STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator NAMPIJINPA PRICE (Northern Territory) (13:41): Severe flooding has hit large parts of the Northern Territory in recent weeks. In central Australia, heavy rain cut roads, isolated communities and caused significant damage. Recovery is underway, but it will take time.

Now, the Top End is experiencing some of the most significant flooding in decades—homes damaged, roads washed out, essential services disrupted and residents evacuated to emergency shelters. In Katherine, I have seen this firsthand. The damage is real, but so is the response—people getting on with it and doing what needs to be done.

Now, communities are bracing again. They're still cleaning up while preparing for another flood. Territorians are stepping up, but they shouldn't have to do it alone.

Local businesses are the backbone of these communities, and many are still carrying the cost of recovery themselves. Some have lost weeks of trade, and some are facing rising insurance costs or no cover at all. At a time when small businesses across the country are already under pressure, they cannot be left behind in recovery.

That means targeted assistance—not just for households but for the small businesses keeping these communities going—because recovery doesn't happen unless local businesses can reopen and stay viable. I want to acknowledge our emergency services, SES volunteers and ADF personnel working around the clock to keep people safe—locals backing locals. Businesses are reopening, and people are getting back to work: tough town, tough Territory, tough people.

They will rebuild, but local businesses shouldn't have to do it alone.