TRANSCRIPT: FORBES PRESS CONFERENCE, 16 NOVEMBER 2022
With Acting Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles, Forbes Mayor Phyllis Miller and National Emergency Management Australia Director-General Joe Buffone
Subjects: Flooding, Wyangala Dam, flooding support
E&OE
STARTS 2.11PM
FORBES MAYOR PHYLLIS MILLER
Well, thank you, everybody. And certainly today, Forbes has had the privilege of having our Deputy Prime Minister here, Richard Marles. And we're so pleased, Richard, that you could come and you could see what was happening on the ground here in Forbes. And, of course, our wonderful local Member, Michael McCormack – thank you, Michael. Both the Prime Minister Albanese and now Richard has come knowing that we're in trouble and I want to say on behalf of the Forbes community, we appreciate both of you being here and hearing firsthand what our community is going through. On that note, I'm going to hand out to our local Member.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, thank you, Phyllis and it's good to be here, although the circumstances, of course, are very worrying, very worrying for the people of Forbes. It's great to have the Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles here today. Anthony Albanese, of course, is overseas at ASEAN and other important discussions for and on behalf of Australia. But he was here a month ago and as the local Member I very much appreciate that both Richard and the Prime Minister have taken the opportunity to come to Forbes to view the situation.
The noise you could hear in the background is the Army at work, the military people at work, Air Force, Navy and Army all working together to help Forbes, to help the community. Of course, the devastation that we've seen not just here, but at Canowindra. At Eugowra, at Woodstock, indeed, other towns have been affected as well – Cowra. Unfortunately, Condobolin is going to cop a lot of this water in coming days.
Forbes is bracing itself for a peak at the Iron Bridge. They've already had so much water come down the Lachlan, not just in the past week but now over recent months. This community is very resilient, but they're also very tired. They'll fight on. They're a great community. It's great to have Joe Buffone here as well as the national management coordinator. He can see firsthand the devastation this has caused for farmers, for small businesses, the families right throughout Forbes. I'll leave it at that. Happy to take any questions later, but I'll hand over to the Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles.
ACTING PRIME MINISTER
Well, thank you, it's really good to be here with both Phyllis and Michael and Michael has been speaking to me a lot about the impact that these floods have had on his local community, particularly here in Forbes. And we're also pleased to be joined by Joe Buffone the Deputy Coordinator General of the National Emergency Management Agency to see firsthand what is happening here in Forbes and in the regions around Forbes.
And Michael has made it clear to me that what we're witnessing here is not just floods right now, although the floods are expected to peak in the coming hours as high as they ever have. But this is flood upon flood upon flood. A community which has seen repeated flooding events over the course of the last 12 months. But actually over the course of the last 10 years, which has demonstrated how resilient this community is but, as Michael has said, there's a fatigue which goes with this as well.
My message today is that the Federal Government is here to provide support. We are working very closely with the New South Wales Government. I spoke with the Premier Dominic Perrottet on Monday about what is happening here and about ways in which we can work together to make sure that the support is being provided to these communities.
Behind us we see members of the Royal Australian Air Force who have been brought in in the last few days, about 30 behind us. Now we're expecting 50 more this afternoon who are doing sandbagging. But this is just one example of the work they're doing to provide support to the local community. As Defence Minister, I've made clear that the Defence Force will stand ready to provide whatever support is necessary to these communities and that was a message that I gave to the New South Wales Premier on Monday as well, and we will continue to do that as this flooding event unfolds. (Inaudible) … to make sure that all the payments that are applicable here are made as well, but the impact on this community is very profound. I've been able to see that firsthand on those whose properties have been affected, but agriculture is such a huge part of the local economy and obviously it’s having an impact on that as well. And we really do see the effects of this and we are working very closely to make sure that we can get the support available for people as quickly as possible. With that, happy to take all your questions.
JOURNALIST
Mr Marles, do you think it's time for the Wyangala Dam wall to be raised?
ACTING PRIME MINISTER
That’s a matter that we're working through with local authorities … (inaudible)
JOURNALIST
It has been 64 days into the flood disaster. As you said, that, you know, many of these areas have already been declared a natural disaster so they're eligible for disaster funding. But does more – are you going to announce anything else for these people who have been flooded for the second time in two weeks?
ACTING PRIME MINISTER
We're working very closely with the New South Wales Government. Obviously, the New South Wales Government is the lead tier of government in terms of declaring what level of support is required here. But we are working very closely with them and that's in terms of whatever payments are available. In terms of the support that the Federal Government can provide through the Defence Force and other forms of support – again – we stand ready to provide as much support (inaudible) and work very closely with the New South Wales Government around the requests … (inaudible)
JOURNALIST
So they haven’t asked you for extra help …
ACTING PRIME MINISTER
We have an ongoing conversation with the New South Wales Government, which has seen an increasing amount of support. (Inaudible) personnel coming to Forbes this afternoon and we're seeing more, I should say, contributions from other parts of the world coming into this region. We've met today a number of folk from New Zealand, their emergency management agency who are here right now. We're expecting more from Singapore to be coming in soon. So we are working with the New South Wales Government and that support is building up.
JOURNALIST
Given the repeated scale of the devastation, do you think it's time to have a national conversation about land buybacks?
ACTING PRIME MINISTER
Well again, that is a conversation that is being had and we've had that with the New South Wales Government in respect of other parts of New South Wales. You're right in identifying that we've had repeated flood events in the south-east corner of the continent and that is a very important conversation which is happening.
JOURNALIST
Mr McCormack, what is your view on Wyangala Dam? We spoke to a number of locals who are fed up with getting pin-balled around politics and not actually happening …
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well I'm fed up, too, and I've been working hard ever since I got into Parliament to build water infrastructure. I mentioned it in my first speech in October 2010. I've never lost sight of the fact that water infrastructure will not only build that agricultural capacity, but also helps with flood mitigation. It helps with all sorts of leisure activities. There's all many good reasons why we should be building more dams. When I was the Deputy Prime Minister, when I was in the position that Richard now occupies, we increased our spend to $3.5 billion under the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund. I worked with the States. We can't build dams as a Commonwealth without the States coming on board. We can't build dams without their say so. But we managed to build Scottsdale Dam in north-east Tasmania from the time I started as Deputy Prime Minister to the time I finished in 2021. So we can do it, we just have to have the political will.
I've worked with the (NSW) State Government. Initially, they wanted a loan of $325 million for a $650 million project and they were given a loan. Then they wanted it to be a grant, so we provided that as a grant. Then the cost blew out. According to the State Government it was more than a billion dollars. Give me the costings, I said. So now, apparently, it's going to be even more. But it is, as Scott Darcy, a Bedgerabong farmer, said to me only yesterday as he was moving hundreds of sheep to higher ground – it is an investment in Forbes, it is an investment in agriculture, it is an investment in the Central West – for all of these regions. I absolutely call on the State Government to make it a part of your election commitment next March. Get on board, build this dam. We need to do it for Forbes. It's not good enough that this town is flooding now. It used to be on average every seven years. Now it's on average every couple if you look at the last dozen years. So, I know the Commonwealth is a willing partner, I've heard no difference in view from what we had as a Coalition Government to now since we changed the Government in May.
So I say to the State Government; if it's good enough to build Warragamba and for those people in the shadow of Warragamba it must be good enough for Forbes.
JOURNALIST
Like I said, people look at business case studies, do the numbers stack up, but how can you put a price on towns and homes and people's lives? Because that's what really we're dealing with here at the moment.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, a lot of the bureaucrats who make these decisions, they often hide in lofty towers in Sydney’s CBD. They should come out here and have a look at the farms under water. They should come out here and have a look at the houses with water lapping up to them, running under the floorboards. Some houses have been absolutely inundated.
This isn't just a one-off. This is happening all too regularly. And I say to those bureaucrats; get out here, leave your shiny towers and come out here into the Central West and just have a look at the devastation that the Lachlan is causing and causing all too often. Let's raise the Wyangala Dam wall by 10 metres to 95 metres. Let's put an additional 650 gigalitres of capacity in that dam. That's the equivalent of Sydney Harbour in the Central West. Good for agriculture, excellent for flood mitigation, good for the Central West, good for Australia.
JOURNALIST
In speaking with the affected community councils across the last few weeks, representatives have said that if roads were raised and better access in and out of these towns was mitigated better that these floods would not have had the impact that they had. What needs to be done to make sure that this doesn’t keep happening?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well it needs to have full cost analysis. Let's not worry about cost benefits, we know what the cost benefits are. Let's get the costings. Let's let the State and the Commonwealth work together. I know Steph Cooke is a big supporter of it. She is not only the New South Wales Flood Emergency Services Minister, as well as Flood Recovery as well as Resilience, she's also the local Member where Wyangala is, she's the Member for Cootamundra. She's on board. I know Phil Donato, who is the Member for Orange, which takes in Forbes, he's also very much in favour of it. It’s got the political will, we just need Macquarie Street and we need those bureaucrats in State Water to give it the tick off.
I know there's been some environmental concerns, but rest assured when you've got people who are being so badly affected by floods, so let’s not let a few ducks or a few frogs or a few lizards worry too much. We need to build this wall up. Paul Toole came and announced it. Let's get on board with the Commonwealth and the State, meet together and get a common consensus and get the thing started and get the cement starting to be poured.
JOURNALIST
Do you agree, Mr Marles?
ACTING PRIME MINISTER
Well, what's really clear is you've got a fierce advocate as a local Member and we obviously pay much heed to what Michael McCormack says. We will continue the conversation with New South Wales. Water infrastructure is fundamentally important … Michael has outlined the conversations that have happened between the Commonwealth and State up until now. We will continue this.
JOURNALIST
(Inaudible) … potentially two, and now they're being told that this flood events may continue for the next month or so, what's your message to those people?
ACTING PRIME MINISTER
Australia is standing with you is the message and the pain and the suffering that has been experienced by this community is (inaudible) and it's really clear for me to see and I think for all of us who have taken the time to see firsthand the impact, it is profound and it is hard to imagine what this means to have happened on a repeated basis.
What we've seen in the course of the last year, and as Michael has pointed out, over the last 10 years, is that it is not just a one-off event, it's a repeated event. Obviously, we've seen the tragedy of the loss of life.
We will do everything within our power in working with the New South Wales Government to make sure that we are providing support to this incredibly brave and important community and in doing that we really want this community to understand that Australia does stand with them.
My presence here today is about that and we will do everything within our power to make sure that we can provide the support.
JOURNALIST
Do you think there's enough mental health support (inaudible)?
ACTING PRIME MINISTER
Yeah, look, it's a really good question because the repeated impacts on this community and other communities around Australia I think is having a really significant impact in relation to mental health. That is an area that we’re looking at. We’ve made a number of announcements, almost $10 million in respect of mental health. But it's going to be an ongoing issue. And it goes to, I think, my point before that it’s not just a one-off event that we’re seeing … (inaudible) … basis. I think it's really important that the resources are put there to be able to (inaudible), not just in relation to reconstruction, in relation to their crops, but in relation to their mental health as well.
JOURNALIST
Just quickly with Joe, quickly, you know, the SES Commissioner described this yesterday as the biggest flood operation they have ever covered. You’re looking after it as well, on the ground, it does that kind of echo with you, that sentiment?
JOE BUFFONE
Oh, absolutely. It's across New South Wales. New South Wales has been in flood … (inaudible) … 18 months … (inaudible) … all the flooding. How widespread is the number of communities? The repeated impacts of the event is absolutely huge. Remembering though it’s actually nationally as well. So right now we’ve got parts of south-east Queensland that are flooded, we’ve seen the incredible impact it's had in the New South Wales and Victoria, I was down there, I’ve been out to Moree as well. Having a look at the impacts down there. Tasmania got flooded, South Australia got hit by storms, they're now waiting for all of this water to actually come down the Murray-Darling Basin into there. And the other thing is we can't forget that we've also got the potential of cyclones as we move into December and in the west of the country, we've actually got still a fire risk as well.
So it's challenging from a national level, but as the Acting PM has highlighted, we are working with the States and Territories. They're doing everything they possibly can to make sure that they get the physical support and the financial support through the Disaster Recovery Fund.
Ends 2.32PM