Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of this Social Security Amendment (Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment) Bill 2023, and I speak on it as a local member who has seen firsthand the absolute destruction and devastation from recent natural disasters. We've had the Black Summer bushfires, which tore through large sections of the Calare electorate and, then, in November last year, we had the storm and flood event that devastated areas across the Cabonne Shire and the Wellington district as well. Tragically, lives were lost in those awful and devastating hours around the storm and flood waters hitting Eugowra. We've also had devastating bushfires in the Hill End region of the Calare electorate which struck earlier this year. So the people of Central West New South Wales are sadly very well acquainted with natural disaster and the tragedy that surrounds those awful events.

I support the bill because anything that facilitates the speedier dispensing of disaster assistance is very welcome. This bill relates to the disaster recovery payment, and I think that it is—

Sitting suspended from 16 : 40 to 16 : 51

As I was saying, I support this legislation because it facilitates the faster and more efficient dispensing of the disaster recovery payment, which is very important. But I do have to say, with respect to our disaster-hit communities in Central West of New South Wales, the rollout of disaster support has been disgracefully slow and is still not where it should be. Whilst the disaster recovery payment was issued when those storm and flood events hit Cabonne in the Central West of New South Wales, the back home grants, for example, which are where the larger sums of money came, didn't happen until just before Christmas. Those storm and flood events hit in the middle of November, on 13 and 14 November, and it took until Christmas to actually get meaningful support out to the Central West. We had press conference after press conference, concerned walk-through after concerned walk-through by various politicians, and that crucial support was delayed and delayed.

The reality is that the Central West of New South Wales has still not received the same level of disaster support that the Northern Rivers of New South Wales has had. We certainly don't begrudge the Northern Rivers any level of support and assistance which they have received. However, the truth remains that the devastation which occurred in the Central West of New South Wales was equal if not greater to that which the Northern Rivers experienced.

I spent a lot of time with emergency services personnel on the ground in the aftermath of the storm and floods in Eugowra. Those emergency services personnel who worked on both the Northern Rivers and Eugowra floods said that, even though the community of Eugowra is smaller, the level of destruction in Eugowra was actually greater; it was in a more concentrated area and there was a higher level of destruction in Eugowra. Yet Eugowra has still not received the same level of support. As I said, we don't begrudge the Northern Rivers a single penny that they have received, but we seek equal treatment in the Central West of New South Wales. We seek equal treatment in the form of the home buyback and retrofit scheme, which also includes home raising. That is a scheme which has had hundreds of millions of dollars committed to it, and we haven't seen a penny of it in the Central West of New South Wales. It could make a real difference to our area, but we have seen none of that funding. It's a disgrace. The Community Assets Program, which would help our councils get back on their feet and get their infrastructure back in shape, has not been made available to local councils in our area. How could that possibly be? How could you possibly have some councils, in one part of the disaster-hit state, being treated better than councils in other parts of the state that have experienced similar disasters?

Our communities have still not had access to the Northern Rivers Commercial Property Return to Business Support Grant program, which helps local landlords get their buildings back in shape, and if you walk through places like Molong, you will see shopfronts that are still shelves because there has been no assistance and no support. It's the same with homeowners who have, in many cases, invested in places like Eugowra and have had properties, which they rent out, wiped away. How could it possibly be that in this modern Australia of 2023, instead of actually fixing storm- and flood-hit infrastructure, we just close roads?

The Nyrang Creek Bridge between Canowindra and Eugowra is still closed, because the bridge is a wreck. There have been accidents on that road and there was recently a tragic fatality on that road. How can it be that instead of committing the funding needed to fix that road, we just close it? Saxa Road, between Wellington and Dunedoo, is closed because the storm- and flood-hit infrastructure along it is in a wrecked-out state; it's disgraceful. There doesn't seem to be any money to fix it. The Duke of Wellington Bridge in Wellington, one of the key arteries linking both sides of the river, and the key artery between Wellington and Dubbo and the rest of western New South Wales, is still a flood-hit wreck. Again, it's closed; there's no funding in sight for it. It beggars belief that in modern Australia this could be happening.

I believe both sides of politics are to be blamed for this neglect, and it is a wilful neglect. There is blame on the part of the previous Liberal and National state government for not activating this disaster assistance when they had the opportunity. This disaster assistance was dangled like a bag of cash on a fishing pole in front of our residents and then cruelly yanked away before the last state election. There is blame to be apportioned to the federal coalition for not putting pressure on their state colleagues, particularly in the National Party. They're all, in this state, members of the New South Wales National Party, and there was not sufficient pressure brought to bear on the state National Party or the coalition to deliver that disaster assistance. There is blame to be apportioned to the federal Nationals for only taking recent interest in our disaster-hit communities. It's a three-hour drive up that road to get to the Cabonne shire, yet it has taken them months, almost a year, to visit our area. That in itself is a disgrace. There is blame to be apportioned to the current New South Wales government for not activating this disaster assistance sooner, and there is blame to be apportioned to the current federal government for, similarly, not putting enough pressure on their state colleagues to activate this disaster assistance.

The New South Wales emergency services minister recently came to our electorate—he came to Eugowra—and I give him great credit for that. I understand that New South Wales is in a difficult financial position; we all understand that. I said to the minister, 'Even though funding is hard to find, you need to find funding for this.' I've worked with the Minister for Emergency Services in the New South Wales parliament. I have a lot of faith in his abilities to deliver, and I'm hoping that he will do that, because I know he is a very decent person. I know he will do his best. But we need him to deliver. I spoke to the federal Minister for Emergency Management on the weekend about this issue. I asked him to do everything he could to pressure his New South Wales colleagues and to bring home to them how important delivering this relief actually is. I would urge both the federal government and the New South Wales government to get this assistance moving.

It can't possibly be that in New South Wales you have two classes of emergency and disaster relief for different parts of the state, both of which have been devastated by natural disasters. It is a disgrace that this funding and these programs have not been made available to our area. For as long as that injustice stands, I will be bringing it to the attention of the House and calling it out. I will be calling out the wanton neglect that our residents have experienced and the disrespect which they have been the subject of from the major political parties in not delivering this relief. I will be highlighting the fact that the recovery process and the reconstruction of the Central West has been made much more difficult because of this abject failure to properly deliver disaster assistance. This is a gross injustice, and it needs to be made right.

All members of the current federal government and the New South Wales government need to be aware that this issue will not go away, and that the residents of our area are very angry about their treatment. As I said, there is plenty of blame to go around, including for the abject failure of the NSW Liberals and Nationals to actually deliver this relief rather than holding press conference after press conference, as we've seen all too much of over the months in recent times. We are now approaching 12 months since the storm and floods hit Eugowra, and there's still no sign of this funding. We're up to the anniversary.

The other area which also needs support is Hill End. In March this year the Hill End area was devastated by bushfires, yet we still have not had the $75,000 special disaster grants released for our area. Again, I've spoken to the New South Wales Minister For Emergency Services and asked him to have another look at it. He's undertaken to do that—again, to his credit. But, again, this is something that the previous coalition government in New South Wales could have activated straightaway but did not. Again, it's a case of the residents of our area feeling forgotten. This can't be allowed to stand. This neglect cannot be allowed to stand. This injustice cannot be allowed to stand.

I again urge all levels of government, federal and New South Wales, to do everything they can and to find the money and the funds to activate this disaster assistance. The anger in our area is palpable, and we will not be letting this go.

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