Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to express the Hawkesbury community's dismay at the torturous process of restoring Cornwallis and Settlers roads following damage from successive floods. Farmers and turf-growers relying on access via Cornwallis Road in Richmond have suffered nearly two years of misery, not helped by delays in repairing the initial damage last year which led to greater damage this year and land lost forever.

They're now waiting on a decision of the New South Wales government on the escalated cost. The decision has been imminent for weeks. It's impossible to describe the sense of helplessness that affected businesses and families feel. My message to the New South Wales government is: it's time to get this sorted.

Many kilometres away at Wisemans Ferry is the landslide-affected Settlers Road. When I visited Settlers and Walmsley roads at the weekend, flood-damaged homes lay empty or were under repair. Their owners are trying to get back to some sort of normal. They live with the expectation that a proper repair of Settlers Road needs to happen and that access could be cut for many months.

I've asked the mayor and the state member to investigate the viability of alternative access and water access to ease their pain. Commitments were made by the New South Wales Premier that he'd do all it takes to restore these communities' access. It's time to stump up. And I'll argue for whatever federal support is needed to make that happen.