Planning Minister Paul Scully, Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib retreat with other politicians from flood recovery media event

A group of costumed protesters blasting AC/DC have crashed a Lismore flood recovery media event – forcing politicians including Planning Minister Paul Scully to retreat. Watch the video.

A group of costumed protesters blasting AC/DC have crashed a Lismore flood recovery press conference – forcing politicians including Planning Minister Paul Scully to retreat.

It came as a separate advocacy group Reclaiming Our Recovery (RoR) waited for their turn to speak to Mr Scully, Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib and other leaders about “the pressing need for community-led recovery and for funding promises to be kept”.

Costumed protesters crash a Lismore flood recovery press conference on Tuesday afternoon. Picture: Savannah Pocock

Mayor Steve Krieg and Lismore Labor MP Janelle Saffin were also forced to retreat indoors from the Memorial Baths to Ms Saffin’s office on Tuesday afternoon as Highway to Hell rang out – those in costume demanding more of a say.

Protesters banged on the glass outside as the conference continued inside, making it difficult to hear at points.

In recent days, flood victims have again called out authorities including the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation, criticising the speed and management of the recovery.

Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg, Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib, Lismore MP Janelle Saffin and Planning Minister Paul Scully after they dashed inside at Lismore on Tuesday afternoon. Picture Savannah Pocock

Members of the recently elected Labor government, Mr Scully and Mr Dib said they have been in Lismore to determine what the community needs by working with residents.

“The community is tired and they want clarity as to where they stand,” Mr Dib said.

“We know there’s an important need for a reset … we’re here to see what people have to say about how we can do things better.”

“Our baseline priority is to make sure we are doing all we can with the government in conjunction with the community to support those people who were victims of the floods.”

RoR has stated members believe discussions would largely be on a “closed-door” basis.

Mr Dib could not say exactly when about $800 million of previously flagged new flood recovery funding would roll out.

The ministers come face-to-face with the conference crashers. Picture: Savannah Pocock

RoR has called for a “line in the sand” to be drawn to help survivors in the lurch well over a year since the record natural disasters.

The group has written to Premier Chris Minns and NSW Reconstruction Authority head Simon Draper, among others, inviting them to attend a community-led “information session”.

RoR spokesperson Sally Newham said in a statement: “The top down recovery process has failed those most impacted by the disaster. It has directly led to further suffering and harm because it wasn’t community led.”

“Along with other community advocates, we are demanding a community-led information session be held for relevant government leaders as an opportunity for them to receive feedback directly from community on the failures of the delivery thus far.

Members of Reclaiming Our Recovery (RoR) were in attendance, but distanced themselves from the costumed protesters. Picture: Savannah Pocock

“The impacts of the failures include financial and personal stress caused by living in limbo, the changing of goalposts, inconsistencies of information and the damage to social fabric via the divisive nature of the programs and processes.

“Reconstruction is not separate to recovery – it is just one part of it. Right now, so few of the worst impacted by the disaster are recovered at all, due to faulty processes that lack transparency and real community involvement.”

Ms Newham declared it would be “dangerous to push into a reconstruction phase without first addressing these failures”.

“A genuinely healing community-led re-set is not too late, but it needs to happen now.”

Mr Scully said the government was working on making the recovery more transparent, while Mr Dib said they were visiting as many areas as possible to provide an update to Mr Minns.

“This is a community that wants action, this is a community that really wants a reset and to be part of that reset and this is a community that wants a clear vision of what the potential pathway is going to be,” Mr Dib said.

Miriam Torzillo at a previous Lismore NRRC flood recovery protest.

Reclaim Our Recovery member Miriam Torzillo said: “The main thing we are asking for is that there needs to be a pause and in that pause the government needs to come and listen to the people of the Northern Rivers.”

“For months there was no transparency, the goalpost was shifting all the time. That has been the biggest failure of the programs that have rolled out,” she said.

“The government and the agencies have lost their social licence in the Northern Rivers and a way to get that back is to listen and to work with the community.”

Ballina MP Tamara Smith

Ballina Labor MP Tamara Smith also weighed in: “What we don’t want is the continuation of the false expectations.”

She said Mr Scully and Mr Dib “were listening, they were receptive” and she hoped the community would “know in the next couple of months at the latest what’s happening”.

“I believe the premier will come up again soon and apologise to the community for past mistakes – even though that wasn’t on him.

“I think it will be important to people to be acknowledged that there has been a lot of missteps.”

RoR did get a chance to talk to the politicians after the conference.