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Scott Morrison will ask for a national emergency to be declared in Queensland after floods which have killed 13 people and damaged at least 4000 homes.

The prime minister says he will ask the governor-general to make the declaration on Friday after speaking with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and touring flood-hit parts of the state's southeast on Thursday.

"I'll see him tomorrow, and we'll be advancing those issues having undertaken the necessary consultation with the premiers of Queensland and of NSW," Mr Morrison told reporters in Gympie.

Earlier on Thursday, Ms Palaszczuk said it would be pointless to make a declaration because the immediate crisis had passed and disaster declarations in 17 local government areas were set to be lifted within three days.

"The time for that national emergency (declaration) was probably a week ago," Ms Palaszczuk told reporters.

"So we've actually gone past that. The floodwaters have gone down, they've subsided, and ... those disaster declarations will be lifted on Sunday."

Ms Palaszczuk said the prime minister had been very good in offering ADF personnel to help the state government with its recovery efforts.

However, Mr Morrison said there was "a bit of a misunderstanding" about the effect of a national emergency declaration.

The prime minister said rather than unlocking more funding for victims or allowing larger Australian Defence Force deployments in flood zones, the declaration removed regulatory hurdles for support to reach people in a more streamlined way.

"Which particularly becomes more relevant as you move through the recovery phase," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Morrison has defended a decision to deny 17 of the state's 20 applications for Commonwealth flood mitigation funding.

The three projects which received federal funding were in the state's far north and Gulf regions, rather than the heavily populated southeast.

The prime minister said grants from the $5 billion fund were not unlimited, and that flood mitigation works were ultimately a local and state government responsibility.

"When it comes to urban water management and things of that nature, these are responsibilities of local authorities and the state government," he said.

"The question I could equally put to you is, 'Why haven't they funded them, why do state governments constantly come to the federal government to pay for things that are responsibilities of state governments?'."

Ms Palaszczuk said all 20 project applications, including an upgrade of the state's flood warning system, were only worth $127 million, which she described as not much from a $5 billion fund.

"You can't have a fund and not use it. So I honestly believe that if you've got the money there, let's get it out the door," she said.

Meanwhile, Ms Palaszczuk said insurance claims on private cars, homes and businesses from the floods have topped $1 billion.

Flood Recovery Co-ordinator Major-General Jake Ellwood said 4000 homes were moderately or severely damaged, with thousands more damage assessments still to be done.

More than 41,000 individuals and 344 businesses had by Wednesday afternoon been paid $7 million in joint state and federal hardship grants.

The premier also said 169 farms have lost fencing, 117 properties have lost equipment and 53 per cent of those making claims reported suffering a major or catastrophic impact from the deluge.

© AAP 2022

The number of personnel in Australia's defence force will be increased in the largest boost during peacetime.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday outlined plans to increase the ADF workforce by more than 18,000 by 2040, as part of a nearly $40 billion plan.

The increase would be a 30 per cent boost over the next two decades, bringing the number of permanent ADF personnel to 80,000, with the total defence workforce growing to more than 100,000.

Mr Morrison said the move, which had been flagged for more than a year, was a significant step forward.

"We don't leave our tasks of defence to others ... we take it up ourselves and that means we're a contributor," Mr Morrison told reporters in Brisbane.

The defence force increase was highlighted as part of a 2020 force structure plan, and was agreed to by the national security committee of cabinet in late 2021.

The prime minister said while it would take nearly 20 years for the defence force to reach the increased figure, it was not a case of too little, too late.

"We have built a web of alignment among like-minded countries in our region to defend this country - we're putting boots on the ground," he said.

"We're better prepared today, we are more ready today, than many could have imagined."

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said Labor would increase defence spending to two per cent of GDP should it win the next election.

In an address to the Lowy Institute, Mr Albanese questioned the timing of the prime minister's defence announcement, after Mr Morrison made a similar address at the institute earlier this week.

"The prime minister was here on this stage how many days ago? Two or three? Why is there an announcement made today about defence issues? I think we know the answer," he said.

"We need to treat national security seriously."

Defence Minister Peter Dutton said the ADF expansion was vital given rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific region, along with conflicts in Europe.

"It is going to be necessary to supplement particularly in space, in cyber, in our naval assets, our underwater capability, our autonomous vehicles," he said.

"That provides a deterrence and makes us a more credible partner with the United Kingdom and with the United States and with NATO ... and if we are to rely on them, they need to rely on us."

Opposition defence spokesman Brendan O'Connor said Labor agreed with increasing the size of the ADF, but that the timing of the move by the government was a distraction from a slow response to the flooding crisis in NSW and Queensland.

"Having sat on a decision taken last year to boost ADF numbers, the Morrison-Joyce government has waited until the eve of an election to make yet another announcement that won't take effect for 18 years," he said.

"(The government) only met 90 per cent of permanent force recruitment targets in 2020/21 and have failed to meet 2016 defence white paper targets every year since 2015/16."

© AAP 2022

Members of the crew that discovered the wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton's lost ship say the vessel is in remarkably good condition after 107 years at the bottom of the sea.

The ship, Endurance, became stuck in ice and sank in the Weddell Sea off the coast of Antarctica in 1915.

A mission vessel launched in February, a month after the 100th anniversary of Shackleton's death, has found Endurance at a depth of 3008 metres and approximately 7km south of the position originally recorded by the ship's captain Frank Worsley.

The expedition's director of exploration said the discovery was made with just days left in the mission's window of exploration, as the crew was being battered by minus 18C winds.

"It was just a brilliant moment," Mensun Bound told the PA news agency.

"We were patting each other on the back. There was laughter and rejoicing on the bridge, which is usually a very sober place but not that day- it was a wonderful moment."

Bound said Endurance was an incredible sight to behold.

"It's sitting there proud on the seabed. It's upright and its state of preservation is absolutely remarkable," he said.

"You can see the paintwork on it, you can count the fastenings on the timbers and to cap it all you have that amazing situation right in the stern where you can see the ship's wheel perfectly intact."

He said the ship's name was visible, and its broken rudder was lying on the floor.

"When the rudder was ripped aside and torn off that was when the water entered Endurance and then it was game over."

Shackleton and his crew had set out to achieve the first land crossing of Antarctica but Endurance became trapped in dense pack ice, forcing the 28 men on board eventually to abandon ship.

They were stuck in the ice for around 10 months before escaping in lifeboats and on foot.

The Endurance22 Expedition set off from Cape Town, South Africa last month aiming to find the wreck after 107 years.

Expedition leader John Shears said with temperatures dropping, there were just three or four days left in the mission when the discovery was made.

"We were right on the end of the Antarctic summer season. We could have been in real danger of having the vessel trapped in ice," he said.

"To actually see the wreck when it's so pristine - it's as if that wreck just sunk yesterday - was a real jaw-dropping moment for me.

"When I saw the first images I had no comprehension it would be as spectacular as it is."

© PAA 2022