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

The people of our region could be forgiven for wondering when they're going to catch a break—last year, COVID; the year before that, a crippling drought; and, this year; mass flooding. The Hunter, Mid North Coast and Sydney will continue to have challenging days ahead as the rain continues to fall. I want to encourage everyone to stay safe. Don't take chances in flood waters. Your car can aquaplane in just a few inches of water. Please just stay safe.

I was pleased to join with my state colleagues in calling for disaster and natural disaster declarations. We'll continue to support the community in every way we can with our offices offering vital information and assistance during this challenging time.

I want to thank the local SES units, ably led by Alex Varley out of the Rutherford regional headquarters for the SES. As the rains continue, so do the SES volunteers. They just keep showing up and doing an unbelievable job, to be quite frank.

I appreciate that the government has made disaster payments available—I do—but, honestly, $1,000 per adult and $400 for a child is not enough. And, with this emergency crisis hotline that's been set up, we've just had photographs on social media of people waiting for two to three hours just to get through on a hotline! It clearly needs more resourcing. This is just got to happen straightaway. Across all effected regions in New South Wales, families have and will continue to lose homes and possessions. Businesses have been ruined. (Time expired)