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Speaker 1: We're going to get straight into us because we have

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Speaker 1: got on the line right now. The Federal Minister for

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Speaker 1: Emergency Management, Christy McBain, Good morning to you, Good morning,

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Speaker 1: thanks so much for your time this morning. Now. Minister,

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Speaker 1: you've been in contact with the Northern Territory government over

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Speaker 1: the weekend and the last few days when it comes

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Speaker 1: to well discussing the flooding in Catherine and the Big

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Speaker 1: Rivers region, tell us what you know, tell us what

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Speaker 1: the Federal government is planning to do to help those

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Speaker 1: out that are in a real spot of need at

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Speaker 1: this point.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely. We've obviously seen the river peaking Catherine at

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Speaker 2: nineteen point two meters, which is the highest since two

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Speaker 2: thousand and six. Obviously, those Big Rivers communities have been

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Speaker 2: impacted a couple of times now over the last few weeks,

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Speaker 2: so logistically a big exercise has been a range of

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Speaker 2: evacuations that have taken place, including support from Australian Border

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Speaker 2: for in providing assistance to evacuate people out of those

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Speaker 2: Big Rivers communities. But we've now activated our disaster recovery

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Speaker 2: funding arrangements to assist in Catherine Town Council area for

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Speaker 2: temporary assistance and allows it up to eleven one hundred

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Speaker 2: dollars to cover short term accommodation costs, those personal hardship

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Speaker 2: payments that we announced over the weekend up to about

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Speaker 2: fifteen hundred dollars per family, and also some assistants to

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Speaker 2: replace the central household items which is means tested. But

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Speaker 2: we will continue to work with the Northern Territory government

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Speaker 2: for what other requests for assistance might come through.

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Speaker 1: Now, I know that obviously a lot of people in

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Speaker 1: Catherine impacted. You touched on then the Big Rivers region.

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Speaker 1: Do you know which communities exactly are going to have

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Speaker 1: residents that are eligible?

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Speaker 2: So at the moment, anyone in the Catherine ten Council

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Speaker 2: local government area. But as I said, we'll again be

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Speaker 2: able to work with the Northern Territory Government on extending

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Speaker 2: that out any further if necessary, But that will depend

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Speaker 2: on those assessments that need to take place.

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Speaker 1: And at this point in time, is there any sort

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Speaker 1: of further assistance that the federal government is looking at providing.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you touched on a moment ago defense Force

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Speaker 1: and you know some people sort of being airlifted out

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Speaker 1: in terms of that recovery. How are things tracking.

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Speaker 2: Yes, So obviously the Northern Territory Government has the primary

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Speaker 2: responsibility for disaster response and recovery, so they need to

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Speaker 2: make any further request to us for support if it's needed.

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Speaker 2: I know my colleague Melanderira McCarthy was in Catherine yesterday

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Speaker 2: speaking to community members in particular on what other forms

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Speaker 2: of support may be necessary. We've got that freight subsidy

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Speaker 2: for private producers as well up to five thousand dollars,

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Speaker 2: and yesterday I spoke to a station owner in regards

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Speaker 2: to some of the issues that he's so we'll continue

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Speaker 2: to work with the Northern Territory government. Our National Emergency

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Speaker 2: Management Agency has deployed planning officers and they are embedded

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Speaker 2: in the Northern Territory so that we can make sure

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Speaker 2: any requests are dealt with really quickly, but also looking

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Speaker 2: at how we support strategic planning for those ongoing response activities.

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Speaker 1: Now, not sure if it really falls under your portfolio,

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Speaker 1: but I'll ask none the less. I know that there's

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Speaker 1: been some real concern around the bomb radar well not

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Speaker 1: working last week in Catherine, and then the bomb radar

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Speaker 1: in the Berkley region still being quite a long way

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Speaker 1: away from even being up and running. How important is

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Speaker 1: it that we make sure that these vital pieces of

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Speaker 1: equipment are a there and be working.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely. Even though bomb doesn't fall under my portfolio,

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Speaker 2: it's incredibly important because it's an evidentiary tool that we

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Speaker 2: can use in communities who are experiencing disasters. We've invested

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Speaker 2: now a quarter of a billion dollars to upgrade a

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Speaker 2: range of those radars and flood gauges around the country

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Speaker 2: in high risk areas, and we've been working really closely

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Speaker 2: with state and territory governments to understand which locations need

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Speaker 2: to be prioritized. We'll continue to do that because it

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Speaker 2: is really important for communities to be able to access

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Speaker 2: as much information as possible when we've got a natural

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Speaker 2: disaster unfolding.

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Speaker 1: Well. Christy McBain, the federal Minister for Emergency Management, will

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Speaker 1: leave it there. Thank you very much for your time

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Speaker 1: this morning.

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Speaker 2: Good to be with you.

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Speaker 1: Thank you