She swam to save lives in 2022. History is repeating itself for this NSW MP

Amid devastating floods across the NSW’s Northern Rivers in 2022, Janelle Saffin, the then-67-year-old Labor MP for Lismore, found herself in what she downplays as a spot of bother.

With floodwaters rising rapidly, Saffin became trapped as her house was engulfed by what she called an “inland tsunami”. Like many of her traumatised constituents, she realised staying put was not an option, instead choosing to swim off her verandah into the deluge.

Not content with saving herself, the pint-sized former lawyer turned her attention to co-ordinating the rescue of one elderly person before helping to save another.

“It wasn’t a long swim and there was only one dicey bit,” Saffin told the Herald on Sunday as she once more faced a flooding disaster in Lismore.

NSW Premier Chris Minns (centre), Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib (left) and Lismore MP Janelle Saffin.Credit: Nick Moir

The story captures the selfless, hands-on approach Saffin has brought to politics, her colleagues say. The self-described “fighter” has worked doggedly for her natural disaster-ravaged community, seemingly being several places at once as she crisscrosses her 13,000-square-kilometre electorate.

With Lismore in the crosshairs of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, Saffin was again front and centre in a role no MP wants to find themselves in, directing her energies into helping constituents prepare and recover from yet another natural disaster.

After working closely with Saffin in the aftermath of the 2022 floods, former Liberal premier Dominic Perrottet offers nothing but praise for the Labor MP.

“She was constructive all the way through. I found her incredibly genuine, caring and invested. If you think what local members should do in their roles, she epitomises that,” Perrottet says.

“When there were outcomes that she would not have necessarily been happy with and lesser people would have politicised, she didn’t do that because she saw the overarching good.”

Despite the temptation of politicising the natural disaster, Saffin never opted for the low road, Perrottet recalled, saying she chose to continue working towards securing better outcomes for her community rather than reaching for a headline.

“It was incredibly impressive to watch. It’s not always the case,” he says.

Four years after she won Lismore by a sliver, Saffin made it comfortably Labor with a 19 per cent primary vote swing in 2023 – a remarkable achievement when you consider she was the first Labor MP to win Lismore since Keith Compton in 1965 and the electorate’s first female representative.

“You don’t turn a seat the Nationals held into a safe Labor seat accidentally. That happens by genuine commitment and concern for the community,” Perrottet says.

Former premier Dominic Perrottet with Lismore MP Janelle Saffin after the 2022 floods.Credit: Natalie Grono

Saffin says she feels a “big responsibility” for helping her community and sees the Labor Party as the best vehicle for achieving that mission.

She laid down her approach to politics in her second inaugural speech to the NSW parliament in 2019: “I am here because I am proudly an activist, not a career politician”.

As parliamentary secretary for disaster recovery, Saffin, who is from Labor’s socialist Left faction, is touted by Labor insiders as the most likely MP to be promoted into the ministry as part of a broader reshuffle instigated by the resignation of former transport minister Jo Haylen.

It is her third stint in politics after serving in the NSW upper house from 1995 to 2003, then as a federal member for Page during the Rudd and Gillard years. After having a crack at Page again in 2016, Saffin turned her sights on winning Lismore 28 years after her first attempt.

Nationals Tweed MP Geoff Provest describes Saffin as a “legend” and a “pocket rocket”, saying successive natural disasters have demonstrated the MP’s capacities as a person and a politician, particularly her resilience and deep compassion for her constituents.

Saffin’s life has prepared her for this moment, Provest notes, underscoring her work as chief political and legal advisor to the East Timorese foreign minister Jose Ramos-Horta in the mid-2000s until he was elected president in 2007.

Along with Greens Ballina MP Tamara Smith, the trio have formed what Provest describes as an “alliance” working across political lines for the betterment of their respective communities, something he says would not be possible in Sydney.

Responsible for the rebuilding of Lismore after the 2022 floods, Reconstruction Authority chief executive Mal Lanyon says Saffin is the “glue” that brings these political forces together.

“She is one of the most committed and passionate members of parliament I know,” he said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns points to Saffin’s immediate return to work despite her near-death experience during the floods as a testament to her dedication, saying she “epitomises community service”.

“She never stops working, never stops caring, and will always tell you what Lismore needs – and we love her for it,” he says.

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