Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to talk about an ex. Like many exes, this one left behind a trail of destruction and heartbreak. Yes, I'm talking about Alfred. I want to take this moment to thank the many volunteers and frontline services, the SES, the councils and even the Australian Defence Force, who sandbagged, who got out there, who prepared and who were on hand literally in the eye of the storm. But I also want to thank those who come along afterwards to help clean up and mop up and to offer support when people are feeling that heartbreak.

Thank you to Disaster Relief Australia volunteers, who come in and help with the clean-up, the logistics and the management of recovery efforts. Thank you to the many insurance assessors—yes, believe it or not—and the call centres who are currently dealing with more than 74,000 claims and counting. Please, I ask them, make it as easy as possible for the claimants. Thank you to the charities like GIVIT who are on the ground assisting, assessing the need but also making sure that charity dollars are spent in communities to help local economies recover.

And thank you to the stayers—organisations like the Red Cross and others who work in the community recovery centres, who sit down and work with people to support them and address their needs. Those volunteers are there not just for the days and the weeks but for the months and the years that it takes for some of our most traumatised communities to recover. To all those quiet volunteers and supporters I say a very sincere and heartfelt thank you.