Mr FORREST (1:37 PM) —I came in to speak on this very important matter, believing it to be a nonpartisan way in which we could use the resources of the parliament to bring a very serious issue into focus and set some direction on it. So it is a disappointment to hear the member for Prospect's contribution. She should understand that the government is committed to mitigation, and it has provided funding for it: $27 million—$10 million over two years for mitigation works in urban areas, $10 million in regional areas and $7 million for regional flood plain management. To hear the kind of contribution of the member for Prospect, which is one of cheap politics being played on the matter before us—a matter on which we could finally get together and achieve a bit of momentum to get some change for the positive good—just destroys my enthusiasm.

The particular issue on which I speak is not so much to do with a particular disaster which has happened in my own electorate but one that is waiting to happen there. Like the member for Indi, I reside on the Murray River in the provincial city of Swan Hill. That city is very well protected as it is surrounded by levee banks, but it has a significant local flooding problem. With hindsight, it would probably be said that it was a silly place to build a provincial city. But, sadly, unlike the member for Lindsay, we have the problem of this being where the city's population is already located; and the cost of relocating provincial cities with populations of 15,000 or more is equally expensive as compensating people for being flooded.

More particularly, Swan Hill has a very local problem. Three weeks ago the city of Swan Hill had six inches of rainfall over a period of 12 hours which completely inundated the inside of the city. Swan Hill's drainage makes its way into a very large open-channel drainage system which ultimately makes its way to the river. Had the Murray River been at the high level at which it normally is in early spring, Swan Hill would have had a major problem on its hands—and it is that potential problem that relates to the very topic which has been brought to the attention of the House today by the member for Cunningham.

The member has my enthusiastic support in asking that the parliament take this matter further because I would like to see the city in which I reside being prevented from having to face the massive difficulties that have confronted cities like Wollongong, which much of the comment has been about here this morning.

For instance, over the weekend I pulled out a copy of my household insurance policy—and that is something that all unsuspecting members of the public should do, so that they understand what this issue is about. Under the definitions section, it defines `flood' and states, `the inundation of normally dry land by water escaping or released from the normal confines of any natural water course or lake, whether or not altered or modified, or of any reservoir, canal or dam'. This clause provides a wonderful environment for legal counsellors representing insurance firms and loss adjustors. It has been my personal experience that, even if six inches of rain falls on my backyard and finds its way over the rim of the slab beneath the house, that is a flood and not insurable. This comes as an enormous shock to people in the provincial residential city of Swan Hill.

Since my time of being involved on local council and agitating to have comprehensive local drainage improved within the city—and some of that has been done, I am pleased to say—I have warned that within Swan Hill we have a disaster waiting to happen; that we will have a situation where Swan Hill residents are confronted with the same difficulty as that currently being confronted by the constituents of other members contributing to this debate. I urge the parliament to give its support to having this matter referred to a committee. Committees are a tremendous opportunity for us to be able to provide a public focus, collect evidence and succeed in getting some action on this matter. I am hopeful that we can do that before the people living in my city have to confront the same trauma as that which has confronted the constituents of other members. This motion has my wholehearted support.