Mr MILLS - 2007-08-30
Is it not the case that there are only two buildings that were hit with the eye wall winds of Cyclone Monica? Both were at Martjanba Outstation on Wessel Islands. Both were built to code, and both were blown away, complete with foundations, and destroyed.
The Department of Planning and Infrastructure website has a fact sheet which says:
Considering that the only buildings which faced the full might of Cyclone Monica were destroyed, can you please explain your department’s advice?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, my colleagues are shouting out because Cabinet did not receive a comprehensive brief from the agency or from the experts who did the assessment post-cyclones. What we did find at Croker is that the buildings actually withstood the intensity of that cyclone extremely well.
What it showed us is that the most modern buildings – the buildings built under the existing code - withstood the extremely intense cyclone. The old buildings were blown away. It certainly showed our engineers, straight up, in evidence going out and visiting the island, that we have been building to code and those buildings we built to code to withstand a cyclone. What Cabinet wanted to do was some structural engineering testing of the buildings that survived the cyclone to be able to get some engineering feedback on whether there had been any unseen, if you like, damage to the structural integrity of the building.
All of the advice coming back from the expert engineers within the agency is very comforting advice, in that buildings built to code and modern contemporary buildings, houses and other structures, such as schools and the like, withstand well. What we do know is that buildings built prior to the implementation of the code are blown away, and anyone who survived Cyclone Tracy, as I did, knows exactly what that actually means to families going through those circumstance.
This government takes the issue of increasing intensity of cyclones extremely seriously. We have had several presentations to Cabinet on the subject of the engineering integrity and the results of intense cyclones going through, particularly our coastal communities, in recent years. I can categorically say that evidence actually shows that those buildings built to code withstood the cyclone well. We went back and tested their structural integrity as well. The results were very positive.
Further to that, as I said in my previous answer, we are part of a high-level national research study that is modelling the increasing intensity of cyclones, and various engineering options regarding structures and, if there is a change in the code, what that change should be. Early advice from the experts has been that the code is satisfactory. This is not just the Northern Territory participating in these discussions. They are national level discussions, across Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. My concern was that that modelling was occurring, basically, out of the Top End in Queensland - not surprisingly, as a result of Cyclone Larry. As minister, I had expressly asked that we be included with modelling in the Territory.
The Department of Planning and Infrastructure website has a fact sheet which says:
- Experience with Cyclones Ingrid (2005) and Monica (2006) has shown that buildings built to code can withstand severe conditions very well.
Considering that the only buildings which faced the full might of Cyclone Monica were destroyed, can you please explain your department’s advice?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, my colleagues are shouting out because Cabinet did not receive a comprehensive brief from the agency or from the experts who did the assessment post-cyclones. What we did find at Croker is that the buildings actually withstood the intensity of that cyclone extremely well.
What it showed us is that the most modern buildings – the buildings built under the existing code - withstood the extremely intense cyclone. The old buildings were blown away. It certainly showed our engineers, straight up, in evidence going out and visiting the island, that we have been building to code and those buildings we built to code to withstand a cyclone. What Cabinet wanted to do was some structural engineering testing of the buildings that survived the cyclone to be able to get some engineering feedback on whether there had been any unseen, if you like, damage to the structural integrity of the building.
All of the advice coming back from the expert engineers within the agency is very comforting advice, in that buildings built to code and modern contemporary buildings, houses and other structures, such as schools and the like, withstand well. What we do know is that buildings built prior to the implementation of the code are blown away, and anyone who survived Cyclone Tracy, as I did, knows exactly what that actually means to families going through those circumstance.
This government takes the issue of increasing intensity of cyclones extremely seriously. We have had several presentations to Cabinet on the subject of the engineering integrity and the results of intense cyclones going through, particularly our coastal communities, in recent years. I can categorically say that evidence actually shows that those buildings built to code withstood the cyclone well. We went back and tested their structural integrity as well. The results were very positive.
Further to that, as I said in my previous answer, we are part of a high-level national research study that is modelling the increasing intensity of cyclones, and various engineering options regarding structures and, if there is a change in the code, what that change should be. Early advice from the experts has been that the code is satisfactory. This is not just the Northern Territory participating in these discussions. They are national level discussions, across Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. My concern was that that modelling was occurring, basically, out of the Top End in Queensland - not surprisingly, as a result of Cyclone Larry. As minister, I had expressly asked that we be included with modelling in the Territory.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016