Interview with Kieran Gilbert, Sky News

Subjects: Queensland Floods, Foreign Assistance for floods

Kevin Rudd MP, Foreign Minister, Federal Member for Griffith

Transcript, E&OE, proof only

12 January 2011

KIERAN GILBERT: The local member for this area of Brisbane in the Federal Parliament is the Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister. He's been out and about helping his constituents today and last night as well. I spoke to Kevin Rudd a short time ago.

Yes, joining me on the program this afternoon the Foreign Minister and the Local Member for Griffith, Kevin Rudd. Mr Rudd, thanks for your time. You've obviously been very busy with your constituents. Talk us through what you've seen over the last few hours.

KEVIN RUDD: Well in — we're in my electorate, where we're standing at the moment, so this community of mine probably has about a dozen suburbs which front on to the Brisbane River behind us here.

But what's often not seen is we have a number of feeder creeks which come in to the Brisbane River as well, like Norman Creek. Where I was this morning was in one of those suburbs, in fact where I live, Norman Park, where a large slab of the suburb is now increasingly under water — because the feeder creek's being backed up by tides and the rest are actually rising rapidly.

So, what have we been doing?

Basically helping people get their gear out of their homes, towing cars, getting them from low ground to high ground, and getting people's precious effects up and out of there. Also just making sure that people have got what they need right now.

KIERAN GILBERT: We know that the estimate's about 20,000 homes. Do you think that that's about right?

KEVIN RUDD: Look, I won't put numbers on at this stage. But let's go to my own electorate, which is, you know, one large slab of what's happening with the Brisbane River here. There are 125,000 people in my electorate — 50,000 or 60,000 homes. Those which border the actual river itself and then go back a bit, as well as the creeks — you're looking at about a quarter of those homes which are potentially affected, I think. And this depends of course on the magical number and how much it rises. The mood though among people is good.

I mean you may have heard this 1000 times before — but neighbours suddenly discovering neighbours they never knew they had. Like, last night, I was over in West End in a street called Duke Street where suddenly the water just came up like that, and people just arrived, and we just formed a, you know, a human chain of getting stuff in and out of the house, and after a couple of hours work it worked.

So those sort of stories are happening in very practical and quite moving ways right across my community right now.

KIERAN GILBERT: And Anna Bligh's mother was one of those in West End, as I understand it, who has evacuated. It's touching everyone in this part of the world isn't it.

KEVIN RUDD: Well Anna's state electorate of South Brisbane falls smack bang within my federal division of Griffith — so our communities overlap. I've heard the story about her mum. I'll let Anna talk about her mum and the circumstances there. But yeah, Anna's just a resident of this community just like I am, and community's pulling together well — but you look in the face of the coppers, these are worried faces, and they're looking at the data as it's coming in and slowly moving that evacuation line back from the banks of the river — back a street and back a street — just to be absolutely sure.

So we're not out of the woods yet mate.

KIERAN GILBERT: Are you hearing that most people are listening to the advice getting out? Because you know, the peak is tomorrow morning, but obviously thousands of homes — you've been talking about it already — have been inundated. Are people listening and getting out as fast as they should be?

KEVIN RUDD: Look, I can only speak for my own community. I reckon, you know, the vast, vast bulk of people are being really sensible, but you know, I ran across a pensioner guy this morning who I was ready to box because I couldn't get him to move. So I've sooled the coppers onto him to get him out — because people have been in place for a long time and they don't want to move. But it doesn't pass the first test of common sense to stay around, but the bulk of people are saying yep, we've had a day or two to get our stuff together. We haven't got all of it — we've got the stuff which is really important, and we're out.

And you know, it's just human nature. Some people are well prepared, but others less so, and that's where the community's kicked in — and it's been... this is a good community. They're really good people.

KIERAN GILBERT: Very gruesome news isn't it, out of the Lockyer Valley. The death toll's up again. That search continues and Anna Bligh and the Prime Minister there, the message is essentially that we can expect to climb even further. It's just devastating, isn't it, up there.

KEVIN RUDD: Look, yeah, I was talking to — or texting Barnaby Joyce last night on what's happening out that way. And look — it's just awful. It's sort of — it tears your heart out. The — how do you confront a wall of water like that? Whoever described it as an inland tsunami has got it about right I think. It's — Toowoomba. Those of us in Queensland, the idea of there being a flash flood in Toowoomba doesn't enter the mind.

It's up there in the Darling Downs. It's the top of what we call the Toowoomba Range. When we think floods we don't think Toowoomba. So there's some — it's just, yeah, it breaks your heart what's going on up there.

KIERAN GILBERT: I suppose this — just one last question, it touches on your job as Foreign Minister, but still relevant as the Local Member, I mean there's been lots of offers of help, of sympathy internationally. How much do we take from other countries — we're obviously a wealthy nation and we're a lot better equipped than most to deal with disaster.

KEVIN RUDD: Well you know something, our natural disaster preparedness arrangements in Australia and here in Queensland are among the better ones in the world. We're not perfect, but we do it okay, and there's always things to improve.

So what I have said — and will say repeatedly as Foreign Minister rather than the local member is a deep expression of thanks to all the governments and peoples of the world who have expressed solidarity, sympathy, support and provided you know all range and manner of military assistance to deal with the natural disaster.

But the key thing is to make sure that this accords with our own natural disaster management plans.

If we experience a major capability gap — I know what the army guys are like, I know what the SES guys are like, they'll be the first one to put up their hand saying, we don't have this kit — and we need it from them. So there's no sort of false pride on our part in not taking stuff — it's just rational.

Because the worst thing you can do is to have, you know, 50 countries arrive from the world — dump a whole lot of stuff here — and then you've got to suddenly absorb and deploy it. So our guys, the army, SES, they're a bunch of troopers. People in the sky... they have it as well under control as you can. And the good thing is I see all three levels of government working together, putting political nonsense to one side.

KIERAN GILBERT: Mr Rudd, appreciate your time. Good luck to you and your constituents over the next difficult 24 hours.

KEVIN RUDD: Well the 24 hours is going to be hard — but as I keep saying to people right across Australia, stick with us for the next three months, six months, nine months, 12 months. Queensland's a fantastic state. You know, I'm a proud Queenslander. It's — makes a huge contribution to the nation and it's suffered a huge kick in the guts, so the Australian Government will be standing shoulder to shoulder with the Queensland Government, and making sure this state's rebuilt. And that's as it should be, for all Australians, Queenslanders as well.

KIERAN GILBERT: All the best. Thanks Mr Rudd.

KEVIN RUDD: Ta mate.

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