Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will take the opportunity later today to talk about our budget and the measures that will be impacting our community in Lindsay and the benefits to people in my community. But, before that, I really want to talk about how hard my community was impacted by the recent floods. I haven't had a chance to talk about this. I missed the last week of parliament to stay back with my community. It was a really traumatic time for many people. There were people who lost their livelihoods and lost all their belongings outside their homes as the floodwaters rose quite quickly. In some ways we were fortunate: the Nepean River didn't break its banks, as it may have done, which is what we were fearing, as bad as it would have been. There were homes along the river that were impacted, but it was the low-lying areas around towns like Londonderry that were really severely hit by the floods.

I'd like to acknowledge the families that are doing it tough out there. The Prime Minister and I visited the Magnisalis family. They are a beautiful Greek family. They'd been living in their home for over 40 years. When we went and visited they had lost everything. All the members of their family were there, trying to clean out the house. It was quite extraordinary. It is really a testament to the community spirit in our area and also to this beautiful Greek family that they put on a lunch for us while they were still trying to clean out their homes. I'd like to thank them for their beautiful hospitality, and we'll stay in touch to make sure that the recovery efforts are going okay out in Londonderry.

I'd also like to acknowledge the SES, who responded to thousands of calls during that time. The RFS were onboard to help with the clean-up as well. The PM also joined me at SES headquarters to receive a briefing. It was really quite extraordinary, on that first day, when we found out that the SES didn't have enough sandbags to protect local homes. All it took was a few phone calls to some local businesses and within an hour or so we had sand and we had more bags. I'd like to thank our local businesses who jumped in. Again, the community spirit was extraordinary, supporting people who were most in need across Lindsay during that time. I'd also like to acknowledge the Rapid Relief Team who came onboard throughout the week. They set up a sandbagging centre at Jamison Park, and they were going non-stop. They also supported our RFS and SES with a sausage sizzle, so there was food as the clean-up and recovery was happening.

It wasn't only the direct impact; businesses were impacted, too. As we recover, I want to let everyone across my community know that there's more work to do and I'll be with you all the way. Thank you. (Time expired)

See this speech in context