SENATOR JENNY McALLISTER
MINISTER FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
MINISTER FOR CITIES

SENATOR NITA GREEN
SPECIAL ENVOY FOR THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND

MATT SMITH
LABOR CANDIATE FOR LEICHHARDT

More than 100 disaster preparedness and response workers would be sacked under a Dutton Coalition Government, leaving the Far North exposed to natural disasters.

Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Labor’s Jenny McAllister, is calling on LNP leader Peter Dutton to stop his planned cuts to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

Last month the Coalition’s spokesperson for Emergency Management and Deputy Nationals leader, Perin Davey, was asked if NEMA, established by Labor, would be quarantined from any public service cuts. 

She was unable to say.

“We’re still very much going through the process of looking at where the Labor government have added new public servants and where there may be redundancies … I’m not going to pre-empt any of that work,” Ms Davey said.

People in the Far North are no strangers to extreme weather having been impacted by flooding in February and recovery from Ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper ongoing.

Since 2022 the Albanese Government has invested over $300 million in resilience and recovery in the Far North.

Peter Dutton’s commitment to cut 41,000 public servants will mean that the National Emergency Management Agency will lose at least a quarter of its staff. This will severely limit its ability to protect and support disaster-impacted Australians.

NEMA was established by the Albanese Government and provides a range of essential services, including:

• Running the 24/7 National Situation Room which provides all-hazards monitoring and reporting and informs decisions before, during and after crises
• Deploying the National Emergency Stockpile of generators, sandbags and temporary housing (established by the Albanese Government)
• Managing the more than $13 billion in Disaster Recovery Funding and providing on the ground support for communities that are recovering from natural disasters.

The Albanese Government has spent billions of dollars helping communities get back on their feet after disaster has struck.

Far North Queenslanders need to know that when a disaster strikes the Australian Government will have their backs.

Peter Dutton’s cuts put them at risk and he must rule them out.

Attributable to the Minister for Emergency Management, Jenny McAllister:

“The Albanese Government has made significant and needed investments in emergency management to help communities prepare, respond and recover from natural disasters.

“But at the same time we’re experiencing more frequent and extreme weather events, Peter Dutton wants to cut the workers dedicated to keeping Queenslanders safe.

“We know that his cuts will mean Queenslanders won’t get the help that they need when a disaster strikes.

“Peter Dutton must promise the people of North Queensland that he won’t make any cuts to emergency management?”
 
Attributable to Senator for Queensland, Nita Green:

“When Queenslanders were filling sandbags, Mr Dutton was on a plane to a Sydney Harbour fundraiser to fill Liberal party moneybags.

“And after TC Jasper landed on Far North Queensland shores, Mr Dutton made a blink and you’ll miss it trip to our region.

“When the going gets tough, Peter Dutton goes missing.

“It’s clear that he doesn’t take natural disasters seriously and now he’s promising to cut the agencies that look after communities before, during and after natural disasters.”

Attributable to Labor candidate for Leichhardt, Matt Smith:

“Our community knows how much support is needed during and after a natural disaster – our region is still recovering from TC Jasper.

“Under the former Liberal Government we saw that the LNP neglected regional communities, and it seems like Peter Dutton is ready to follow in those footsteps.

“Only Labor is taking regional communities seriously, and only Labor is able to help our community get back on their feet after disaster has struck.”