Thanks, Deputy Speaker.

The Albanese Government has started delivering on our promise to create a new Disaster Ready Fund, to help Australian communities prepare for natural disasters.

Over the past decade, what we saw from those opposite was a failure to really help Australians prepare for floods, fires, and storms.

And we also saw a failure on their part to do any significant mitigation works to help build disaster resilience.

Unfortunately, as we so often saw, it was all about the photo up with no follow up with that mob.

It’s hard to think that we had a $5 billion fund sitting there ready to go, and yet it did not spend a cent since it was established in early 2019.

And while it was sitting there untouched, it was accruing tens of millions of dollars in interest – interest that could have been spent to help Australians battered by floods and fires to rebuild their lives and protect their communities, those opposite sat back and did nothing.

Worse, was when they did belatedly start offering assistance, they played political games with people’s lives.

Dividing people whilst not showing national leadership in a time of crisis.

Who can forget the Government offering $3,000 in flood relief assistance to people living in NSW, but then right across the border in Brisbane, to people equally hit hard, only offering $1,000?

It was rank politics of the worst kind, at the worst time.

Floods can be devastating.

My wife Kate was in Katherine in the NT during those unforgettable floods.

As the new Minister for Emergency Management Senator Murray Watt has said, it was unconscionable that communities had been left at risk while money was available to keep them safe.

We shouldn’t have to say it, but natural disaster funds should not be used as a cash cow to prop up a Government swimming in debt.

And the Government that failed to do any work in this space was the same Government that for ten years kept up the climate wars, and ensured a decade of inaction on climate.

I’m very happy that the Albanese Labor Government has legislated our floor target for emissions reductions.

And I’m very happy to be part of a Government that is taking action on climate change, pivoting towards renewables, and helping prepare our communities for major weather events to come.

Because, Deputy Speaker, we know they’re coming.

A third La Nina weather system is forming.

That comes as we’re already dealing with unusually wet country.

Water storage on the east coast that is already almost full.

We’ve got a dam in South Australia that is bursting.

The south-east of the nation is getting pummelled this week, with flooding hitting Victoria especially hard.

In the Top End, which I call home, we’re expecting an earlier than usual start to the cyclone season—and the rains have already begun.

Cyclone Marcus in 2018 did immense damage to our cityscape in Darwin, removing so many decades-old trees that provided shade and kept the city cooler.

A number of remote communities are already evacuated every year as storms approach, with hundreds of residents sheltering in the city.

Many Top Enders carry the scars of Cyclone Tracy, which flattened Darwin almost 50 years ago.

All Territorians worry about what another direct hit would do.

So I am delighted, Deputy Speaker, that Labor’s Disaster Ready Fund bill will lead to real action in terms of both mitigation and support for those who will inevitably be affected by worsening weather events.

Our bill will turn the former Government’s failed Fund into a dedicated ongoing source of funding for natural disaster resilience and risk reduction initiatives.

Our fund will provide up to $200 million per year to invest in mitigation projects, like flood levees, cyclone shelters, fire breaks and evacuation centres in the NT and around Australia.

The Albanese Government won’t repeat the mistakes of the previous Government.

By preparing for natural disasters we can protect lives and livelihoods, and lower damage bills from floods, fires and cyclones.

I will note, however, Deputy Speaker, that in order to deliver security for natural disaster-impacted communities, the Government will honour the 2022-23 Emergency Response Fund commitments announced by the former Government.

That includes $150 million for the New South Wales Northern Rivers region and the $50 million Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program.

The Disaster Ready Fund builds upon other measures designed to strengthen Australia’s disaster management response, including the creation of the new National Emergency Management Agency, and the establishment of a Special Envoy for Disaster Recovery.

And importantly, our $200 million per year limit will be reviewed at least every five years to ensure that it’s adequate – and can be increased if needed.

We have seen the devastating consequences of not being prepared when natural disasters hit, suchlike Black Summer bushfires and the recent floods.

We know there’s more to come.

But we want Australians to be as protected as possible to weather those storms.

In the NT, Chief Minister Natasha Fyles is leading a strong government doing what they can – but it’s always good for Territorians to know that the Albanese Labor Government has got their backs.