Pat Conroy (Charlton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On 20 and 21 April 2015, the Hunter region was hit by one of the most devastating weather events in recent history. The east coast low that moved across the Hunter, Central Coast, Illawarra and Sydney regions over those two days has left a legacy of physical damage and debris that will take months if not years to recover from. Of course, for some families whose loved ones lost their lives, the recovery will be heartbreakingly slow, and my thoughts are with those families.

In my region of Lake Macquarie, the damage was widespread. The cyclonic conditions of heavy rain and wind gusts, some in excess of 135 kilometres per hour, battered the area for over 24 hours. Fallen trees littered backyards and roads, and in the worst cases many large trees fell on homes and vehicles, causing major damage and trauma. Properties in low-lying lake-side areas of south-western Lake Macquarie were affected as the water levels in Lake Macquarie rose, with further localised flooding affecting homes and traffic movements around the lake. The swell in some parts of the lake also caused major damage to jetties and moored vessels.

The gale-force winds caused extensive damage to the electricity network, leaving tens of thousands of residents without power for up to a week. The outage also impacted on Hunter Water's pumping stations and reservoirs, leaving residents at Bonnells Bay, Cameron Park, Elermore Vale, New Lambton Heights, and Coal Point among those in the catchment area without both power and water, and the rest with limited water resources. With the heavy rainfall, most of Hunter Water's stormwater channels reached capacity, although I am pleased to see those in the flood prone areas of Cardiff and Wallsend did not breach and cause the extensive flooding in those areas that we saw in the 2007 'Pasha Bulker' storm.

More than 8,500 calls were placed with the State Emergency Services across the Hunter over the period, the largest number in their 60-year history. Like other members, I want to thank the SES for their swift and effective response. Theirs was a formidable task, and the speed with which extra crews and resources were brought into our area was excellent. When I called into the SES Headquarters in Cooranbong a fortnight ago, I met with many volunteers from as far abroad as South Australia and Western Australia, as well as crews from the South Coast of New South Wales, who had already completed clean-up operations in their own area before moving to the Hunter effort.

Similarly, the response from utilities providers must be commended. The Ausgrid, Hunter Water and Telstra networks were all significantly damaged, and each provider responded promptly by sending crews to work at all hours and in the most testing conditions, prioritising workloads and ensuring that the safety of the public and their workforce was paramount. Hunter Water, for example, was quick to provide bottled water to affected customers, and Telstra quickly ensured phone calls from public boxes were provided at no charge. Ausgrid, in particular, should be praised for their communications throughout the outage period, providing regular updates of affected areas and graphic maps to monitor reconnection areas.

Lake Macquarie City Council and Newcastle Council were quick to respond during the event with the closure of beaches and public facilities. As the clean-up kicks into gear, a number services are being provided. Lake Macquarie Council, for instance, is offering increased and free waste services, free mulch for gardens and an inspection service to assess provide advice on structural damage to homes. ABC 1233 Newcastle was the conduit that kept the region connected in the most isolated times. The broadcast team were able to immediately transition to emergency broadcasting mode, providing ongoing weather and power updates, safety advice and general information. For so many without power, the voices on the radio were their only source of information. Whether it was on a battery operated radio, in the car, or via the mobile app, the team from ABC 1233 were there throughout the day and night providing up-to-date information on power issues, road and school closures, public transport diversions and other essential information.

The Australian government's response, through both the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Assistance arrangements and the disaster relief payments, is welcome support for residents, businesses and councils who are significantly affected. The emergency response from all agencies has been, and continues to be, commendable, and I have the greatest praise for the work of those involved with the operation. I do want to thank the officers of Ministers Keenan and Payne, who provided invaluable support during this time. I am also thankful to the Deputy Prime Minister for his call to me during this period to ask what else could be done.

However, it would be remiss of us in this place if we did not acknowledge the opportunities learnt from the experience and to develop our emergency response system. To this end, I am pleased to have been included in the ongoing consultation of the Hunter Central Coast Recovery Group. From my conversations with SES volunteers and coordinators, I believe there is an opportunity for the role of the SES to be clarified and, in some cases, for the resilience of communities to be strengthened. There are, quite simply, some things that the SES cannot, or should not, be asked to do and, at times like this, it is prudent to acknowledge that more can be done when it comes to educating the public on this point. This frees up their resources when they are under incredible pressure for the benefit of all. There were a number of medical and aged-care facilities without power for an extended period of time, and that is of concern; we must use this experience as a catalyst to assess the appropriateness of these arrangements.

Whilst there can be no criticism of the ABC and their efforts on the ground to cover the situation, there is no doubt that the local team were under pressure as a result of reduced funding. There is clearly room for improvement in the Australian government's response. The criteria for payment under the Australian government's disaster recovery payment was recently changed and now requires at least 25 per cent damage to the habitable areas of a home to have sustained damage. This precludes residents who have suffered a loss of utilities, such as electricity, water, gas, sewerage services and other essential services. Not all people affected by the storm will qualify for this government support. This change has occurred in the last 18 months and it has had an impact on my community. For many families, their experiences in the storm meant several days without power or cooking facilities and damage to fences or external areas, while those with children face widespread and lengthy school closures. For some, the added costs of restocking a freezer or fridge after throwing out spoiled food, of eating out more frequently, of travelling further for essential items or for purchasing generator fuel have placed an unexpected strain on their ability to make ends meet. As I speak with my community, it is clear that this has placed considerable financial hardship on them, and we should be doing more to help.

Along with my Labor colleagues in the Hunter region, we have made representations to the Minister for Social Services about this issue. The department provides Commonwealth funding to community organisations that help address immediate basic needs in times of financial crisis through the Emergency Relief program. Our local ER service providers are telling us their resources are fully stretched and that they are struggling to cope with a massively increased demand for their services following the storm. For example, the Samaritans Foundation in Newcastle has brought forward the launch of its 2015 winter appeal and is establishing an information assistance centre in response to the storm event. This is a direct result of the changed criteria.

I accompanied the Centrelink disaster relief team when they visited communities in my area, such as Wyee and Cooranbong, and I met many families in great distress: I met grown men in tears, I met pensioners who had no idea how they were going to restock their fridges, I met families who had sewage coming through their bathrooms. There is no doubt that an opportunity exists for the Commonwealth to help support those in the community who are vulnerable as a result of this natural disaster. Minister Keenan has it in his discretion to loosen the criteria for these payments and, if he chooses not to do that, Minister Morrison has been asked by me and others to deliver one-off increased funding for emergency relief providers in storm affected regions, such as those in the Hunter. Despite my best efforts, I have been unable to secure a meeting with the minister regarding this request. With the need to respond to disaster affected areas in a timely manner, the government has to provide funding of this kind immediately. This should have been in the budget, and it was not. Coupled with the recent cuts to the ER program, we have a situation whereby charities and community groups are stretched beyond capacity although they are still not turning people away. To ask them to do more with less is unreasonable, but to put them in this position is simply cruel. These groups are the ideal organisations to deliver the much needed assistance. They have the networks and they have established trust with local communities that are essential for helping vulnerable people and those who are still affected.

In conclusion, I applaud the efforts of my community to weather and recover from the storm. I applaud the efforts of the volunteers from throughout Australia who flocked to the Hunter region to help. I applaud the speedy intervention of the New South Wales and federal governments. I applaud the efforts of ministers and their officers. I do acknowledge their great work in this area, but more needs to be done. I am very conscious that we should not politicise this issue, but we need to understand the impact of the changed assistance criteria for local communities. I have people in tears talking to me in person; I have people in tears contacting my office. We need to do more; we need to be compassionate when disaster strikes. I urge the current government to provide more emergency relief funding to organisations to assist in this dire time.

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