This morning NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet admitted the disaster response hadn’t improved since the Black Summer bushfires. But he couldn’t really say why.
“It’s pretty clear to me that more can be done, but for me today it’s not a time for review, it’s a time for action,” he told RN Breakfast.
His comments backed up similar concerns raised by former NSW treasurer and wannabe federal Liberal MP Andrew Constance, who said nothing had changed since the fires which devastated his former electorate of Bega.
Since that disaster there have been state and federal royal commissions and multimillion-dollar disaster recovery agencies established by NSW and the Commonwealth. But that is little relief to people across swathes of northern NSW and south-east Queensland, where 16 people have died, homes have been destroyed, and entire livelihoods shattered by the kind of deluge we can expect more of.
In the Lismore region, the epicentre of the tragedy in NSW where floodwaters rose 14 metres last week, there’s a feeling of being abandoned by both the state and federal governments, which have delivered inadequate support too late.
“We don’t need a bureaucracy, we need a benign dictator,” Lismore mayor Steve Krieg said.
NSW and feds clash over ADF
A major source of frustration, in NSW at least, has been a feeling that the Australian Defence Force response hasn’t been nearly enough. Residents have been forced to crowdfund helicopters to deliver food as the federal government was forced to defend its rollout of military support.
There are about 700 troops on the ground in northern NSW and 1300 in south-east Queensland. Perrottet expects to get the full 5000 personnel he has asked for. They’ll arrive, finally, tomorrow.
Nobody can seem to figure out what’s taken so long. Defence Minister Peter Dutton was doing the damage control media rounds this morning, where he copped a lashing from Sunrise host David Koch for suggesting the delay was because the military couldn’t land amid the deluge.
“God help us if we’re going to war — we wouldn’t stand a chance if it took us this long to get organised,” Koch said.
The government blames the weather for its failure to get troops into Lismore. But also exacerbating the situation is a story we’ve seen throughout the pandemic — a breakdown in coordination between state and federal governments.
Volunteer-staffed State Emergency Services handle the initial response to a crisis. When it gets out of hand and they’re overwhelmed, as happened last week, the ADF can be called in.
In essence, the Commonwealth decides when to deploy troops, but can do so only at the request of the states. Last week Emergency Services Minister Bridget McKenzie promised 2000 additional personnel. But Resilience NSW boss Shane Fitzsimmons was furious that the minister had not contacted him about it.
Patchwork relief, challenges ahead
As floodwaters recede and the troops finally arrive, fear of what comes next is potent. Lismore will require a complete rebuild, locals say.
For those affected, getting immediate relief is a challenge, especially when access to power, devices and key documents have been limited by the floods. Services Australia provides a $1000 lump-sum disaster payment for people who’ve been significantly affected.
Labor Senator Murray Watt says tightened eligibility criteria means people living in raised, Queenslander-style homes cannot access the payment unless the water came up above the bottom level into the interior.
University of Queensland strategic management Professor Paula Jarzabkowski says although the payment seems paltry to some, a short, sharp injection of cash immediately post-disaster can make a significant difference.
While the states provide some individual relief, the NSW Disaster Relief Grant targets only low-income earners, and Queensland offers far less than Services Australia.
Once the initial devastation is overcome, the long and daunting challenge of rebuilding looms over flood-prone areas. Last week National Recovery and Resilience Agency head Shane Stone was slammed for appearing to victim-blame those who “want a home among the gum trees” in flood-prone areas.
But Jarzabkowski says while Stone’s comments are insensitive, with climate change making such disasters more frequent there needs to be a serious conversation about adaptation and mitigation — moving entire towns if need be. It’s something that requires significant investment and coordination from numerous agencies across all tiers of government.
Instead, natural disasters have been followed by a failure to take responsibility for adaptation.
“It’s like a hot potato that everyone wants to keep passing to someone else,” Jarzabkowski said. “But there is no somebody else. We’ve got to stop passing the potato.”
Nothing has been done since the last disaster becsuse the government doesnthy give a rats. If you accept, as I do, the proposition that our elected representatives are only there to sell favourable legislation to billionaires in return for post pollitical lucrative sinecures, then it follows, from the fact that no billionaires got their feet wet or suffered any other form of inconvenience, that all these floods are a non issue. Irrelevant. If it affects a billionaire it counts. The thing that has to be attended to is managing how people vote. The proven tactic there is to make a four billion dollar announcement. That seems to give the silly voters a good enough reason to vote for you again. Why do more for no benefit?
Job done.
Morrison late to the party again, just like everything else, aged care, vaccinations, testing including rats and pcr, goes on and on. And however much assistance is announced, it doesn’t get distributed, like bushfire disaster relief.
The contrast with Whitlam and the Darwin cyclone is massive. Whitlam abandoned an overseas trip, diverted the plane to Darwin and had the military on site within days.
Back then we had a leader who cared!
“We don’t need a bureaucracy, we need a benign dictator,” Lismore mayor Steve Krieg said
the Right must be rubbing their hands glee – their plan is working
of course, like Santa and the Easter Bunny, a “benign dictator” is a childish dream – the reality would be just more of the same, with the only beneficiaries being the oligarchs who placed them in power
It’s an old quote but it lacks the 2nd part, “…tempered by frequent assassinations.”
STEVE rocks, need more of his type who calls it as he sees it just not to appease certain people, politicians for starters.
“Instead, natural disasters have been followed by a failure to take responsibility for adaptation.”
Crikey, it’s almost as though the entire culture of government mirrors the leader, who doesn’t hold a hose mate.
Shane Stone was right. Move the capital of Queensland inland. Plenty of states and countries have moved their capital away from the distorting influences of their big smoke to a smaller city, typically inland. Population then follows the power.
Just stop the rebuild in the “usual suspect” areas of Brisbane and raise some major roads and bridges and Brisbane will be fine. The vast majority of Brisbane doesn’t actually flood.
Lexusaussie, I have checked the populations of US State capital cities and have found that they have stayed small compared to their big smokes, so my logic is wrong. Population doesn’t follow power, it follows the money, and the money will always be in the big smoke. So yes, it looks as if Brisbane will just have to shuffle sideways, uphill a bit.
I know. There is an exodus out of the major cities but they are finding that the influx of these migrants is causing issues in their new locations. These smaller cities are getting quite vocal about it.
Like Canberra you mean?
Brazilia?
Djakarta?
Move it to Borneo was the last bright suggestion I saw.
Jakarta?
Shane Who, presents well, need to see more of him, dapper man about town, works wonders as he did in the N.T.