Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

In March this year, the entire New South Wales coast was drowned by between 200 and 400 millimetres of rainfall. Floods across New South Wales have put a renewed focus on the need for all levels of government to be proactive when crisis strikes. We must work fast and collectively to ensure the safety of our communities and to minimise the loss of property and livelihoods.

These once-in-100-year floods were chaotic and left many communities with damage and loss, but none were so incredibly impacted as those in the electorate of my friend Susan Templeman, who has worked so hard. She really was just incredible. If you want to learn something about Susan, have a listen to her first speech. She came to this place, and the first night I met her she said, 'I'm here; I've lost an election, my house has burnt down and I turned 50.' I knew instantly that I liked her. Not only has Susan had exposure to personal crisis; she works so hard for her community. It is remarkable what she has endured. We were both elected on 2 July, and since that time Susan has endured bushfire, drought and crippling flood. One of the most poignant images I've seen of Susan is not of her in her beautiful jackets, looking as on point as she always does, but of her in her jeans and her sloppy joe, boxing up groceries and loading them one by one into a helicopter to have them sent to members of her community. You would not get a harder working local member than Susan Templeman, so it is with great delight that I am speaking on this motion today. If we had more Susan Templemans in this parliament, there'd be a heck of a lot of work done.

My own community was also terribly impacted by not only drought and fire but also these recent floods. Across New South Wales we've got some terrific agencies, including the state SES, police, and Fire and Rescue. I want to take a special moment today to send my deepest condolences to Fire and Rescue New South Wales Station 454 Tarro. We lost the station captain very unexpectedly this weekend. Ian Smith joined Fire and Rescue back in 1982, and he has held the following positions: engine keeper, deputy captain and captain. He had been captain since 2017. He passed away very unexpectedly and very suddenly over the weekend. I send my dearest and deepest condolences to his friends and family and to his workmates and volunteer mates at Tarro. We didn't see it coming, and it's just a terrible loss. Ian was a terrific firefighter, a terrific leader and a great mate. As the people at Tarro have said, 'You will always ride with us in that truck,' and I am sure he will. It's people like Ian and those workers and volunteers at Tarro 454 who make such a difference in times of flood and in times of emergency.

I also want to convey my deep thanks to the members of our community who helped their neighbours. You'll never forget the stench of floods after about a couple of weeks. The smell in the thick of that mud is absolutely revolting. But thank you to everyone who lent a hand and who went that extra mile not only for people but also for our animals, trying to rescue cattle, horses, sheep and our wildlife. It has such an impact on every part of our lives and community, particularly when you see loss of life and livelihoods. So thank you to those people.

I also want to thank my state colleagues Kate Washington and Jenny Aitchison. As soon as this event happened in our community, the three of us worked together. We had an emergency declaration put in place so that our local councils, who did an enormous amount of work too, could set about cleaning up and getting things back on track and were able to know that they would be recompensed by the state government. They didn't have to wait and try to figure out how they were going to pay for all of the mess and the clean-up. Again, to Susan Templeman, I say thank you. To my community, I say thank you. Natural disasters are a terrible thing, but, when we all work together, we can clean up the mess.

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