Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion moved by the member for Page, and from the outset can I acknowledge that he, like all of us on the New South Wales North Coast, have truly felt the devastation and heartbreaking loss felt by the people in our region. It has been a very difficult time. Make no mistake: the flooding associated with Cyclone Debbie has been devastating. With so many homes wrecked and businesses destroyed, it is a very long road to rebuild and repair. And, of course, the tragedy of lives lost due to the flooding is extremely sad. I would like to express my condolences to all those families and communities that have lost loved ones in the floods.

I want to particularly mention the very tragic loss of mother Stephanie King and her children Jacob, aged 7, and Ella-Jane, aged 11, who perished in their vehicle in the Tweed River. Tweed police have said that Stephanie King was a hero who died trying to save her children. Stephanie King's eight-year-old daughter, Chloe-May, miraculously escaped the car to raise the alarm with local residents.

The massive weather event caused by Cyclone Debbie spread south from Queensland and caused the largest flood we have ever seen. The swiftness and the incredible speed and velocity of damage with which the rain and flooding came was in fact shocking and overwhelming. The record rainfall resulted in thousands of residents evacuated from flood affected areas.

I would like to strongly commend and thank our outstanding police and emergency services workers and our SES volunteers and council staff for their work and commitment throughout this event. I would also like to commend our community for coming together and assisting one another. Whilst locals welcomed the early decision to appoint a disaster recovery coordinator, we have rightly been critical of both the New South Wales state government and the federal government for their lack of substantial funding and commitment to repair and rebuild the North Coast. In fact, our community had to protest and campaign locally to force the state government to commit to category C funding, particularly for business assistance, and many smaller villages are still waiting for category C assistance. Some areas, such as the Byron shire, are still waiting for disaster relief payments. This is truly disgraceful.

I also want to thank both the federal opposition leader, Bill Shorten, and the New South Wales opposition leader, Luke Foley, for initially each visiting Murwillumbah and Lismore and meeting firsthand and listening to local residents, business and council representatives, and the SES volunteers and community groups. In fact, both held roundtable meetings with all of these community leaders. I note that New South Wales Labor subsequently released an 11-point plan to address many of these urgent issues that were raised at these meetings. To date, the New South Wales Liberal-National government have failed to lend support, let alone adopt the plan, despite the offer of bipartisan support from Labor.

I also thank the New South Wales opposition leader for returning again to the North Coast last week, meeting with locals in Tumbulgum, Murwillumbah and Lismore and continuing his consultations with business and community representatives. He also renewed his call on the state government to waive payroll tax for flood-affected businesses and to set up two separate funds: a local government infrastructure fund and a business assistance fund. I also note that last Thursday the Tweed Shire Council passed a resolution calling on the New South Wales government to waive the payroll tax. I thank council for their advocacy.

Whilst we have a very strong community on the North Coast, we need government to support us. I acknowledge both the Prime Minister and the New South Wales Premier did visit Murwillumbah very briefly soon after the event. But I call on them now to come back for a substantial period of time, sit down with our community and business leaders, hear their stories and hear about the action needed, and help us to recover and rebuild our region.

I also note that the Murwillumbah District Business Chamber have just last Wednesday written to the New South Wales Premier requesting that she visit Murwillumbah for a round-table meeting with both business and community representatives to update her on the continuing dire situation the community faces many weeks after the flood. The chamber said that they are happy to meet with the Premier at any time that suits her, but they want the meeting to take place soon. So I call on the New South Wales Premier to listen to our community and immediately commit to this meeting. To date, quite frankly, Premier, you have been absolutely disappointing when it comes to failing to provide assistance to our community. The fact is that we need comprehensive, long-term plans to address the mass destruction caused by the floods. We need much greater funds flowing to affected families, businesses, communities and local governments. We also desperately need more funding to address chronic homelessness issues. Just recently Murwillumbah as a community held a march and rally to highlight these issues. The fact is that we need our governments to help us and help us now. It is that desperate.

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