Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes the devastating effects of extreme rainfall that caused extensive flooding across areas of New South Wales in March 2021, resulting in disaster declarations in 63 local government areas by the NSW Government and causing more than $1 billion in damage;

(2) acknowledges the work of emergency services and other groups in assisting throughout the emergency and subsequent clean-up, with particular reference to:

(a) volunteer-based organisations such as the NSW State Emergency Service, NSW Rural Fire Service, Rapid Relief Team, and various charities;

(b) supermarket operators that loaded supplies on to helicopters and barges to restock shelves at stores cut off by flood water and landslides; and

(c) community members who assisted with distribution of supplies and relief efforts during and in the aftermath of the floods; and

(3) calls on the Government to:

(a) provide the support needed to allow businesses reliant on working waterways such as the Hawkesbury River (including turf growers, vegetable farmers and caravan parks) to get back to work;

(b) act to fix the disastrous environmental damage by announcing specific funding to help address silt and debris build up, erosion and collapsing riverbanks; and

(c) immediately access the $4 billion Emergency Response Fund, announced two years ago but never spent, for this recovery which can provide up to $200 million per financial year to be spent nationally on natural disaster recovery and mitigation.

The impact that the March floods have left in the Hawkesbury is as psychologically and economically as brutal as the bushfires we faced a mere 18 months ago. This is my first opportunity to place on the parliamentary record my thanks for the extraordinary efforts of so many people, from the SES and emergency services, who worked tirelessly as the waters rose and fell—airlifting or boating people to safety, getting food and medical supplies across the river—through to the initial clean-up, where the RFS and ADF led their teams into war scenes at caravan parks and inside homes, and the volunteers at Rapid Relief Team, Hawkesbury's Helping Hands, members of Lions and Rotary clubs and people who flew their own supplies to the marooned north-west of the river. I am reluctant to single out individual people because so many made a huge effort, from shopkeepers to elected officials, neighbourhood centres like Bligh Park. Anglicare, Red Cross, Samaritans all did what they could to support hungry, evacuated and scared people.

But I am grateful to Karen Stuttle from the food charity, Mountain of Joy, who messaged me to highlight the sense of panic gripping the community when supermarket shelves were unexpectedly bare on her side of the river, when every bridge was closed and a landslide on Bells Line of Road cut off the last road access. Her message ultimately led to Coles and IGA recognising that the only option was to work with the SES and local residents to load up helicopters and barges with supplies. Seeing a steady flow of food made a really big difference for those stranded communities.

All of this was part of a huge operation of neighbour helping neighbour, and I have seen that in every single community I have spent time with since the floods, from Windsor up to St Albans and everywhere in between. What we're left with is a lot of distress and financial stress. When insurance jumps from $30,000 to $50,000 to $80,000 a year, it becomes absolutely unaffordable for homeowners, and renters are also affected. The amount of money charities have received so far pales into insignificance to the bushfire donations.

While there's been enormous generosity by individuals and local businesses and there are grants for agriculture and directly affected businesses and community groups to replace equipment and structures, unfortunately, many people, sporting clubs and community groups slip through the criteria cracks, and the scale of this disaster means that much more is needed. I'll continue to support Turf Australia, vegetable growers, caravan parks and other property owners who were left with extraordinary damage to their riverbanks. This is an environmental disaster as well, and everyone has a common interest in wanting to ensure that the next flood doesn't have an even greater impact.

I'll also support the residents of Greens Road in Lower Portland, whose road is washed away. They face a 30 kilometre detour indefinitely while Hawkesbury Council decides what to do. They need fast, interim arrangements so that they can get on with their lives. Right now, they've had about nine weeks of limbo, as have parts of Cornwallis, where the road has gone. Residents of Upper Colo, whose community is now divided by a destroyed historic timber bridge, need a short-term measure. One example of the impact is that, instead of popping across the bridge on a 20-minute drive, NDIS carer Alice now has to drive an extra 100 kilometres to provide support to her client, Pete. It's hard to see why providing temporary access for this often-forgotten community isn't an absolute priority.

I'll also continue to push for support for the businesses indirectly hit by this flood. The indirect small business grant I argued for for bushfire affected communities allowed many small businesses to hang on, and there are some who need it in this flood because of the significant fall in local trade and a drop in tourism, especially the more than two dozen flooded caravan parks on the river. I'll also push for improved phone and internet services because lives were at risk due to their failures.

So it isn't over. As people look at giant horseshoe-shaped gouges along the riverbanks, their land gone and old trees alongside the river washed away, it can feel overwhelming. The best psychological support we can give is to support the New South Wales government and the Hawkesbury Council to move fast with clear guidelines for landowners about what they can do to stabilise their banks. But it will come at a high price, and the federal government needs to be willing to step in. Many of us are left wondering why, when we voted in this chamber on a $4 billion disaster fund two years ago to fund $200 million of natural disaster recovery and mitigation each financial year, not a single cent had been spent, including in the Hawkesbury where this flood was always only a matter of time. (Time expired)

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