Portfolio — 30 March 2026

The Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories and Minister for Emergency Management, Ms McBain, used a parliamentary statement on 30 March to report on the government's response to Ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle — a weather event notable for being the first since 2005 to affect all three tropical-north jurisdictions simultaneously [TA-260330-house-326949c748de:s241].

The cyclone made landfall near Coen in Queensland as a category 4 system, arriving on top of weeks of prior monsoon flooding and the earlier Ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji. The compound nature of the event — consecutive cyclones and sustained flooding across Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia — marks it as an exceptional season rather than a single discrete disaster.

The physical damage was severe. Wind gusts of 250 kilometres per hour and over 350 millimetres of rainfall struck Exmouth on the Western Australian coast, stripping roofs from homes, downing power lines, causing widespread outages, uprooting trees, and inflicting significant damage to the Ningaloo Reef. Learmonth airport remains restricted to emergency services only, with ADF support drawn from RAAF Base Learmonth [TA-260330-house-326949c748de:s241].

The government's immediate fiscal response activated disaster recovery funding arrangements with all three affected states and territories, making the shires of Exmouth, Carnarvon and Shark Bay eligible for Commonwealth recovery assistance [TA-260330-house-326949c748de:s241]. That assistance encompasses emergency grants enabling individuals and families to replace essential household items and carry out minor home repairs, with wellbeing services also available.

The activation of arrangements across three jurisdictions simultaneously reflects the cross-border scale of the event.

Ms McBain confirmed the government is coordinating with all state and territory governments across both the response and recovery phases. The Assistant Minister for Emergency Management is on the ground in Western Australia today alongside Premier Cook, signalling direct ministerial presence in the most heavily affected coastal area at the acute phase of the response.