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Australian treasurer: economic toll from flooding ‘will be enormous;” CNN;January 23. In his first economic note of 2011, Swan said “it’s still too early to quantify the impact with any certainty at this stage.” But he said there’s “no question that the economic impact of these floods will be enormous.” Swan said the floods have devastated crops, tourism, retail and manufacturing and have disrupted major urban areas like Brisbane.

“One of the biggest casualties is likely to be our coal exports, with many mines shut down in big coal mining regions like the Bowen Basin, and supply chains severely hampered…”
“While this will be partly offset by higher prices, the loss of production will be hit much harder.”
Swan said the government has already made about $227 million in disaster recovery payments to people who have been affected by the floods.
“Over the coming weeks, months and years, the Commonwealth Government will be investing billions of dollars to get Queensland back on its feet…”

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