MELISSA DOWNES, HOST: Welcome back to our special coverage as Cyclone Alfred heads towards the Queensland coastline. I have to admit this has probably been the strangest cyclone coverage I've ever done. This preamble of Cyclone Alfred is, as it drags on it, just is not what we're used to. But we do have to continue to take it seriously because we know it is sitting off our coast, it is coming our way, and even though it may be downgraded to a Category 1, it is still going to do an awful lot of damage.

JOE BUFFONE, NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY DEPUTY COORDINATOR-GENERAL: This morning we’ve just briefed the PM on, first of all, weather, operational footprint and situation, and then also in relation to recovery planning and recovery activities. I think there's some key actions that you will see that are occurring today. The cyclone has slowed and is starting to have some impacts, but it is now looking that it will impact probably tomorrow morning. Still a very, very, very dynamic situation. The thing I would like to do though is two things.

A $15 million Community Recovery Support Fund, jointly funded by the Albanese and Minns Governments, is now available to NSW councils and their communities following the impacts of the Cyclone Alfred weather event.

Activated councils will have up to $1 million in funding made available once impacts are known. This will provide proactive support for communities to undertake essential immediate clean up and restoration activities for important community assets such as pre-schools, senior citizen centres, libraries and community halls.

• Community Relief Fund activated for South East Queensland local governments affected by Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
• Funding will be available for councils to assist with the costs of immediate clean-up and early recovery activities.

As Tropical Cyclone Alfred approaches the Queensland coast, $15 million in emergency assistance has been made available to South East councils in the impact zone.

KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: Welcome to Newsday. We start today with the latest on the crisis around Cyclone Alfred and the concerns in South East Queensland and northern New South Wales. Joining me to discuss is the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who's live in the studio. Prime Minister, thanks for your time.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Kieran.

JOE BUFFONE, NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY DEPUTY COORDINATOR-GENERAL: Welcome everyone to the National Situation Room. My name’s Joe Buffone. I'm one of the Deputy Coordinator-Generals here at the National Emergency Management Agency. We've just briefed the Prime Minister on the current situation and you'll hear a little bit about that. In particular the fact that it has slowed down at the moment. There's a couple of key things around that. One is that it gives more time for preparedness, but obviously it is a very, very dynamic situation.

DAVID CRISAFULLI, PREMIER OF QUEENSLAND: Good morning everybody. Overnight, models have confirmed that a cyclone will cross the South East coast of Queensland sometime in late Thursday afternoon to the early hours of Friday morning. We are facing the potential that a cyclone could, in fact, cross the coast on high tide in the middle of the night, and we're asking Queenslanders to prepare for that. We are here today to tell you that we are preparing for that right across all levels of government and agencies to support this state in a difficult period of time.

HOST: Prime Minister, good morning.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. Tough times here in Brisbane.

HOST: Yes, indeed. What can you tell us about the situation as it's currently developing?

CRAIG ZONCA, HOST: Few are flying into Brisbane right now, but one who happens to be has been the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.

LORETTA RYAN, HOST: Yes. Touching down in Brisbane last night. He'll meet with disaster coordinators this morning. Good morning, Prime Minister.

ASH AMBIHAIPAHAR, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR BARTON: Good morning everyone, my name is Ash Ambihaipahar. I am the Labor candidate for the seat of Barton for the upcoming federal election. I just want to welcome everyone here today. In particular, we have some amazing people here at Carlton South Primary School for a wonderful announcement. We have the Prime Minister and we've got the Premier, we've got a couple of ministers as well here, and also we've got the candidate for Banks, Zhi Soon. So, I want to welcome everyone here today. Thank you.