Subjects: Visit to the Riverland and Murrayland; flood mitigation; infrastructure upgrades.
E&OE.
MATT STEPHENS:
The Leader of the Opposition for Australia Peter Dutton, has been in the Riverland in the past couple of days, having a look at the flood and the impacts on the area and he’s come at the invitation of the local member for Barker, Tony Pasin. Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton, good morning.
PETER DUTTON:
Good morning, Matt.
MATT STEPHENS:
So, what has your impression been when you first got to see the river and the flood?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Matt, we arrived in Renmark yesterday and we’ve gone through the Riverland. We’re in Murray Bridge at the moment heading down to speak to a number of councils and also local businesses, tourist operators, people who have been affected by the event. I think probably the biggest takeout for me has just been the remarkable way in which the councils in particular, but others, property holders etc. have been able to build levees and to try and deal with the inundation. It’s obviously a long lead-up time and there’s a long time before waters recede in different places but I think that was the take-out. And secondly, a big message from the tourist operators that they want people to come back and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event as you point out and there’s an opportunity to see a river system in full flow and from the air and on the ground, it’s pretty spectacular.
MATT STEPHENS:
Having seen it first-hand now, where do you think that, you know, we got it right and areas where potentially we could have done a bit better?
PETER DUTTON:
I think clearly there are many communities that have been saved from inundation because of the work put in by the councils, by the landholders to build up those levees and to keep the water at bay. There are different lessons, I suppose, just given, maybe understandably over time that the corporate memory is lost from the ’56 flood or the ’74 one as to different water levels and as was pointed out yesterday, there are different changes in the topography and the different assets, infrastructure, etc. that’s been built so the water rises to different levels in a flood in 2023. But some of the roads and some of the infrastructure that needs to be rebuilt, needs to be rebuilt in a different way so that when the next flood inevitably comes along, there’ll be the ability to deal with that and you won’t have communities cut off and isolated.
MATT STEPHENS:
Peter Dutton is the Leader of the Opposition visiting the Riverland and in Murray Bridge today to see the flood and the effects of that now that the water is starting to go down. You mentioned infrastructure and roads there, I mean that’s been a big part of this flood and one in particular that’s had everyone talking in the Riverland is around Bookpurnong Road, particularly a main link between Berri and Loxton there. Is that something that you could put up for consideration moving forward as to some remediation for that, so it doesn’t get affected by a flood like this?
PETER DUTTON:
Yeah, I think it’s a perfect case study and I think the argument for it is compelling and Tony Pasin has been pushing very hard in relation to that project and it has to take place, you can’t have that situation. There’s a relatively, you know, in the scheme of things, in the scheme of the federal budget, a big investment that needs to be made, but in terms of the federal budget, you know, not a significant investment. So, the three levels of government working together I think will be essential, there’s no doubt about that. It’s one of those issues where we would lend bipartisan support to the government to do what it took to remediate and to make sure that that wasn’t repeated.
MATT STEPHENS:
So, what will you be taking back to Canberra after your visit from the Riverland and along the river system?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, the plea of the tourist operators was, you know, not to feel sorry for them but to book your holiday – for this month or in three months or six months’ time: to jump onto their websites now and make sure that you can make that booking and come and enjoy the river in flood and to see what is a pretty spectacular sight. As waters recede, they want to see people come back and invest their money into those communities. I think that’s the most important message we can take back. I think also for those of us that come from the east coast, and, in my case from Brisbane, where we have catastrophic flood events and waters rise very quickly or there’s a release from the dam and thousands of properties are inundated, cars floating down the river, moorings lost, all of that as we know a flood – that’s not what’s happened here. It’s been planned for, the predictions around heights, and I think one of the main points that was made to us yesterday was that there needs to be more input from locals around some of the decision-making that’s either made in Adelaide or in Canberra, to try and listen to more people on the ground. So, I think taking that back to the eastern states as well, just to say this is a flood of a different type and it’s not sort of, the critical rescues from rooftops, etc., that we saw in Lismore. It’s a different experience and for that reason people should still visit the region and they should still book their holiday and not cancel it as a number of people done.
MATT STEPHENS:
Have you booked a holiday for later in the year?
PETER DUTTON:
No, but I tell you what, it’s pretty appealing. I was just talking to my wife Kirilly last night, when you look out at that water, it’s very inviting and at some stage when it gets back to normal, I think we will be out on a houseboat or out on a jet ski or just enjoying it. It’s just a spectacular sight. We flew into Renmark yesterday from Adelaide and that little part from the air and seeing it up close in a number of locations yesterday, it was a sight to behold.
MATT STEPHENS:
Peter Dutton, thanks for your time.
PETER DUTTON:
Pleasure, Matt. Thanks, mate.
[ends]