Regional Queensland sees the benefits of resilience in action

Region-specific resilience strategies have been developed in partnership with local governments to pave the way towards a stronger, more disaster-resilient Queensland.

The first three strategies, for the Central West, Mary and Fitzroy regions, have been released alongside Resilient Queensland in Action, a report outlining the first 18 months of activities and initiatives delivered as part of the Queensland Strategy for Disaster Resilience.

Minister for State Development and Minister responsible for the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) Cameron Dick said the Palaszczuk Government is focused on strengthening disaster resilience across the state, for the benefit of all Queenslanders.

“If our communities are more resilient they can recover from disaster more efficiently and effectively,” Mr Dick said.

“Disaster resilience means we understand the potential disaster risks we face, we work together to better manage disaster risk, and we continually improve how we prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.

“These regional resilience strategies have been created in collaboration with councils and prioritise resilience building and mitigation projects that protect from cyclones, flooding, bushfires, and other severe weather events and associated hazards.

“It’s all about keeping Queenslanders safe, and safeguarding our infrastructure and assets to create a more prosperous future for our state.”

QRA CEO Brendan Moon said the Central West, Mary and Fitzroy regional resilience strategies were specifically tailored to encourage locally led, regionally coordinated management of disaster risks.  

“We know from experience that disasters are not bound by boundaries and the same weather event can have varying impacts on different communities,” Mr Moon said.

“By working together and embedding resilience in our thinking and decision-making we can empower Queenslanders to implement resilience measures and activities as they anticipate, respond to, and adapt to changing circumstances.

“The Queensland Government has committed that by 2022 every local government in the state will have access to a regional resilience strategy that clearly identifies and prioritises actions to strengthen disaster resilience over time.

“The strategies prioritise actions to enhance economic resilience, improve infrastructure, advance disaster recovery operations and increase government capability and capacity.

Mr Dick said Queensland has been hit by more than 80 natural disaster events in the past decade, so greater resilience and faster recovery was crucial to safeguard communities.

“We can be fighting catastrophic bushfires and recovering from once-in-a-century flooding all in a matter of weeks,” he said.

“There is no place in the world like Queensland, especially when it comes to the impacts of natural disasters, so if we can strengthen our resilience now we’ll benefit for generations.”

The regional-specific strategies recognise the factors driving the need to strengthen Queensland’s disaster resilience:

• Natural hazards are more frequent and intense
• Essential services are interconnected and interdependent
• People and assets are more exposed and vulnerable
• Disaster impacts are long term and complex
• Momentum is building to address financial impacts of a changing climate

Regional resilience strategies and the Resilient Queensland in Action report can be downloaded via:

• qra.qld.gov.au/resilient-queensland
• qra.qld.gov.au/centralwest
• qra.qld.gov.au/maryregion
• qra.qld.gov.au/fitzroy

Media contact: Ben Doyle 0400 775 561