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

I want to acknowledge my neighbour the member for Macquarie and everything that her community went through during the floods. We were both away from parliament that week. Both of our communities—particularly, I must say, the Hawkesbury—were damaged, and the work that Susan did is to be commended.

I was standing with my community on that Saturday, watching those floodwaters rise along the Nepean River. It was really quite a terrifying thing to see. A lot of new families had moved into the area. The people that had lived there for 50-plus years hadn't seen anything like this. At that time, we were talking about a one-in-100-year possibility of a flood, so people were packing their bags and their houses and getting ready to evacuate. On the Penrith side of the Nepean River, homes were already impacted. I visited those homes after the floods. Thankfully the worst of the damage was in the downstairs rooms in the backyards, and the river didn't peak at the levels that at one stage we thought it may.

There were other parts of my community that were really impacted around the Londonderry area. I acknowledge, again, the member for Macquarie. She would know this well, because it was due to the water that was backing up from the Hawkesbury. In these low-lying areas were families that had lived there for 40-plus years. Unfortunately, some of them didn't have insurance, so they were really impacted and they remain impacted now. So we have to ensure that we are doing our very best to support those families as they rebuild. Again, as the member for Macquarie also knows, coming from families who have been severely impacted by fires and losing everything, I know how long it takes and what an emotional journey it is to recover from events such as floods and fires.

In my community, as I said, we were standing on the river, but there were other people that were already working really hard in our community to secure it, and they were our local Penrith SES. I went up and visited them, and at that point in time we were running out of sandbags. There was a bit of a panic because the river was rising so fast, so we did a call-out to some local businesses and they were on board straightaway, finding sand and sandbags. Local volunteers came on board to pack those sandbags, and that continued throughout the week. The Rapid Relief Team also jumped on board to help out in packing and delivering sandbags across the community. Our SES did a tremendous job during that time, as did our RFS, in supporting the recovery efforts, particularly around Londonderry.

After I had an SES briefing at Silverwater, I came back to the community, and at that time Nepean Shores was being evacuated—the 144 residents there. I was speaking with those people and making sure they had everything they needed, with their families coming to picking them up or going to the evacuation centre. I want to again commend our local emergency services personnel, and the staff at Nepean Shores, for successfully getting everyone out of Nepean Shores so quickly and safely. Everyone was able to return over the next couple of days. It was really great to go back and see the residents there, with the Prime Minister and his wife, Jenny, a few days after and speak to the residents about their experiences. They were grateful that they were home and safe at Nepean Shores. One couple were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. It was a wonderful moment for them after such a stressful week.

I want to acknowledge the families that did lose their homes, and one family, which was one that I visited with the Prime Minister, is the Magnisalis family. I want to read a quick story from online:

Nick and Irene Magnisalis lost the home they built with their own hands more than four decades ago.

The Greek Australian couple, both retirees in their 70s and 80s, managed a last minute escape when flooding waters engulfed their property.

It goes on:

In the face of adversity, the family has remained true to their values. When visited by PM Morrison and wife—

along with me, the member for Lindsay—

in the aftermath of the flood devastation, they treated guests with a Greek hospitality welcoming.

They gave us lunch that day, with everything that they were going through—a beautiful family.

That really is the spirit of our community. We're there for each other in our times of need. We're there for the people who are still suffering now—I want to give them that message—and we'll be there for you every step of the way through this recovery.

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