JOE BUFFONE, DEPUTY COORDINATOR-GENERAL OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: Good morning everyone. I'm Joe Buffone from the National Emergency Management Agency. I'm one of the Deputy Coordinator Generals here. Welcome to the National Situation Room. We have just briefed the Prime Minister on the current situation from a national perspective. The Bureau has briefed him, ADF have briefed him, NEMA has briefed him and we've also briefed on recovery matters that we're preparing for. I think what we've seen here is the positive aspect of the preparedness that has gone ahead of this. We've seen community actually heed the warnings and some are actually in evacuation centres as we speak. The cyclone has de-intensified to a tropical low but will still impact on land and the event is not over. We will still see significant flooding and that is the focus. There are power outages and telecommunication outages that everybody is focused on to actually restore services as quickly as possible, but that will take some time. So I think a key message here will be please avoid floodwaters. Sadly, there is someone missing and there is a search and rescue operation underway. But if I could just ask all community members to please avoid flood waters, do not drive through them because that means that emergency services then have to then go and try to either rescue or find them, which takes resources away from other really important things. So, I'd now like to welcome the PM. Thanks, PM.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well thanks very much, Joe. And thanks, after I speak, we'll hear from Rear Admiral Jonathan Earley, who's taken responsibility for the defence response as well here in the National Situation Room. Millions of people are waiting for landfall on the mainland. We are well prepared. I do want to acknowledge the work that Queenslanders and Northern New South Wales residents have undertaken to be ready. They have responded to the requests, have prepared over recent days, and a shout out as well to the extraordinary work of the volunteers, police and emergency services, everyone involved at different levels of government, and of course, the members of our Australian Defence Force. I do want to acknowledge as well that many of the people who are providing support, including ADF personnel, have themselves, family and close friends who are directly in the path of this extreme weather event. Right now, very clearly we need to stick together and continue to look after each other. The impacts are already being felt and there is worse to come in the hours ahead. We must remain vigilant. This is a very serious weather event. Please do not go outside if that is, at your location, the advice which is there. Stay out of flood waters, do not risk it. These winds are dangerous as well. And be conscious of the fact that debris can fall and can cause serious harm. We've done the preparation with you and we'll be with you through this - that's the message of my Government. We have your back. And we have it in partnership with the different levels of government, with civil society that we're working through, but with all of you as well, who are working so hard to protect your families, your local communities and to get through this. At the worst of times, we are seeing once again the best of the Australian character. We continue to see that in both Queensland and Northern New South Wales. Just some key facts to run through. Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred crossed the Moreton Bay Islands in the early hours of this morning as a Category One cyclone. Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred has been downgraded to a tropical low and is sitting off the coast. Latest modelling indicates it will cross the mainland over the next few hours. Now, while it has been downgraded, very serious risks remain. So, it is important that people do not take this downgrading as a reason for complacency. Its impact will be serious and will intensify over coming hours and indeed over coming days. It will still bring strong winds, heavy rain, flooding and dangerous conditions across South East Queensland and North East New South Wales over this weekend and in the days beyond. Now is the time to remain alert, stay inside and look after each other. Remain safe in your home unless you've been advised to evacuate. Look after your children. Flooding is our major concern, particularly in that area in the southern part of Queensland and in Northern New South Wales. We have grave concerns for a man missing in floodwaters. Police are doing an incredible job continuing that search. The advice remains - if it's flooded, forget it. If it's flooded, forget it. We can't emphasise that too much. There are a number of areas across Queensland and New South Wales where people are being asked to evacuate. It's important that if the SES advise you to evacuate by a certain time, you do so. To not do so means a doubling up of personnel and indeed presents a risk to those people trying to assist people in these regions. Defence Force personnel are on the ground and have been assisting in preparation. Aerial assets are on standby to assist with two light utility helicopters to support recovery in Queensland as well as assets in Coffs Harbour and Bundaberg. Please continue to stay up to date with the latest advice via the Disaster QLD website, the New South Wales SES website, the BoM Bureau of Meteorology website and through your local ABC radio station. We know that there are reports of significant power outages with more than quarter of a million homes without power. Six generators are being loaded and are now on their way from the national stockpile to Lismore via road. So that will take time to get these generators there. There are also mobile and telecommunications outages across Queensland and New South Wales. At the moment the advice is there are several communities with no access because of power outages. State emergency services are aware and are working urgently with energy companies and telcos to restore services. Many of Service Australia's centres in Queensland and New South Wales are closed, but people can complete their business online or by calling their regular payment line. Be prepared and download and set up the MyGov app on your mobile device. The Government of course stands ready to activate disaster payments for both South East Queensland and New South Wales. And I saw firsthand in the visit to the Services headquarters here in Tuggeranong yesterday that that was the case. We will continue to do everything that we can to provide assistance at what is a very difficult time for people in these communities. That will include not just physical support but quite clearly there will be, I think, lasting mental health issues as a result of this. Some of these communities have copped it time and time again and that just makes it so tough for people who've rebuilt, recovered and then find another wave of trauma heading their way along with the cyclone. So I say that please, please stay vigilant over the coming period. We will do what we can as a government and I thank the ongoing liaison that's occurring between my Government, the Crisafulli Government and the Minns Government, as well as local mayors on the ground who are doing what we can. And I certainly thank the Australian Defence Force and I ask Rear Admiral Jonathan Earley to address you now.
REAR ADMIRAL JONATHAN EARLEY CSC, HEAD OF MILITARY STRATEGIC COMMITMENTS: Good morning, everyone. As mentioned by the Prime Minister, my name is Rear Admiral Jonathan Earley and I'm here to provide an update on Defence's contributions to the response to Tropical Cyclone Alfred. The Australian Defence Force continues to work very closely with the National Emergency Management Agency, the Queensland and New South Wales governments and emergency authorities in Queensland and New South Wales to support the planning and response to Tropical Cyclone Alfred. While the state governments remain the primary responders, Defence is ready and prepared to support communities as requested by the Government. As of 8:00 this morning, Defence has supported a number of requests, including the provision of over 300,000 sandbags to Queensland. We have 60 ADF personnel and 30 high clearance vehicles that have already been pre-positioned in Queensland to support police and SES volunteers as we move into the recovery phase. We've also provided 120 ADF personnel and 30 high clearance vehicles in Northern New South Wales. They're there now to assist the local SES. They are supporting the local SES through door knocking as well as conducting welfare checks on the vulnerable members of that community. They will continue to support the SES with road clearance, sandbagging, clearing access to critical infrastructure, damage assessments and also essential services. So to date, Defence has contributions totalling more than 190 defence personnel, and as mentioned 30 high clearance vehicles afforded and apportioned to each state to support the ongoing efforts in disaster relief operations. In terms of rotary wing assets, as mentioned by the Prime Minister, we have two search and rescue capable aircraft ready to go now and we'll also have medium lift helicopter capabilities that will be ready to fly as of tomorrow subject to weather. So to conclude, the ADF stands ready to provide further support through high clearance vehicles, rotary wing support and additional personnel to work alongside the state disaster centres of both states to bolster police and emergency service resources to access affected areas in order to support those communities most in need. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks so much, Rear Admiral. We're happy to take a few questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, obviously a lot of preparation has gone into this cyclone, but it has been downgraded. A similar thing happened in WA a few weeks ago in terms of the storm being downgraded over there. Is it becoming harder to predict these sorts of weather events?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I might get the Bureau to comment on that, that would be appropriate.
DR KARL BRAGANZA, MANAGER OF CLIMATE MONITORING, BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY: No, it's really quite common or relatively common for a tropical cyclone as it approaches land to start behaving a little bit more unpredictably. When they do stall at the coast, they tend to lose the energy support, the energy that really spins up the tropical cyclone, so it needs a nice deep pool of warm water underneath it. So once you see a tropical cyclone starting to stall, then the chances that it will start to drop in category or be downgraded increase.
PRIME MINISTER: If I could just make two quick comments. One is that we certainly have prepared for the worst - that's appropriate. Second comment to make is because of the downgrading, people shouldn't think that the danger has gone away. That is one of the risks here. And I want to emphasise this is a very serious weather event that will have a significant impact. What we want to do is to, we don't want to see any loss of life, but we also want to minimise the impact of this. And part of the way that you do that is by this early preparedness.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you confirmed last night that you will be handing down a budget. What relief can we expect for these cyclone affected communities, plus any cost of living relief in that budget?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we certainly will be providing appropriate support. We stand ready to activate disaster payments. We won't be waiting for the March 25 budget to do that. We will do so expeditiously as is appropriate. The Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment is a one off payment of $1000 per adult and $400 per child for people who've been badly affected by the disaster and need immediate help, need that immediate assistance. That is activated forty hours after the initial impact. The Disaster Recovery Allowance is a payment for up to 13 weeks for people who are unable to work as a direct result of the disaster. That is their businesses have been shut down where they work, so they're therefore unable to do so, or their workplace might be closed, and that's paid through Centrelink. There are also jointly funded payments between the Commonwealth and the states, that are activated by the states. There's a Personal Hardship Assistance Scheme. States can choose to activate these payments, which cover immediate personal costs like replacing food, medical supplies, clothing and essential household items like bed linen and white goods. That is activated by the states.
JOURNALIST: And what cost of living relief will you, new cost of living relief are you providing in the budget?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I'm focused on this issue. The March 25 Budget will be on March 25, as we foreshadowed last year.
JOURNALIST: How damaging do you anticipate this to be to the national economy more broadly? Are there any estimates or forecasts?
PRIME MINISTER: This will have an impact on the national economy - there's no question about that. Already it's having an impact. Businesses are closed, people are unable to go to work. The human impact is one thing, the environmental impact is significant but the economic impact is as well. We will be making that assessment in the coming days.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you planning to visit the impacted areas in coming days? What role are you going to play in coming days? We know that you obviously have ruled out going to visit the Governor-General. So why was that important to you? To be free for this?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, I'm planning to head north when it's appropriate in coming days. We do have a Cabinet meeting, has been long scheduled for Tuesday. Here Monday, for those non-Canberrans watching, is a public holiday here in Canberra. So we have, the regular Cabinet meeting is scheduled for Tuesday. I suggest that that will be going ahead here in Canberra. So, I'll return here. But if I can I certainly want to get to the areas affected, back to the areas affected directly over coming days.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the Coalition spokeswoman for emergency services, Perin Davey, a few days ago refused to rule out that NEMA may be part of the public service cuts under a Coalition government. What would this look like if there were less public servants to help with the recovery efforts and the planning?
PRIME MINISTER: Obviously the public servants here, they're here early on a Saturday morning. They've been here on a 24 hour basis working their guts out in the interest of Australians. Our public servants do just that. They serve the public. They deserve respect.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the results of the WA election could play a key role at the federal election. How confident are you in Labor today?
PRIME MINISTER: I obviously wish my friend Roger Cook all the very best today, but my focus today is solely on this event. I spoke with Premier Cook earlier this week. I wished him well. I had intended to be with him yesterday - we had a joint media conference planned and events. I was planning to be there this morning as well in a range of electorates were scheduled. This was clearly my priority, to stay on the East Coast. It was appropriate that I go to Queensland firstly, but then also then come to the National Situation Room and the National Headquarters of Services Australia and make sure that the coordination was as good as it has been.
JOURNALIST: The United States tariffs could come into effect in four days’ time. Have we secured an exemption?
PRIME MINISTER: We're very much focused on this, but we continue to advocate for Australia's national interests. Thanks very much.