House of Representatives
29 March 2022

In the weeks following the February floods in Queensland, I was out in places like Goodna in my electorate, helping with the recovery effort. Let me tell you: it is heartbreaking to stand across from someone who has lost everything and tell them they are not eligible for the same support as their counterparts across the New South Wales border. They ask me why, when they have lost absolutely everything, they receive different treatment. At every turn, I've done my utmost not to politicise this disaster. But, with the government yet to provide an adequate explanation of their own, I can only come to one possible conclusion: this Prime Minister is so politically cynical and desperate that he would resort to allocating disaster funding based upon the electoral goals of his party. There is no other explanation. The flood communities in my electorate are being treated like second-class citizens because they were not seen as important to the LNP's election plans. The people in Goodna don't care about petty political gains. They don't care about what seats the LNP are targeting. They just want help. I would like to see this Prime Minister walk the streets of Goodna and explain to my constituents why their loss is only worth one-third of the support granted in New South Wales. The truth is that people in my electorate are just as deserving, and I will never stop fighting to ensure they are treated as such.