region of NSW where we know the risks are greatest.
JENNY MCALLISTER, MINISTER FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND CITIES: Thank you, Tanya. Well, it is a real pleasure to be here and speak with staff at the Bureau about the progress they are making on this incredibly important project.
We don't need to tell Queenslanders about the risks of flooding. Queensland is in fact the state most at risk from flood events. Nationally, flooding is our second most dangerous form of natural hazard when it comes to loss of life, and it's also our most expensive hazard in terms of insured losses.
It is immensely important that people have good information to prepare themselves when we experience these extreme weather events. We can't eliminate risk, but we can prepare for it, and good information helps communities take the steps that they need to ready themselves.
It also helps our emergency services personnel take the steps they need to help communities and make sure that when they're doing their important work, they can keep safe, and their personnel are safe.
Work began in July at Kamerunga Bridge and I was recently in that community and I talked to a gentleman there who spoke to me about how quickly the water rose at their place when Cyclone Jasper and the associated flooding came through. What he said was actually it took as long for the water to come up as it took him to finish his beer. It's a pretty telling indication of how significant it can be to get good information.
People in that community who were aware of the significance of flooding were able to move some of their own personal possessions and minimise the risk and the damage to their own property.
This project is incredibly important as we approach this high-risk weather season and other high risk weather seasons in the future. It's not, of course, the only thing we are doing. We are making investments in our readiness and preparedness. Investing in the national aerial fleet through new helicopters and large air tankers that are multipurpose and can be used in flooding as well as fires. Investing in a new volunteer capability to help with the clean-up and of course, building our capacity to work with the states and territories who remain the first responders during disasters. But just a pleasure to be here with Tanya, to hear from the Bureau about the work that they are doing and to see progress on this incredibly significant project.
END
