NSW flood crisis: Scott Morrison to visit flood-ravaged region with new funding deal
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has vowed to be on the ground in flood-ravaged Lismore as soon as he comes out of Covid isolation, revealing there will be significant new funding for the region.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has vowed to be on the ground in flood-ravaged Lismore as soon as he comes out of Covid isolation, revealing there will be significant new funding for the region.
In response to questions put to the PM by the Northern Star and Daily Telegraph on behalf of its community, the Prime Minister described the scale of the flood in and around Lismore as ‘truly staggering’.
“The catastrophic destruction and devastation in the Northern Rivers is well beyond anything previously experienced,’’ Mr Morrison said.
“Our Government has been working as quickly as we can with the state governments and local governments to provide support through the deployment of more than 950 ADF personnel and disaster funding, in addition to the brave efforts of the SES and community volunteers.
“I have been in constant contact with the NSW Premier. He has been giving me regular reports, as have my small business and emergency services Ministers that have been through the area.
“I will be on the ground as soon as I come out of isolation to see the impact first hand and talk to the community – not just about the short-term clean-up and the challenges faced in the immediate response, but also the long-term reconstruction efforts that are going to be needed.
“Our Government is currently bringing together a further package of support, particularly for the Northern Rivers area, and I will have more to say on this in coming days, including further immediate assistance announced tomorrow.”
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has announced a dedicated northern NSW recovery co-ordinator to aid in the targeted clean-up and recovery.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Mal Lanyon will work closely with the head of Resilience NSW, Shane Fitzsimmons and local communities.
“This will be a role that coordinates a strong regional response, given the substantial task ahead of us as a state in getting all those communities back on their feet as quickly as possible,” Mr Perrottet said.
There were 600 Australian Defence Force personnel on the ground in the Northern Rivers and he expects 1300 will arrive “by the end of the day”.
There are about 600 more personnel deployed in Lismore, Ballina, Coraki, and the Evans Head regions.
There are 1300 SES personnel and volunteers in the Northern Rivers region. About 4,000 tons of debris has already been collected while almost 900 are in temporary accommodation.
TV host blasts Dutton over week-long delay for flood troops
Defence Minister Peter Dutton has defended the delayed military response to the flood crisis gripping northern New South Wales, denying he was embarrassed that residents had to crowdfund helicopters to drop off key supplies.
Sunrise host David Koch tore strips off the Brisbane-based Minister, asking why it had taken a week to get more troops onto the ground.
“God help us if we were going to war, we wouldn’t stand a chance if it took this long to get ourselves organised. What’s going on? Why aren’t they there quicker,” Koch asked.
Mr Dutton said 760 ADF personnel were already on the ground, with hundreds more expected to arrive later on Tuesday and up to 5000 to be on the ground by the end of the week.
Koch asked whether Mr Dutton was “embarrassed” that ordinary Australians had been forced to plug gaps left by the lack of personnel in the worst-hit areas by delivering supplies themselves via private dinghies and wading through water to isolated neighbours.
“That’s the Australian spirit. That’s what you and I would do for our neighbours, and that’s what people do in extremes,” Mr Dutton replied.
“I’m not embarrassed at how the ADF is going. I’m not going to cop criticism of the ADF.”
The NSW State Emergency Service is the lead emergency response agency fronting the effort to provide essential supplies to flood affected and cut-off communities.
They are using ADF personnel and assets to transport essential supplies and goods into the areas.
Food and fuel is being distributed from Casino to the evacuation centres in the Northern Rivers area.
The SES said it had an extra 600 emergency services crews from NSW SES and partner agencies assisting people across the Northern Rivers.
“ On top of this, we have 280 additional Australian Defence Force personnel arriving (Tuesday), with an extra 1300 arriving (Wednesday) to help, as we move from response to recovery,’’ a spokesperson said.
Why did the ADF response take so long?
The ADF said it was already on the ground dealing with the Queensland floods on Friday, February 25.
Reservists based in Lismore, New South Wales commenced community preparation support (sandbagging, evacuation support) from Sunday ahead of Monday’s 1 in 500 year flood event. There were 200 personnel available for Qld and NSW at the time.
That became 400 on the Monday, February 28. ADF Rotary Wing support shifted focus to support northern New South Wales.
Our flood crisis: Where we will see more ADF troops
Hundreds more Australian Defence Force troops are arriving in devastated and isolated communities in northern New South Wales on Tuesday after stinging criticism of the federal and state authorities’ response to the crisis.
ADF officials have defended their delayed response, blaming bad weather for hampering their efforts to get choppers and other military rescue operations underway when they were most desperately needed.
Earlier on Monday, in Lismore, there were just 275 listed as being deployed on task with 32 in Grafton.
Coffs Harbour had 11, Murwillumbah 2, Evans Head: 2 and Port Macquarie 1.
There were another 89 aviation personnel for search and rescue, while 27 were listed as doing ‘co-ordination’ at the headquarters.
In comparison in Queensland, there were 1378 personnel deployed, including more than 900 in and around Brisbane, 88 in Gympie, and 71 in Gatton, near Ipswich, as well as 100 Army aviation personnel.
ADF boss blames weather for delayed response
When asked why it had taken so long to get more boots on the ground, Major General David Thomae told reporters the conditions ADF had been operating under had been ‘dreadful’ with towns cut off, landslides, and access difficulties.
The Operation Flood Assist commander reported on Monday afternoon there were 637 personnel from the ADF on the ground in NSW, while 1458 were in Queensland.
Another 656 defence personnel will arrive in northern NSW areas with areas like Coraki, Woodburn and Broadwater expected to be the focus areas.
In Coraki, where locals have been having using jetskis and tinnies to deliver food to those cut off, the anger was palpable as NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet visited. He acknowledged people had felt abandoned.
“You can’t argue with how people feel, I would feel the same way,’’ the Premier told Seven which showed residents furious that the Army was setting up tents while people needed help.
The ADF said defence forces have carried out 113 flood rescues and 79 helicopter missions.
“We have done all we can with the conditions we have been faced with,” Maj Gen Thomae said.
“I’m very sorry for all of those people who have felt they haven’t been supported. I empathise completely with their plight, the scale of devastation has been extraordinary.“We have been pushing into (inaccessible communities) as much as we can since the start of the flood event and we continue to do so.”
Locals have taken to social media to vent their frustrations with the ADF, including over soldiers filming themselves offering assistance for public relations opportunities. (See video above)
Surfing legend Kelly Slater says feds ‘appalling’ in flood crisis
Surfing Kelly Slater described the Federal government’s handling of the floods in northern NSW and southeast Queensland “nothing short of appalling”.
“The stories from friends are hard to comprehend,” Slater wrote on Instagram on Monday.
“But the gathering of local communities has been inspiring to watch from afar. So while the MP @scottmorrisonmp and cohorts pat themselves on the back or poke fun at people who ‘live in the gum trees’, the communities will continue to get on with the tasks at hand in helping their neighbours.”
The 11-time surfing world champion also posted a screenshot of a text conversation with another person, who called Prime Minister Scott Morrison “the biggest joke in Australian history”. The person said locals themselves are paying for helicopters to drop supplies to remote areas, and added many helicopters are just filming the floods without dropping anything to isolated people.
In Lismore, there are about 2000 homes alone that have been deemed uninhabitable.
The anger about the official response has even seen some fury directed at overwhelmed State Emergency Service volunteers. Many have complained of not seeing a soul in a uniform to help them.
On Saturday, Sam Saulwick, co-owner of local business The Bread Social in Byron Bay, said locals hadn’t seen one person in uniform since the waters receded, and people were relying on each other to co-ordinate access to food and essentials.
“There’s frustration from people … the volunteer movement is awesome, however they want to see someone in uniform, and have questions answered about water and power and when things will be working again,” he said.
Dutton defends role of ADF in crisis
As the death toll in the NSW and Queensland floods climbs towards 20, with suggestions the toll may be much higher, Defence Minister Peter Dutton on the weekend defended the ADF response, comparing the situation to the aftermath of a cyclone.
“It is much more than a flood that we are experiencing in northern New South Wales and the surrounding remote towns in particular,” Mr Dutton told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.
“It’s much more akin to a cyclone that has gone through there. There is absolute devastation.”
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet concedes there should have been better co-ordination on the ground but Mr Dutton was reported to be satisfied with the ADF response.
In a statement, the ADF said most of its personnel had been deployed in Queensland but more were being directed to cut off areas in northern NSW now the weather had cleared.
As part of Operation Flood Assist, there would be 5000 personnel ‘on task or available for tasking over the course of this week’.
PM’s office response to our questions
The Northern Star directed a series of question to the Prime Minister’s office on Monday reflecting the fury of residents on the ground.
The questions included why more disaster funding has been announced given the scale of what was unfolding, would there be a federal inquiry into the handling of the flood, why had the ADF response to the flood taken so long, and how long would the ADF remain to assist in the recovery.
The Prime Minister’s office directed some of the questions to the relevant ministers for response, including the Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience Bridget McKenzie and Mr Dutton.
A spokesperson for the PM said Mr Morrison had been receiving regular briefings from key Ministers and authorities during his Covid-19 isolation.
Earlier the PM had been briefed in person on the crisis in Queensland.
“As the Prime Minister said in his address to the Lowy Institute today, the Government is currently bringing together a further package of support and he looks forward to being able to visit the impacted areas in New South Wales and Queensland later this week, after his current Covid isolation is completed, to assess the situation first hand,’’ a spokesperson said.
“The Prime Minister has been regularly briefed by the Director General of Emergency Management Australia; the Director of the Bureau of Meteorology; the Co-ordinator General of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency; and the Chief of the Defence Force. He has been engaging directly with the Premiers of New South Wales and Queensland.
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