Federal treasurer and Queenslander, Jim Chalmers is also asked about the north Queensland flooding.

There is a habit among interviewers and politicians to speak about the “resilience” of Queenslanders when it comes to natural disasters, because, let’s face it, the state is no stranger to Mother Nature’s moods. But there is very rarely talk of ‘what are you doing to stop this” (hint: the answer includes stopping fossil fuel use) even though it should be the ONLY question.

What is often forgotten in the climate back and forth is that we are trying to stop it from getting any worse. The horrific climate disasters we have seen over the last few years – the Black summer bushfires in Australia, the fires and flooding in Europe, the most recent LA fires – that is not going to stop. That’s the new standard, we can’t wind back the clock there. The point of climate action is to stop it getting any worse than what we are ALREADY seeing.

But that’s not asked about enough. So Chalmers is asked what the plan is for communities to recover from these most recent floods. He tells ABC News Breakfast:

It’s true that I think Queenslanders in particular, but right around Australia, people are no strangers to these sorts of natural disasters, unfortunately. They are becoming more frequent.

And that’s why we have tried to reorient funding, not just providing support for response and recovery, which we continue to do, but also investing in mitigation in some of the ways that you’re intimating in your question. There’s been more investment in mitigation. We’re always up for a conversation with the states and territories and local governments about how best we go about that but we have made more money available for that because in addition to responding, making sure people are safe, in addition to investing in communities, helping them recover and rebuild, we also need to make communities more resilient and that’s what we’re doing.

Queensland is experiencing some extreme flooding in its north, with more rain predicted for today, raising fears that those around the Herbert river are about to see the 1967 record for flood levels broken. 57 years ago, the river peaked at 15.2m. It looks like locals could see that record fall, as the waters continue to rise.

That is obviously a terrifying prospect.

Queensland premier David Crisafulli (who grew up in Ingham) told ABC News Breakfast:

I’ve seen images of water in businesses…that never in my wildest dreams thought I’d see water in shops there. Never thought I’d see water in shops there in the high part of town.

I’ve spoken with friends who’ve had homes, businesses friends who’ve had homes, businesses and their farm devastated. It is a really tightknit community. They’ve lost one of their own. Somebody passed away a couple of days ago. passed away a couple of days ago. It’s a really difficult time and they are incredibly resilient people but resilience doesn’t mean they should be left to their own devices. That’s why I’m here and I want to make sure that what we say we’re going to deliver is delivered. going to deliver is delivered.

As it is the first sitting of parliament, there is a bit of ceremonial hoohah to get through before the work of parliament begins.

First up is the traditional Ecumenical church service, where all the MPs gather and hear about peace, love and unity before tearing each other apart in the chambers (if they even make it that long – the tearing apart begins on the church steps usually.

Hello and welcome to the first day of parliament – and the first Australia Institute live blog covering the day’s proceedings.

We will be following along with all the parliament shenanigans as the MPs roll back into Canberra for the faux election campaign. At this stage, all indications are the election will be right on time (as they always are) in early May, which means we have a few sittings to get through.

And while there is some legislation Labor wants to clear off its decks (nature positive laws, anyone?) these next few sittings are all about trying to define the territory the election will be fought on. So far, Labor, in trying to avoid culture wars, has allowed Peter Dutton and the Coalition to set out the battleground and you’ll be shocked to learn, it has nothing to do with actual policy, and everything to do with filling the space with as much noise as possible. There’s not a lot behind that noise (insert angry men yelling at clouds here) but with voters struggling to find a footing in this economy, that anger has some momentum behind it.

Our job is to help you sort through some of that noise and to put the politics into context. You’ll find fact checks and research, and some interesting tidbits here, along with the usual political mess. Oh, and snark. This is after all, still Auspol. We’ll treat it with the respect it deserves. You’ve got Amy Remeikis with you for the day, with the Australia Institute’s formidable brains at your disposal. Thanks for joining us on this first (soft launch) day. We hope you find some value. If you have any thoughts, feel free to hit me up at amy.remeikis@australiainstitute.org.au. Comments and interaction is coming, but for the mean time, let’s see if February is any kinder to us than January.

I have had four coffees (first day nerves!) and the fifth is brewing.

Ready? Let’s get into it.