Transcript – Doorstop Interview – Ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle – Carnarvon, WA

E&OE TRANSCRIPT 
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW 
CARNARVON, WA 
TUESDAY, 31 MARCH 2026 
  
Subjects: Ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle, disaster relief funding, emergency services, fuel excise 

JOSH WILSON: Thanks, Premier. Good morning everyone. It’s great to be here in Carnarvon with Premier Cook, and as he said yesterday, we announced the Albanese and Cook Labor Governments triggering all those disaster recovery funding arrangements to support the communities affected here in Western Australia by Ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle that caused carnage right across Australia from Queensland in the beginning, and then the Northern Territory, and then finally, here in Western Australia. And as the Premier said, it’s a mixture of emotions when you’re in these communities. Obviously very, very significant harm that’s occurred. People being put through the wringer of a fierce cyclone. The second strongest cyclone after Vance, probably in most people’s lifetime around here. Really, really harmful to all parts of life, households, local governments, community services and businesses here in Carnarvon, particularly pastoralists and crop growers, banana producers.  

We’ve just been out with some very generous farmers, Chris, Les and Rob and they’ve shown us what’s happened to some of their crops. Probably 70% of the fruit there will be lost as a result of this event, and that’s pretty rough. But at the same time, you do see Australians showing their best, rising to these kinds of challenges, and we’ve got SES volunteers behind us who have come up from Perth.  

Yesterday, the Premier took a selfie with some SES volunteers have come all the way across from Queensland. They had with them their token gnome apparently their sort of patron gnome, because they marked 50 years of that particular SES group. Pretty amazing to see Australians from all over this great continent coming to support one another in those circumstances, just as people in these local communities are wrapping their arms around one another. That’s what the Cook Labor Government, the Albanese Labor Government, are going to do as well with the immediate assistance that’s been announced, and then also the consideration in the days to come of what further assistance might be needed based on those disaster impact assessments that follow an event like this.  

At the same time, the Albanese Government recognises that there are these compounding pressures, particularly as a result of the fuel crisis caused by the war in the Middle East, and this week only yesterday, we’ve made an announcement to reduce fuel excise and the heavy vehicle user charge, knowing that that actually is part of the pressure that all Australian communities are experiencing, but particularly primary producers, when you consider the needs, the importance and the input costs related with freight.  

So it is a tough time, but it is a time when you see communities standing up, living up to the best of our Australian values, going about it in a caring, compassionate, can-do way to make the best of very difficult circumstances and build towards a better future. Thank you. 

ENDS