Australia weighs creating disaster relief force as floods hit south-east

SYDNEY – Australia is considering setting up a disaster relief force to help relieve a military overstretched by regular natural disasters, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Jan 9, as towns in the country’s south-east were evacuated due to flooding.

The floods come after Australia endured some of its worst bush fires over the “Black Summer” of 2019 and 2020, followed by a devastating bout of flooding on the east coast in 2022.

Roughly half the Australian Defence Force’s 62,000 troops were involved in disaster relief over that period, a commitment which undermined its ability to defend the country, the Department of Defence said in 2023.

Mr Albanese said the government was considering creating a standing reserve body, although the country needed to be flexible and use whatever assets it had on hand during disasters.

“Tragically, in this beautiful country of ours, natural disasters are becoming more frequent and more intense,” he told ABC Radio, ahead of a visit to Queensland state, which was hit by a cyclone just before Christmas.

“We were told that would be an impact of climate change, and unfortunately we are seeing that play out.”

Further south in Victoria, the state emergency service on Jan 9 warned residents of Rochester, roughly 150km north of Melbourne, it was too late to evacuate from rising flood waters as heavy storms caused flooding in 13 rivers in the state.

A 74-year-old woman trapped in flood waters nearby was rescued on Jan 8 after a man swum out and helped her hold on for more than an hour until emergency services arrived.

Residents in the low-lying parts of the nearby towns of Seymour and Yea were also told to evacuate on Jan 8.

While the rain has stopped, rivers are expected to rise for several days. REUTERS