Fears Cyclone Alfred could derail election date 

Labor MPs are worried the planned launch date for the federal election could be derailed by Cyclone Alfred, which threatens to dump nearly a metre of rain on residents in south-east Queensland and northern NSW later this week.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is travelling to Brisbane on Tuesday night, as the federal government activates a national disaster response to provide boots on the ground help to state recovery efforts.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has activated a national disaster response plan ahead of Cyclone Alfred.Credit: Rhett Wyman.

But speaking on the condition of anonymity so they could discuss the issue freely, MPs said Albanese could be discouraged by bad optics from leaving the flood zone to travel to Canberra, which he must do to instruct the governor-general to announce the start of the election campaign.

The prime minister has been widely expected to call the federal election on March 9, the day after the Western Australia state election, with the poll to be held on April 12.

But a pair of ministers told this masthead that many MPs believed Albanese might have to delay plans to call the election this weekend because of the cyclone.

One of the ministers said: “We won’t know until it crosses Thursday night into Friday morning, and whether it’s a fizzer or comparable to [Cyclone] Yasi.”

Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall on the east coast on Thursday night or Friday morning and dump up to 700 millimetres of rain in three days, with towns from Coffs Habour in NSW to Noosa in Queensland on flood watch.

The full extent of local impacts will not be known until days after the cyclone reaches land.

Federal preparatory assistance is swinging into action with heavy-lift helicopters from the national aerial firefighting fleet. A Sikorsky S-61 will be deployed to Coffs Harbour and a UH-60 Black Hawk will be pre-positioned in Bundaberg.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers spoke to media at the sports centre in his Logan electorate, where residents can collect sandbags. He said the cyclone’s flood risk had put thoughts about the election to the back of his mind.

A Sikorsky S-61 helicopter will be deployed to Coffs Harbour, on flood watch. Credit: Laurence Yang.

“Honestly, the timing of the election couldn’t be further from my mind this morning. We’re trying to help local people get ready for this heavy weather which is coming,” he said.

“The prime minister will call the election some time in the next couple of months. That is a matter for him in consultation with his colleagues.”

Emergency Management Minister Jenny McAllister said the federal government was ready to assist if the need for help began to outstrip local capabilities.

“The Albanese government is working closely with state governments to support them with their preparations and plan for their future needs,” McAllister said.

“The coming few days will be challenging, but everyone around the table has a common purpose and that is to keep people safe.”

The National Emergency Management Agency will on Wednesday convene a meeting of industry, businesses and services including supermarkets, freight companies and banks to co-ordinate the national disaster response effort.

The Defence Force is being briefed on the situation, but the federal government has not yet received formal requests for assistance from state governments.

When asked if the election should be delayed due to the cyclone, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said that Albanese should wait until May to hold the poll, so parliament could sit and the budget be delivered.

“The prime minister obviously has got the option to return to parliament, which you would want him to do because there’s important legislation to pass,” Dutton said in a radio interview on Tuesday.

“If the prime minister doesn’t have good news in the budget, which would seem to be the case, then he’s likely to run to an election early – perhaps for April 12.”

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.