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NSW bushfire royal commission live: Bushfire victim denied Red Cross grant for not having utility bill

A woman who lost her home in the bushfires was initially knocked back from Red Cross funding because she couldn't provide a utility bill, the Royal Commission has heard. It comes as experts told the Commission climate change is leading to hotter and drier droughts. LIVE UPDATES

Perry Duffin and Jessica McSweeney
less than 2 min read
May 25, 2020 - 7:56AM
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Charles Sturt University Professor Sue Townsend has told the Royal Commission that she was initially knocked back from the Red Cross bushfire grant for not being able to provide a utility bill after her home burned down. 

The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements has commenced a two-week hearing in Canberra on Monday.

Professor Townsend has told the Royal Commission that she was frustrated with the way she received support, after the Red Cross initially denied her application. 

"The Red Cross was very interesting, we applied for the Red Cross money when it was … I think it was ten thousand in the first round, and we applied for that and got knocked back because we didn't have any utility bills," Professor Townsend said.

"I spoke to a person on the phone saying this is ridiculous, your house is burning down the last thing you think is to grab a utility bill, and they got really annoyed with me and it wasn't a pleasant conversation," she said.

Professor Townsend said when she was eventually approved for her second application, the money came in fast after media uncovered the Red Cross was not funneling all the donations to victims..

"They said to us it would take two to three weeks to be assessed, within a week because the media had hit about the Red Cross not handing out funds and people being desperate, it went into our bank within days and it was $20 thousand," Professor Townsend said.

The ‘Black Summer’ bushfires killed 33 people, destroyed more than 3000 homes and burnt about 12 million hectares across Australia.

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Rich Lamberton

A bushfire victim, who lost her home when a firestorm swept through the Snowy Mountains, has told a Royal Commission she's had to repeatedly prove her home burned down and is wracked with guilt as she struggles to access money from charities.

Professor Sue Townsend told the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements the Red Cross knocked her back for a recovery grant because she didn’t have a utility bill from her home.

The Dunns Creek Road blaze had razed her home in December and she had gone to the charity – which received more than $200 million in donations – for help.

“I spoke to a person on the phone saying this is ridiculous, your house is burning down. The last thing you think is to grab a utility bill,” Prof Townsend said in a pre-recorded interview aired at the commission on Monday.

“And they got really annoyed with me and it wasn't a pleasant conversation. They need to be more helpful and think about what they are asking people to do.” 

The Red Cross told her it would take two to three weeks for her to be assessed, she said.

“Within a week, because the media had hit about the Red Cross not handing out funds and people being desperate, it went into our bank within days and it was 20 thousand (dollars).”

Prof Townsend described hauling herself up from a lifetime of poverty and how devastating it was to be back in that situation following the fires.

She said she felt “guilty” constantly approaching charities and services which weren’t communicating between each other or moving fast enough to help victims.

“People shouldn't have to when they are dealing with the stress jump through hoops to get help,” she said.

She has had to repeatedly tell these services she had lost her home.

“I’ve had to prove it at least once a month for the last five months,” she said.

Prof Townsend’s experience mirrors other examples unearthed by The Daily Telegraph in the hard-hit towns of Cobargo and Malua Bay.

Residents there say it has taken months for them to be “drip fed” the money which was donated at the height of the crisis between November and January.

Their message, like that of Prof Townsend, is clear – the money should have flowed far quicker and easier.

“It hasn’t been enough," Prof Townsend said.

“The only information is the justification of why they haven’t handed it out.”

The Red Cross, like other charities, has insisted it is withholding the bulk of the millions raised for long-term rebuilding over the next two to three years.

In fire hit communities that information is met with either anger or disbelief – particularly by the families still living in caravans or sleeping on the couches of friends.

The commission will resume tomorrow with Red Cross' director of migration, emergencies and movement Noel Clement expected to give evidence.

-Perry Duffin

Bushfire victim denied Red Cross grant for not having a utility bill

Jessica McSweeney

A bushfire victim, who lost her home when a firestorm swept through the Snowy Mountains, has told a Royal Commission she's had to repeatedly prove her home burned down and is wracked with guilt as she struggles to access money from charities.

Professor Sue Townsend told the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements the Red Cross knocked her back for a recovery grant because she didn’t have a utility bill from her home.

The Dunns Creek Road blaze had razed her home in December and she had gone to the charity – which received more than $200 million in donations – for help.

“I spoke to a person on the phone saying this is ridiculous, your house is burning down. The last thing you think is to grab a utility bill,” Prof Townsend said in a pre-recorded interview aired at the commission on Monday.

“And they got really annoyed with me and it wasn't a pleasant conversation. They need to be more helpful and think about what they are asking people to do.” 

The Red Cross told her it would take two to three weeks for her to be assessed, she said.

“Within a week, because the media had hit about the Red Cross not handing out funds and people being desperate, it went into our bank within days and it was 20 thousand (dollars).”

Prof Townsend described hauling herself up from a lifetime of poverty and how devastating it was to be back in that situation following the fires.

She said she felt “guilty” constantly approaching charities and services which weren’t communicating between each other or moving fast enough to help victims.

“People shouldn't have to when they are dealing with the stress jump through hoops to get help,” she said.

She has had to repeatedly tell these services she had lost her home.

“I’ve had to prove it at least once a month for the last five months,” she said.

Prof Townsend’s experience mirrors other examples unearthed by The Daily Telegraph in the hard-hit towns of Cobargo and Malua Bay.

Residents there say it has taken months for them to be “drip fed” the money which was donated at the height of the crisis between November and January.

Their message, like that of Prof Townsend, is clear – the money should have flowed far quicker and easier.

“It hasn’t been enough," Prof Townsend said.

“The only information is the justification of why they haven’t handed it out.”

The Red Cross, like other charities, has insisted it is withholding the bulk of the millions raised for long-term rebuilding over the next two to three years.

In fire hit communities that information is met with either anger or disbelief – particularly by the families still living in caravans or sleeping on the couches of friends.

The commission will resume tomorrow with Red Cross' director of migration, emergencies and movement Noel Clement expected to give evidence.

-Perry Duffin

Bushfire victim shares story of destruction

Jessica McSweeney

Charles Sturt University Professor Sue Townsend is sharing her experience of destruction from the Black Summer fires to the Royal Commission.

Professor Townsend lost her home in the Snowy Mountains in the Dunns Road fire last December.

Professor Townsend and her husband were evacuated on the 30th by the RFS.

"They said it wasn't a question of if it came – it was coming and we had approximately two hours," she said.

"By 4:30 friends of ours … came up to help us and I went to their house, and a friend and my husband stayed back wetting the house until 11 o'clock when it became too dangerous," she said.

"He was lucky to get out, very lucky because the flames were down the road."

Professor Townsend said it was easy for her to get the initial thousand dollar assistance payment by ringing the help line, but said friends who went to Centrelink were treated "appallingly".

Fire fighters and middle aged men most likely to die in fires

Jessica McSweeney

The Royal Commission has heard that fire fighters are the most likely to die in bushfires, an analysis of fatalities since 2009 showed.

Dr Ryan Crompton of Risk Frontiers said men trying to save their properties were among the higher risk categories.

"Disproportionately high rates (of death) amongst professional and volunteer firefighters, males aged 60 and over trying to save their property with preexisting medical conditions, males aged 55 attempting late evacuation, and males and females aged 55 in their house," were the highest risk categories, Dr Crompton said.

Rich Lamberton

The bushfire Royal Commission has heard the “Black Summer” is far and away NSW’s most damaging fire season and is as bad as the worst in the nation’s history.

It comes as insurance companies urge Australia to help halt climate change to reduce the risk posed to rebuilding communities. 

A report by Risk Frontiers, which researches and models disasters across the Asia-Pacific, said “Black Summer is expected to be comparable to the most damaging seasons (if not the most damaging) in Australia since 1925”. 

“The area that was burnt (in NSW) was three times larger than any other season,” Risk Frontiers’ Dr Ryan Crompton told the commission on Tuesday.

The research only includes 3094 destroyed houses. Previous seasons included data on other types of buildings meaning, once those are added and a complete picture formed, it could be the worst.

That crushing milestone has already been surpassed in NSW.

“In NSW, Black Summer has been by far the most damaging season with normalised damage more than 2.5 times than the second highest amount,” the report says.

Victoria, compared with previous seasons, experienced “very low” damage the report says.

Insurance Australia Group, an umbrella corporation that holds NRMA Insurance, CGU, SGIO, SGIC and WFI, sent its natural perils team leader, Mark Leplastrier, to front the bushfire commission at its first public hearing on Monday.

He focused largely on how climate change was changing hail storms, tropical cyclones and floods.

“We’re looking at the large and giant hail spectrum… the stuff that damages property, car panels, damages roofing,” he explained at one point.

“We believe typically there’s a shift southward, a shift to the more extreme hail storms.”

The commission heard IAG believed bushfire risk would increase in almost all locations across Australia “leading to more frequent and extreme events and longer fire seasons”. 

Bushfire, according to the 2016 information they used to compile a report submitted to the commission, is one of the fastest growing risks in Australia.

IAG’s written submissions to the commission, seen by The Daily Telegraph, details what it thinks needs to happen to rebuild Australia after the “heartbreaking” impact on lives and properties over the summer bushfires.

The insurance giant urged governments to shift focus from disaster recovery to “mitigation” six months after the devastation and that would require them to address  what many feel is the “greatest risk” to humanity.

“Our communities in Australia are exposed to multiple hazards now and this will worsen with a warmer climate,” the document says.

“To reduce the impacts of climate change, governments need to ensure we have clear, considered and coordinated policies in place to reduce Australia’s carbon emissions in line with our Paris Agreement targets.”

-Perry Duffin

Black Summer the most damaging fire season on record

Jessica McSweeney

The bushfire Royal Commission has heard the “Black Summer” is far and away NSW’s most damaging fire season and is as bad as the worst in the nation’s history.

It comes as insurance companies urge Australia to help halt climate change to reduce the risk posed to rebuilding communities. 

A report by Risk Frontiers, which researches and models disasters across the Asia-Pacific, said “Black Summer is expected to be comparable to the most damaging seasons (if not the most damaging) in Australia since 1925”. 

“The area that was burnt (in NSW) was three times larger than any other season,” Risk Frontiers’ Dr Ryan Crompton told the commission on Tuesday.

The research only includes 3094 destroyed houses. Previous seasons included data on other types of buildings meaning, once those are added and a complete picture formed, it could be the worst.

That crushing milestone has already been surpassed in NSW.

“In NSW, Black Summer has been by far the most damaging season with normalised damage more than 2.5 times than the second highest amount,” the report says.

Victoria, compared with previous seasons, experienced “very low” damage the report says.

Insurance Australia Group, an umbrella corporation that holds NRMA Insurance, CGU, SGIO, SGIC and WFI, sent its natural perils team leader, Mark Leplastrier, to front the bushfire commission at its first public hearing on Monday.

He focused largely on how climate change was changing hail storms, tropical cyclones and floods.

“We’re looking at the large and giant hail spectrum… the stuff that damages property, car panels, damages roofing,” he explained at one point.

“We believe typically there’s a shift southward, a shift to the more extreme hail storms.”

The commission heard IAG believed bushfire risk would increase in almost all locations across Australia “leading to more frequent and extreme events and longer fire seasons”. 

Bushfire, according to the 2016 information they used to compile a report submitted to the commission, is one of the fastest growing risks in Australia.

IAG’s written submissions to the commission, seen by The Daily Telegraph, details what it thinks needs to happen to rebuild Australia after the “heartbreaking” impact on lives and properties over the summer bushfires.

The insurance giant urged governments to shift focus from disaster recovery to “mitigation” six months after the devastation and that would require them to address  what many feel is the “greatest risk” to humanity.

“Our communities in Australia are exposed to multiple hazards now and this will worsen with a warmer climate,” the document says.

“To reduce the impacts of climate change, governments need to ensure we have clear, considered and coordinated policies in place to reduce Australia’s carbon emissions in line with our Paris Agreement targets.”

-Perry Duffin

Government scientist makes grim climate change prediction

Jessica McSweeney

Government scientists have told the bushfire Royal Commission greenhouse gas-driven climate change will bring more horrific fire seasons, floods and deadly weather events to Australia over the next century.

The only silver lining in the coming century of brutal extremes is that cold parts of the nation could see fewer deaths over winter and better conditions for farmers.

CSIRO’s Dr Helen Cleugh told the Royal Commission climate change was causing more extreme El Nino, La Nina and Indian Ocean Dipole events.

The commission previously heard these patterns are important “drivers” of Australia’s temperatures and rain levels.

They, along with drought, contribute to the severity of fire seasons and they’re changing for the worse.

“Climate change means the past is no longer a guide to future climate-related impacts and risks,” Dr Cleugh said on Monday.

Dr Cleugh said climate change was adding to the continent’s already variable weather and producing extremes that “impact on our water resources, ecosystems, health, infrastructure and economy both now and continuing into the future”.

Models and diagrams, showed to the commission, predict a drying and warming of the continent’s southern half between now and 2090.

“The combination of extreme heat and lower rainfall both contribute to the risk of extreme fire weather especially in Southern Australia,” she said.

“These dangerous weather conditions for bushfires are likely to occur, at least in part, due to increasing greenhouse gas emissions.”

The CSIRO said heatwaves both on land and in the oceans and the increase in “very hot” days will have significant impacts “on the health of people living in our cities especially the elderly and vulnerable, on the productivity of our workforce, on energy demand and on infrastructure.” 

“In colder parts of Australia will mean reduced winter mortality for people and livestock and, where crop production is limited by cold, we might see improved productivity.” 

Much of the CSIRO evidence came from joint research between the agency and the Bureau of Meteorology. 

-Perry Duffin

2019 fire season 'isn't a one-off'

Georgia Clark

A Bureau of Meteorology chief has made a grim prediction before the bushfire royal commission – more heatwaves, hotter droughts and the “intensification” of fire seasons because of greenhouse emissions.

Dr Karl Braganza, BoM’s head of climate monitoring, told the royal commission vicious hot weather events are becoming more frequent.

Dr Braganza said the horror summer of 2019-20 was not a “one-off” and the 21st century is producing more extreme fire events than the previous two centuries.

“Since the Canberra 2003 fires every jurisdiction in Australia has seen some really significant fire events that have challenged what we do to respond to them and what we thought fire weather would look like.”

“The frequency of these events if we look at the historical record seems to be increasing.”

He said Australia was experiencing a longer fire season, arriving earlier accompanied by more extreme heatwaves and lower rainfall, with hotter droughts that draw moisture out of the environment.

Fire-generated thunderstorms, which shocked the world as they dominated Australia’s skyline last summer, are more likely in this scenario.

Dr Braganza also showed two predicted “pathways” for Australia’s climate – the first if greenhouse emissions continue as they have in the past, the second if they’re “stabilised” at a very low level.

The BoM, he said, is making predictions based on the high emissions pathway.

“What we’re looking at is an intensification of the fire weather into the future,” Dr Braganza said.

But, he said, the global climate system will continue to warm either way over the coming decades as greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere continue to slowly warm the planet.

– Perry Duffin

Climate expert: 'Unprecedented' weather led to horror fires

Georgia Clark

The bushfire Royal Commission has begun in Canberra with a Bureau of Meteorology chief saying three weather patterns conspired with a warming climate to turn Australia into a tinderbox.

Dr Karl Braganza outlined the global weather patterns of the two years preceding the black summer of 2019-20 in which savage bushfires swept the nation.

He pointed to three weather patterns – first, the positive Indian Ocean Dipole which increased the likelihood of a dry winter and spring in 2019.

There was also the negative Southern Annular Mode, which made higher temperatures and lower rainfall more likely between October to December. That increased the fire risk.

Then the El Nino-Southern Oscillation was “in neutral” – meaning it did nothing to make the continent wetter or drier.

“We have trends going on that were reinforced,” he said.

“Which means we were not just favouring warmer or drier conditions but pushing up into events that more than often become unprecedented or beyond the historical record.”

Climate change, over the long term, was driving up the risk of higher temperatures, less rain in the cooler seasons and increasing the fire season’s length, Dr Braganza said.

Australia’s temperature had increased by 1.4C since the year 2000, he said.

“We’ve seen a very long period, a protracted period of temperatures that are the warmest on record."

Drought, too, meant much of the country confronted by ferocious fire fronts had been arid for years. 

By the end of the year, the mercury was skyrocketing and fires were raging across the south of NSW, he said. Many communities in the state’s north had already been reduced to ash. 

“If you look at December, over that month we had temperatures either in the 90th percentile or highest on record and that is the background setting for the fires we saw around the country in that month and earlier in spring,” Dr Braganza said.

– Perry Duffin

Rich Lamberton

The residents of Malua Bay, crammed onto the beach with apocalyptic flames chasing them to the water, became symbols of the black summer.

But they say their nightmare continues almost six months on with a tight-fisted and painfully bureaucratic recovery effort leaving them “begging for money” donated months ago by generous Australians.

FULL STORY

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/bushfiresupport/nsw-bushfire-royal-commission-live-climate-change-focus-as-inquiry-begins/live-coverage/fb4bf21c1ab5d4d968b58f123933f834