Press conference in Bundaberg, QLD

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
PRESS CONFERENCE BUNDABERG
THURSDAY, 8 JUNE 2023

SUBJECTS: BUNDABERG FLOOD LEVEE, DISASTER READY FUND, EU FTA

MURRAY WATT: Okay, well, thanks very much for coming along today. And it’s terrific to be back here in Bundaberg with my very good friend Tom Smith, the state member; my great mate Jack Dempsey, the mayor; my even greater mate, Mark Ryan – there’s of mates here today – Mark Ryan, the state minister; we’ve got business owners and Major-General Jake Elwood from the Queensland Reconstruction Authority and a number of others as well. We’re obviously here today to make a very significant announcement for the town of Bundaberg, but really for all of Queensland, because this is a state-wide significant project.

Today I’m very pleased to announce that the Albanese government and the Palaszczuk government are working together to build the Bundaberg flood levee. This project has been on the books for a number of years now. I think all of us remember the horrifying scenes in Bundaberg after Tropical Cyclone Oswald back in 2013, that footage of people being removed from their roofs. Really scary times for people and immense damage caused to Bundaberg, to homes, to businesses, to infrastructure, to community services right throughout this town.

And unfortunately up until now we haven’t been able to get to a point where we’ve had a federal government prepared to work with the Palaszczuk government to get this project started. Well, that has changed with the Albanese government, and we’re very proud to partner with the Palaszczuk government to deliver this project and put the funding forward to make it happen.

This project is an important one. The estimated cost for the project is around $175 million. And we’ve been able to come to an agreement with the Palaszczuk government that that cost will be shared 50-50, and I know the council have agreed to bear the maintenance costs going forward as well, so they’ve got a stake in this as well.

And while I’m at it, I want to thank not just the Palaszczuk government, Minister Mark Ryan, but particularly the local representatives here – Tom Smith and Jack Dempsey, who have worked so hard to get to this day where we have this money on the table. I can tell you, I’ve been the receiving end of any number of phone calls from Tom, from Jack, not just since we were elected but before we were elected as well, impressing upon me and our government the importance of this project to this town and to this region as a whole.

You will have seen that yesterday I made some other very big announcements about disaster risk reduction right across the country, including here in Queensland. And today’s announcement builds on that and it’s another sign that the Albanese government is taking serious action in partnership with state and local governments to make sure that our country is much better prepared for natural disasters into the future.

Tom can take you through what this means at a local level, the number of homes and businesses it will protect, where it will be, what the insurance benefits of this program will be, because there really will be some to people here in Bundaberg. But, in short, what today’s announcement is about is making sure that we protect Bundaberg, that we protect all Australians from loss of life, from loss of property, protect the taxpayer budget from the ever-increasing costs of repair bills from disasters and, importantly, protect people from rising insurance costs as well.

So, as I say, we're very pleased to partner with the Palaszczuk government. I again congratulate all of the local members, officials and businesses who are here today and have welcomed this as well. We’re getting on with it. We’re sick of the opposition to this project from the federal member that held this project up for years, that meant that a fund that the Morrison government had available was never used to build projects like this. It’s time to get on with it. This will be a good thing for Bundaberg. It will keep insurance premiums down, it will keep damage bills down, and it will save lives.

I’ll hand over to Tom now to talk about the local impacts with you.

TOM SMITH: Where we can stop flooding in Bundaberg we should stop flooding in Bundaberg. That’s what today’s announcement is absolutely about. This will ensure that we will protect the Bundaberg East, south and CBD suburbs from future flood devastation. That means that mum and dad can keep their family home safe from future flooding. That means that our business owners can keep their businesses safe from future flooding and that retirees can live in peace and with the knowledge that they have the confidence to retire safely from any future flood devastation throughout this part of the Bundaberg community.

What we know is that there’s an economic cost with any devastation, and we saw that economic cost. We saw that social cost, and we saw how much trauma came about throughout these suburbs because of the devastation in 2011 and in 2013 as well. That’s what this is all about: making sure that we have the Albanese government and the Palaszczuk government teaming up together to provide the security and the confidence for the residents through our east, south and the CBD area.

It is wonderful to see that not only a government on board with this but also our insurance companies as well. Now earlier this week we saw Suncorp Insurance come out and say that the Bundaberg East flood levee could see insurance premium prices drop by up to $1,000 a year. That is an incredible financial relief for mums and dads, for retirees and also for our local businesses.

What’s more, this is about protecting our school and our school kids as well. I’ve spoken to many parents who throughout the years after 2013, if their child was at Bundy east or Bundy south and it started to rain heavy, they would go and they would get their kid out of school because they were so impacted by the trauma of the previous flooding event. We want to make sure that our schools are safe from natural devastation and also ensure that we are not having to bear the costs of any future devastation into our Bundaberg community.

Of course we know that this only protects an element of the Bundaberg community, but we will always make sure that where we can stop flooding we will stop flooding. And any mitigation project or evacuation project on the table we’ll always make sure that we assess thoroughly and if we can work with the federal government to secure those, we will secure those as well.

So thank you to Minister Watt, thank you obviously to Minister Ryan and to Jack Dempsey, QRA and everyone who’s played a hand in making sure that we are delivering this vital piece of infrastructure for the people of Bundaberg. And I will say, it has been the number one flood mitigation project of the Queensland government for the last three years. There were two gentlemen here in the Bundaberg region who tried to stop it – Keith Pitt and Stephen Bennett. Well, today egg is on their face because we are delivering for the people of Bundaberg exactly what they deserve.

MARK RYAN: Thank you. Well, isn’t this just another example of how, you know, governments working together can make a big difference in people’s lives. There’s the potential here to save lives, to protect businesses, to protect property from future flood events. But there’s also here the potential saving each year, cost of living relief through reductions in insurance premiums and other associated benefits. This is a big project for Bundaberg, a game-changing project for Bundaberg, which will have a legacy impact. So it’s an opportunity to acknowledge that partnership. And to the mayor and federal minister, thank you for working with the Queensland government on this project.

As the local member Tom Smith said, this has been a number one priority for the Queensland government for a number of years, but we needed people to come together to deliver the project. And I’ve got to say that since the new federal government’s come in, the Albanese government with Minister Watt in this portfolio, we’ve seen a real shift in the willingness around cooperation and partnership and also a focus on prevention and resilience, which is so important to protecting people from natural disasters. It’s one thing to have great systems in place to respond to natural disaster impacts, and Queensland’s got some of the best systems in the world when it comes to responding to natural disasters. But it’s one step better to prevent the impact in the first place. And that’s what a project like this will do. So to the mayor, to Minister Watt, to Brendan Moon from NEMA, to the major-general from QRA, thank you very much for this partnership and this commitment. It is a game-changer.

I do also have to highlight the outstanding advocacy of Tom Smith for projects right across Bundaberg. You know, really it sums it up in a phrase – you know, Tom delivers for Bundaberg. It’s not just this project. You know, he’s got the big hospital upgrade underway. He’s got investment in infrastructure and services happening. And an additional announcement that I can make today which Tom has been advocating for is the Queensland government will be committing money in this year ‘s state budget to purchase land in Bundaberg East for a new Queensland fire and emergency services facility. This is another project Tom’s been advocating for, and it’s an investment in the frontline, in our firefighters, in our state emergency service volunteers.

So, once again, Tom delivers for Bundaberg. He’s doing a great job. And it’s only because of his advocacy and the cooperation of governments that we’ve been able to make these great announcements today. I’ll hand over to the mayor.

JACK DEMPSEY: Just on behalf of the whole of the community right across the Bundaberg region, we say thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you to the Albanese government and the Palaszczuk government for delivering this much anticipated project. The hearts and minds of the people of not just these suburbs but right across the region are very thankful to be able to hear this announcement here today. It doesn’t just help these suburbs; it makes sure that we look at the 4670 insurance premiums and it makes sure that as the whole of the region pays for infrastructure that would normally go into this flood-affected area, it reduces the cost of that infrastructure, which is a burden on the wider ratepayers. So the tenacity, the advocacy, the sheer passion of the ministers, Murray Watt and Mark Ryan, and Tom Smith for delivering this project for the people of Bundaberg means not just a big thank you for the 600 homes that will no longer get flooded and the overall 1,125 properties that would have gotten flooded in the 2013 flood means they’re no longer flooded. So they’ve peace of mind, and we also know from the actual experts in this area there is no adverse effects on other parts.

So we will continue to advocate for other flood obviously affected areas and other projects. A big thank you to the community reference group who has worked with the state and federal government over many years to be able to highlight and prioritise this project, a project that was identified as the number one resilience program in the whole of Queensland and supported by Suncorp. So to Brendan Moon that we have here today – he’s now in a high role in the federal government but was the head of QRA – we say thank you to your team and your commitment to continue to drive this program to see what we see is delivered here today.

Meals on Wheels, East Club, little kids, seniors who were at home when they hear rain and thunder shivering and quivering now have a little bit of peace of mind to know that this infrastructure will be delivered over the coming years. And we’ll get to those details later on. But, again, we say thank you on behalf of the whole of the community across the whole of the Bundaberg region, which will see the benefits, not just in these suburbs and these most affected flood-prone areas. So a big thank you comes on the back of now particularly with Minister Murray Watt announcing that obviously Bundaberg included in relation to being able to get funding to help people with flood-prone and other disaster buildings across the area. A $20 million commitment and 20 million in the following year from Bundaberg homes from 50 kilometres in from the coastal area. And then the buyback system that’s been in place for those really flood high-density homes over north.

And this is about delivering projects. We see the evacuation route for Givelda already in place and now we’ll continue to work with two levels of government – the Albanese government and Palaszczuk government – they’re actually listening to the local community to be able to address other future resilience programs. Thank you very much.

MURRAY WATT: Just before we take some questions, could I just add a couple of other things. There’s so much investment from disaster resilience from the Albanese government what I actually omitted to mention today we’re also announcing some further investments in addition to the levee, in addition to what we announced yesterday to upgrade flood routes, flood detours, bridges, culverts in Warwick, in the Scenic Rim, in Toowoomba, in Gympie and improving the flood warning infrastructure network in South East Queensland as a whole.

So as you can see, there is a very long list of disaster mitigation and resilience projects that the Albanese government is investing in. We’re delivering to Queensland but, importantly, we’re doing it in partnership with state and local governments.

We’re all happy to take questions about anything you’d like.

JOURNALIST: Can you put a time frame on this?

MURRAY WATT: I might get Major-General Jake Elwood, the CEO of Queensland Reconstruction Authority, to take you through a bit of the detail. But now that the announcement has been made the detailed design work will really get underway. There will be some further community consultation as this progresses, and we’ll obviously be looking to try to commit the early works as soon as possible.

The reality is this is a multi-year project. This is a big, complex project. It won’t be finished within 12 months, but it will provide long-term relief and mitigation from flooding for the Bundaberg region for decades to come. But Major-General Elwood might be able to add to that.

JAKE ELWOOD: So the Department of Energy and Public Works will be undertaking this development, this amazing project. Now, it will be under design and development. That will determine how long it will take, but it is complex and we need to make sure we get it right the first time. So, again, much more study or more work to be done in terms of working with community as well in terms of consultation.

JOURNALIST: So, Tom, what about Bundaberg north residents who have been flooded more than east residents? What do they get in all this?

TOM SMITH: So what we know is Bundaberg north is on a flood plain. There was a lot of detailed investigations undertaken after the 2013 flood, and it showed that any possible levee structure along the north bank would actually have an adverse impact back on to the people over this side of the river and also couldn’t guarantee that we would be able to prevent flooding on the north side.

What I have done is made sure, though, to communicate with Minister Mark Bailey about ensuring that we are undergoing all the investigations for the Bundaberg evacuation route, about possibly extending the height of the Tallon Bridge to ensure that we can have good evacuation in the future.

Now obviously that is undergoing its inquiry at the moment. TMR are doing very good work on that. But what I can say is absolutely hand on heart is that the Bundaberg East flood levee does not have an adverse impact on the residents of Bundaberg north. In fact, only yesterday I brought up the chief engineer who was a part of the design phase for this levee. He met with the Bundaberg flood protection group and he detailed just how all of the science absolutely proves that water does not adversely impact over north. In fact, the design of the levee is so that it goes along the side of the river bank and actually follows the river’s current down and out of the mouth of the river.

So what I can say to the residents of north is that as they are very well aware, you cannot stop flooding in north, but we can do absolutely everything we can do to explore all alternatives and possible projects into the future around evacuation. I have said it time and time again, whether it’s mitigation or evacuation, if we can build it in Bundy, I want to build it in Bundy.

JOURNALIST: There was mention of an evacuation route over Bundaberg north. Can you talk more about that and what other routes may be in place for those people who are quite distressed about maybe possible flooding over north?

TOM SMITH: I just addressed that, but the Bundaberg evacuation route that’s in the 10-year action plan is the Tallon Bridge. So the Tallon Bridge as we know goes over the river, dips down and then joins up with the north roundabout. The idea is that we could investigate the possibility to have the height of the Tallon Bridge out to the north roundabout. That’s what I’ve asked Minister Bailey and his DTMR team to investigate so that we can ensure that all possible evacuation and mitigation projects are investigated. And if they can be delivered, we will deliver them.

JOURNALIST: Will any homes be acquired for this levee?

TOM SMITH: So what we have is I’ve been talking to a lot of locals, and one of the things that we said early on when Minister Hinchcliffe was here was that there would be no buyback opportunities. Off the back of talking to locals I’ve gone and I’ve met with Minister de Brenni and I’ve fought passionately to ensure that we have into the future design phase a negotiated acquisition fund. So obviously the value of that fund is commercial in confidence, but it’s something that I have fought really hard for to ensure that during the design phase that we can have a conversation with some residents who may wish to engage in a negotiation around future acquisitions.

JOURNALIST: On that, is there a number of the homes in the vicinity of where this [indistinct]?

TOM SMITH: So there’s obviously a number in terms of properties that the levee runs behind. Whether or not that’s going to be impacted would be something that we’d negotiate with the contractors. Because once the contractors come on board then they’ll obviously look at the initial designing and then they’ll also put forward any of their planning. But that’s why I fought very hard to ensure that we do have a pool of money there for negotiated acquisitions into the future based on that design phase that will occur once the major contractor for the tender is announced.

JOURNALIST: There are concerns from residents that they haven’t been properly consulted by all levels of government about what they want for flood mitigation. And what would you say to those residents? Have they got stakeholder engagement opportunities there?

TOM SMITH: Since 2013 the community reference group went out and did extensive consultation where I believe that there was about 230-plus different proposals put forward. In the years following that when the Palaszczuk government was elected we undertook a further investigation and finalised our 10-year action plan that was published in 2017. Since then numerous community consultations have occurred, as well as on this levee. I’ve often spoken with the Bundaberg flood protection group. And, in fact, yesterday I even invited their three senior figures to meet with David Murray, who, as I said, is now in the Department of Water but was previous with State Development and was the chief engineer who designed the levee. So there has been extensive consultation.

As well as that I’ve put out numerous information flyers, I’ve held mobile offices, I’m always over at North Lake Plaza as well communicating with residents over north. I’ve doorknocked over north and I’ve also put out letters of information there as well. But any time that anyone wishes to have a conversation, my door is always open. You can buy me a cup of coffee – I might buy them one too. But always happy to continue these conversations because this is about protecting people in our Bundaberg community, and I would absolutely no way back a project that would be harmful to any other residents.

JOURNALIST: Minister Ryan, I’ve just got one question for you, if that’s okay. Just wondering why has it taken two years since the Premier’s commitment of $42.5 million for a levee over in Bundaberg East? Because this was announced a couple of years ago, so why now?

MARK RYAN: Well, we had to wait for a federal government that wanted to cooperate. So it’s best directed, I guess, to the federal MP for this area who’s opposed the project. State government wanted to get on with it. Council wanted to get on with it. The community wanted to get on with it. But you had a federal government that didn’t want to get on with it. We’ve now got a federal government that wants to invest in prevention and resilience and wants to cooperate and partner. You know, the former Prime Minister used to say he wouldn’t hold a hose. You know, we’ve now got a Prime Minister and a minister who actually comes out and puts money on the table to save people’s lives. Big difference, gets the project done.

JOURNALIST: Can you expand on the emergency services setup?

MARK RYAN: Certainly, thanks for picking that up. It’s the big announcement of today, you know. So we know that this is a growing community, and obviously we’ve got to continue to invest in the frontline and plan for the future. So one of the critical things we need to do, particularly around fire facilities, is make sure we get them in the right place so that they’re appropriate for future growth and most appropriate for our very high standard of response times.

So we’re committing funding – up to $2 million – in the state budget that will get handed down next week. So you guys are getting an inside here – normally it’s a big surprise. We’re committing money in that budget – up to $2 million – to purchase some land somewhere in the Bundaberg East area. We need to obviously do a bit of the scan of the area, see what’s most appropriate. But to support the acquisition of that land so we future proof a location for a future fire and emergency services facility.

Very exciting for locals. And obviously will ensure that we’re well placed in the future to ensure our fire and emergency services continue to operate at a very high standard.

JOURNALIST: Any time frame on it?

MARK RYAN: Well, the money is being committed in this year’s budget. So obviously we’d look to have the land acquisitioned – we’ll obviously look forward to having the land acquired in this budget year and then we’ll make some more announcements and plans around when the facility will be built.

TOM SMITH: I just want to say, straight after the 2020 state election, the first budget round actually put the Bundaberg East Flood Levee as a line item and it was a part of the budget. That money then waited in Treasury for a federal government to come along and co-invest their money and match the funding to deliver this. So the money has been there in Treasury for the last three years, and thank goodness for a Palaszczuk government and an Albanese government coming together and delivering for the people of Bundaberg.

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, I was reflecting on that as we were coming today. I think we were just a bit closer down on the river making that media conference about this. And I guess that demonstrates that this has been a very long-running issue for the people of Bundaberg. When we were in opposition we called for the then federal government to get on and build this. Unfortunately they didn’t. Unfortunately they sat idly by with an emergency response fund that had billions of dollars available for these kind of investments but instead they let it sit, not spending money on projects and, in fact, earning $800 million in interest for the former government.

Well, our decision was that that money needed to be put to work for the people of Bundaberg, for the people of Queensland and for the people of Australia. So I think this is a great day that this is starting to happen. And, again, I congratulate all the levels of government for their cooperation.

JOURNALIST: Minister Watt, I had a few extra questions from one of our other reporters.

MURRAY WATT: Sure.

JOURNALIST: How would you describe the free trade negotiations with the EU at the moment?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, well, I actually spoke last night to the Trade Minister Don Farrell, who has just finished two days of negotiations with the EU trade and agriculture commissioners in Brussels. And I think that it's fair to say that these negotiations are at a difficult stage. We have obviously been pushing extremely hard ever since being elected to get a good trade deal for Australian farm producers in particular, but also for exporters more generally. And at this point in time the EU are not willing to put a reasonable deal on the table for us.

So we really want this deal. We would like to strike a deal with the EU. It's a valuable market. It would be part of diversifying our trade markets for our agricultural producers. But we’re not going to cop no deal or a bad deal. We need this to be in the interests of national producers and in the national interest overall.

JOURNALIST: Are you more concerned about access for Australian produce or the use of geographical indicators?

MURRAY WATT: I think all of those issues are really important. I think there has been a lot of coverage in the media about the issues to do with geographical indicators, the terminology like prosecco, feta, parmesan, those kinds of things. And there’s no doubt the EU want to protect that. We’re pushing back really hard making the point that those terms actually matter a lot to Australian producers as well, including people who have literally brought their vines, their products from Europe when they migrated to Australia.

But in addition to that, the very biggest issue that we need solved by the EU is being prepared to provide our agricultural producers with good market access. The EU has done that for other countries. They did it for Canada, they did it for other countries. And we want to see Australian farmers get a good deal as well.