Mr KURRUPUWU - 2015-02-25
Can you please update the Assembly about the plans in place for the people on Elcho Island whose homes were badly damaged by Cyclone Lam?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. He has a range of concerns for all areas, communities and individuals affected by Cyclone Lam. I understand the member for Nelson has made a pairing arrangement for tomorrow so he can visit the community of Maningrida, which is within his electorate. I wish you all the best; please pass on parliament’s considerations to all constituents in Maningrida.
Peoples whose homes are unsafe to live in on Elcho Island in Galiwinku are being safely looked after at the emergency accommodation centre at Shepherdson College. It is not a long-term solution and not the best solution, but it provides a level of amenity.
After a detailed accommodation assessment by NT officials and Emergency Management Australia yesterday, we are moving to establish an emergency accommodation camp with the assistance of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.
This includes heavy-duty shelters with hard floors that can safely provide short-term accommodation to up to 300 residents. This portable habitat has previously been used during bush fires in New South Wales. The mobile habitat shelter is being sent to Darwin today and will go on the barge to Galiwinku tomorrow. It is estimated to arrive in Galiwinku on Friday afternoon and will take 24 hours to construct, establish and set up. It is anticipated this will occur on Saturday, with the shelter opening on Sunday.
A team of NT Fire and Rescue Service and New South Wales Rural Fire Service staff will travel to Galiwinku tomorrow to prepare for the initial arrival of the habitat shelter. Power and Water is working hard to ensure the site will be ready to connect power, water and sewerage. Again, I thank all Power and Water staff.
Discussions have been had on the ground to ensure the shelter will be set up in a culturally appropriate and family friendly manner, which is a very important component of the consideration in its delivery. This is a very short-term solution, designed to be put in place so people have accommodation outside the school cyclone shelter and the school can get back up and running from next Tuesday, everything going well. In the next phase we will seek to establish another camp to provide a long-term solution, while the moderate and longer-term solutions of housing reconstruction, including a broader level of infrastructure development to meet the housing needs of residents of Galiwinku, are put in place.
Thank you to all the staff, government volunteers and others who have helped, and to the residents of Galiwinku. We are working tirelessly to ensure long-term solutions, but getting a roof over their heads tonight, tomorrow and the next day is important in the short term. We are working on the longer-term solutions, which include a full reconstruction effort, the least of which will possibly go into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. He has a range of concerns for all areas, communities and individuals affected by Cyclone Lam. I understand the member for Nelson has made a pairing arrangement for tomorrow so he can visit the community of Maningrida, which is within his electorate. I wish you all the best; please pass on parliament’s considerations to all constituents in Maningrida.
Peoples whose homes are unsafe to live in on Elcho Island in Galiwinku are being safely looked after at the emergency accommodation centre at Shepherdson College. It is not a long-term solution and not the best solution, but it provides a level of amenity.
After a detailed accommodation assessment by NT officials and Emergency Management Australia yesterday, we are moving to establish an emergency accommodation camp with the assistance of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.
This includes heavy-duty shelters with hard floors that can safely provide short-term accommodation to up to 300 residents. This portable habitat has previously been used during bush fires in New South Wales. The mobile habitat shelter is being sent to Darwin today and will go on the barge to Galiwinku tomorrow. It is estimated to arrive in Galiwinku on Friday afternoon and will take 24 hours to construct, establish and set up. It is anticipated this will occur on Saturday, with the shelter opening on Sunday.
A team of NT Fire and Rescue Service and New South Wales Rural Fire Service staff will travel to Galiwinku tomorrow to prepare for the initial arrival of the habitat shelter. Power and Water is working hard to ensure the site will be ready to connect power, water and sewerage. Again, I thank all Power and Water staff.
Discussions have been had on the ground to ensure the shelter will be set up in a culturally appropriate and family friendly manner, which is a very important component of the consideration in its delivery. This is a very short-term solution, designed to be put in place so people have accommodation outside the school cyclone shelter and the school can get back up and running from next Tuesday, everything going well. In the next phase we will seek to establish another camp to provide a long-term solution, while the moderate and longer-term solutions of housing reconstruction, including a broader level of infrastructure development to meet the housing needs of residents of Galiwinku, are put in place.
Thank you to all the staff, government volunteers and others who have helped, and to the residents of Galiwinku. We are working tirelessly to ensure long-term solutions, but getting a roof over their heads tonight, tomorrow and the next day is important in the short term. We are working on the longer-term solutions, which include a full reconstruction effort, the least of which will possibly go into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016