Minister ‘working every day’ as flood disaster strikes state’s north

2 months ago 20

The Queensland government has defended the minister responsible for flood recovery after she booked leave that coincided with the state’s peak summer disaster season.

Parts of the central and northern Queensland coast received a third of their annual rainfall during the Christmas and New Year period, with some towns between Cairns and Townsville recording upwards of 1300 millimetres.

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines said flooding had reached moderate levels in coastal parts of central and northern Queensland, but widespread rainfall over inland regions had seen major flooding of the Flinders and Western rivers.

Cloncurry, 100km east of Mount Isa, recorded more than 420mm of rain between Christmas Eve and January 1.

“This part of the country typically averages between 450 and 600 millimetres of rain in a year, so, for some of these spots, it’s about a year’s worth of rainfall falling in approximately the space of a week towards the end of 2025,” Hines said.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said despite criticism of Disaster Recovery Minister Ann Leahy’s leave arrangements, which had been scheduled to start just as heavy rain hit the state’s north, “she actually didn’t go on leave”.

“She cancelled her leave the day she went on leave because of this … she’s been working every day,” Bleijie said from the Sunshine Coast, where he spoke to the media about funding for police helicopters in the region.

Disaster Recovery Minister Ann Leahy had booked leave from the final week of December.

Leahy has not travelled to North Queensland, but has been speaking with mayors in the affected regions and has joined disaster management committee meetings online.

While rainfall eased from about Wednesday, Hines said inland regions might not have seen the worst of the flooding.

“The Flinders River currently is seeing major flooding, and actually the river levels [in that region] are well above the major flood level,” Hines said.

“It’s likely to be major flooding for, certainly, several days, but probably at least a couple of weeks – it takes a long time for floodwaters to recede over that part of the country.”

Bleijie said the Local Government Association of Queensland peak body had praised Leahy for providing “the most engagement they’ve ever had from a minister for disaster recovery”.

“The reports I’m getting from the LGAQ and others is they could not be more happy with what support [they’ve had] and what Ann has done,” he said.

At least one person has died in floodwaters since storms hit the region, with emergency services on Tuesday recovering the body of a man in his 70s from a vehicle that had been inundated near Normanton, a town in the state’s north-west sitting along the Flinders River.

Some inland areas of northern Queensland have recorded their entire average annual rainfall since Christmas.

Hines said some rainfall was likely to hit Cairns and Townsville on the weekend, which could lead to minor flooding, but said the river levels had fallen from those recorded earlier in the week.

The weather bureau maintained major and minor flood warnings on Friday in two dozen rivers across the state.