New South Wales. Parliament. Legislative Council. Select Committee on the Response to Major Flooding across New South Wales in 2022. Report no. 1 (9 August 2022).

In February-March 2022 and again in April the seven local government areas in the Northern Rivers region experienced heavy rainfall events, with some local rainfall exceeding historical records that had been kept since the late 1800s. These rainfall events were exacerbated by at least one large East-Coast Low stormfront.

The flood which occurred while often expected, was at times unpredictable in its behaviour, record breaking in its spread, highly destructive and, in the case of Lismore City local government area calamitous.

The 100 kilometre wide coastal zone of New South Wales experienced natural disaster on a scale that would have been hard to imagine before climate change began to widen our experience.

Post-flooding, a state parliamentary select committee was established to inquire into and report on the response to major flooding across New South Wales in 2022. Terms of reference were referred to the committee by the NSW Legislative Council on 23 March 2022 and Report No.1 was published on 9 August 2022.

Set out below is the full report in scrollable form.

However, right now I would note eight of the twenty-one findings of the report. I am sure that many Northern Rivers residents will recognise concerns which local communities have raised repeatedly across the years in times of flood.

Especially once state government decided emergency service headquarters, coordination functions and staff/volunteer numbers were to be either downsized or moved further south and away from north-east New South Wales.

Finding 1

That the NSW State Emergency Service and Resilience NSW failed as lead agencies to provide adequate leadership and effective coordination during the major flooding of February-March 2022.

Finding 2

That NSW Government agencies lacked coordination, created confusion and responded poorly in the February-March 2022 floods, resulting in the North Coast community being let down in their greatest time of need.

Finding 3

That demarcation disputes and a lack of integration between NSW Government agencies slowed the roll-out of support and assistance to those affected by the February-March 2022 floods.

Finding 4

That NSW Government agencies and the Bureau of Meteorology were not prepared for, nor did they comprehend the scale of the February-March 2022 floods, and some agencies were criticised for treating it as a nine to five business operation.

Finding 5

That the centralisation of the NSW State Emergency Service and a shortage of volunteers significantly hindered the ability of the agency to lead the response to the major flooding of February-March 2022.

.......

Finding 7

That the NSW State Emergency Service failed in its public communication of flood warnings and evacuation information during the February-March 2022 floods, by issuing out of date, inaccurate and confusing messages.

Finding 8

That NSW Government agencies and telecommunications providers failed to ensure that communities affected by the February-March 2022 floods had adequate emergency communications capabilities.

Finding 9

That, notwithstanding the role of the NSW State Emergency Service to perform rescues, individual members of the community had no other option but to ignore government advice and save lives, which was only possible due to local and historical knowledge and local communication, given information from the NSW State Emergency Service and the Bureau of Meteorology was incorrect and out of date.

NSW Parliament, Legislative Council, Inquiry Report No 1 - Response to Major Flooding Across New South Wale... by clarencegirl on Scribd

https://www.scribd.com/document/586199870/NSW-Parliament-Legislative-Council-Inquiry-Report-No-1-Response-to-Major-Flooding-Across-New-South-Wales-in-2022

Chair's Foreword

Major flooding in NSW in February-March 2022 was a catastrophic disaster, causing widespread devastation and damage – particularly in the Northern Rivers and Hawkesbury regions. Tragically, lives were lost, thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed, and significant local infrastructure was damaged.

Five months later, families are homeless with some still living in tents, businesses are still waiting for long-promised assistance, and there are still unresolved policy matters involving buy-backs and land swaps – to name just a few of the myriad remaining pressing problems.

This inquiry was set up to consider the NSW Government's preparedness, coordination, and response to the flooding events. While this report outlines many of the failures of the NSW Government, it also seeks to ensure that the Government is better prepared and coordinated when the next natural disaster of this nature inevitably occurs.

A considerable focus of this inquiry was on the performance of the NSW State Emergency Service (SES), as the leading agency for emergency response, and Resilience NSW as the leading agency in recovery.

Ultimately, the committee found that these two organisations failed to provide leadership and effective coordination in the community’s greatest time of need. Demarcation disputes and a lack of integration slowed the roll-out of support and assistance to flood-affected communities.

The State Government’s failure to implement a streamlined grants process also meant that applicants were repeatedly interviewed, and had to re-live their experiences, leading to further frustration and trauma as part of the support process.

With respect to the NSW SES, it is clear that the centralisation of this organisation, and a shortage of volunteers, significantly hindered the ability of the agency to lead the emergency response. In many cases, flood warnings and evacuation information were out of date, inaccurate and confusing. Further still, many community members felt that they had no choice but to conduct their own rescues in dangerous conditions as many calls for assistance to 000 and the NSW SES went unanswered.

Put simply, the community was forced to save themselves; neighbour saving neighbour. While this is an admirable testament to these communities, it is both unreasonable and undesirable as a matter of public policy. For these reasons, the NSW Government should consider restructuring the SES to ensure that it better harnesses local knowledge and networks, coordinates more closely with other rescue agencies, and increases resources, including by driving volunteer recruitment.

Resilience NSW demonstrated some of the biggest failures of the NSW Government's response to the floods. Witnesses repeatedly expressed frustration and were confused about the role of Resilience NSW, particularly in the recovery phase following the floods. The committee found that the NSW Government failed to comprehend the scale of the floods and treated the disaster response as a “nine to five” business operation – when it was one of the greatest natural disasters in generations.

The agency failed to engage or coordinate with community groups leading flood recovery efforts in their communities. This was despite Resilience NSW having been established almost two years ago.

Accordingly, the NSW Government must consider the viability of Resilience NSW unless it can ensure that the agency's role is clear after reviewing policies, objectives, and funding; and that the organisation and its policies are apt to actually meet community disaster response needs.

It is this chair’s view that the NSW Government should abolish Resilience NSW.

Our focus is now on the enormous task of clean-up, restoration and reconstruction. Many flood affected individuals, families and businesses still need assistance. The NSW Government must work with much greater urgency to secure temporary housing options as many continue to live in tents and cars near their homes.

The committee also calls on the government to finalise its long term housing options and ensure that it considers investing in supporting relocations, land swaps, and providing fair compensation for landowners who wish to relocate from severely flood-impacted areas.The committee also made practical recommendations such as providing satellite phones and satellite terminals to community hubs in flood-prone areas.

The committee has noted evidence that – following the appointment of NSW Police Force Deputy Commissioner, Mal Lanyon, to the role of Northern NSW Recovery Coordinator – recovery efforts significantly improved, and that he provided much-needed leadership. The Committee has accordingly recommended a senior police officer with 'combat' experience should lead recovery efforts in future natural disasters as a matter of policy.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank the flood-affected communities and individuals who took the time to share their stories with us. It is the committee’s wish that this report will help to improve the NSW Government's response to future natural disasters to minimise adverse effects on local communities.

In total, the committee made 21 findings and 37 recommendations. The committee received almost 90 submissions and almost 120 responses to its online questionnaire. It held six public hearings. This included ones in Ballina; Lismore; Murwillumbah; Windsor; and two at Parliament House.

Significantly, the Committee held four public forums. We hope they were regarded as valuable by flood-stricken communities, given that they allowed 75 flood-affected individuals to speak directly under parliamentary privilege to the committee.

Furthermore, I wish to acknowledge the political leaders – at all three levels of government – who put aside their differences to support their communities. They all cooperated with this inquiry, providing forthright and honest views. This was appreciated.

Finally, I would like to thank my committee colleagues for their collaboration, and the secretariat — particularly Tina Higgins, Shaza Barbar, Stephen Fujiwara and Andrew Ratchford, as well as Hansard staff for their professional assistance on this important Inquiry.

The Hon Walt Secord MLC

Committee Chair

 

The ePetition 'Critical Koala Habitat in Port Macquarie' was formally debated in the NSW Legislative Assembly on 17 February 2022.

NSW Parliament, YouTube: "On Thursday 17 February 2022, the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales debated an ePetition presented to the Parliament by Tamara Smith, Member for Ballina, on critical koala habitat in Port Macquarie. The petition called on the Legislative Assembly to direct the Government to purchase critical koala habitat in Port Macquarie. If an ePetition gains 20,000 signatures, it is debated in the Chamber. Debates feature members who speak to the petition including the relevant Minister." 

The e-petition Purchase Critical Koala Habitat in Port Macquarie closed on 23 November 2021. It was only open to signatures of New South Wales residents and 24,970 people responded.

As a result the NSW Government purchased 194 hectares of prime koala habitat located adjacent to the Lake Innes Nature Reserve, south-west of Port Macquarie.

However, the state government's record on protecting New South Wales koala populations is a poor one, heavily influenced by the demands of property developers as well as those of forestry & mining industries and agricultural land clearing.  The Koala remains in danger of extinction by 2050.

Will Richmond Valley be sending a local farmer and environmental lawyer to the NSW Legislative Council to replace The Greens outgoing David Shoebridge?

Sue Higginson is an environmental lawyer and dryland rice farmer on the Richmond Valley floodplain. As part of farming practice she protects core koala habitat in the area through regenerating habitat and biodiversity and planting thousands of trees.

Echo, 9 February 2022:

Dryland rice farmer Sue Higginson on her farm. Photo Julian Meehan.

A casual vacancy has arisen for the Greens in the NSW upper house, and Sue Higginson is hoping to take the place of the vacating David Shoebridge.

Shoebridge is the Greens’ lead Senate candidate in the upcoming Federal election – as soon as the election is announced, he says he will resign his seat in the NSW Legislative Council…..

Ms Higginson is an environmental lawyer, activist, and a tireless advocate for justice. For many years, she was the CEO and principal solicitor of the Environmental Defender’s Office (EDO), running the highest-profile environmental litigation in the country.

‘I’ve taken coal and mining giants to court – like Rio Tinto and Santos, Whitehaven, Adani – and I’ve won. I’ve taken governments to court for wrong decisions, and I’ve advised many MPs in NSW Parliament’, Ms Higginson says.

Planning experience

‘As a public interest planning lawyer, I have an intimate understanding of the planning system. Planning law impacts our lives in every way. It determines what can and can’t happen in your local environment. Our planning laws need a significant shake up to address climate change, and put the protection of the environment and the health of our communities first’.

‘I know what that planning law system looks like and I would love to be in a position to advocate for it.’

For over a decade, Ms Higginson says ‘the Liberals have run a destructive economic agenda, serving the elite, and leaving so many behind, while the Nationals have plundered, and continue to plunder, our environment – like there’s no tomorrow’.

‘I’ve seen firsthand how they set the rules to serve their corporate masters and their mining mates, their time’s coming to an end.’ …..

‘I will pick up where David left off. I’m an experienced lawyer with forensic skill and an insatiable appetite for justice. I have expertise across all of David’s portfolios.’

The ballot opens on February 9.

Do you know that in the NSW Parliament, the upper house ventilation system has been upgraded to ensure 8 exchanges of fresh air every hour on the advice of health experts. Our school kids get told to open a window. Want to change that? Then take a moment to sign this official e-Petition to Parliament

"An excellent COVID-19 safety plan has been developed for parliament that includes rapid antigen testing, mask-wearing, social distancing and upgraded ventilation systems. A strictly limited number of members would be permitted in the chamber and there will be remote online participation of members. As the opposition Whip in the Upper House, I have spent time examining the plan in great detail, and it is among the strictest set of work practices in our state’s workplaces." [Mark Buttigeig MLC, in The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 September 2021]

When it comes to a complete suite of COVID-19 pandemic health response measures across the entire population, first the Berejiklian and now the Perrottet, NSW governments have rarely been proactive unless pushed.

If the world we live in had attained true equality and equity our children would be having their schools fitted out with high quality ventilation systems, but they are not.

This e-petition set out below has yet to reach the 10,000 signature target which would mean it will be considered by the NSW Parliament.

The SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant Outbreak & COVID-19 infection spread generally are far from over.

Please sign for the sake of kindergarten, primary & high school students across the state.

This petition is not the complete answer but it is a good start. Bringing community concerns right into the Legislative Assembly, where history through Hansard makes every single one of the current 93 members accountable. Make people power count!

NSW Parliament e-Petition with close date 21 October 2021:

Signing ePetition 

To sign the ePetition, confirm you are a resident of New South Wales and enter your title, first name and last name. Once you click ‘submit’ you will have signed the ePetition and will be re-directed to the Legislative Assembly’s ‘ePetitions open for signature’ page 

Covid-19 safety measures in schools: ventilation & air filtration 

To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly, 

 We call upon the NSW government to take immediate action to ensure adequate ventilation is installed and maintained in Primary Schools. The current measures undertaken by the Department of Education to ensure windows and doors are able to be opened is not sufficient.

 

Covid-19 is an airborne disease. Ventilation, along with vaccination and vital covid-safe steps, are essential to keep children safe. Children under 12 years of age are not currently eligible for vaccination, so adequate ventilation in Primary Schools is a priority. 

 OzSAGE, a network of public health experts, believes ventilation in classrooms is a key requirement for the safe lifting of restrictions in NSW. Their stance is supported by both the CDC in the USA and the ECDC across Europe. 

 In the NSW Parliament, the upper house ventilation system has been upgraded to ensure eight exchanges of fresh air every hour on the advice of health experts. Our children should be afforded the same protection as our elected officials. 

 We are asking for a state-wide ventilation plan to include: 

• Carbon dioxide monitors to be installed in classrooms 

• Air purification devices (including HEPA filters) to be distributed 

 • Funding for shade sails to increase outdoor learning spaces and make it easier for classes to be conducted outdoors 

 With Kindy and Stage 1 children returning to classrooms on the 25th October 2021, we implore you to take urgent action to ensure our children’s health and safety.

To sign online go to:

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/la/Pages/ePetition-details.aspx?q=rpEwNg2UB9+LpW1NhPZzdA==

BACKGROUND

"COVIDSAFE Plan to support the sittings of the Legislative Council (LC)" at:

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/tp/files/80383/COVIDSAFE%20Plan%20to%20support%20the%20sittings%20of%20the%20Legislative%20Council%20-%20%20%209%20September%202021.pdf

When hubris, arrogance & an unwillingness to face their mistakes caused members of the NSW Berejiklian Government to topple the state into a plague pit

When NSW Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kerry Chant appeared before an Upper House Standing Committee inquiring into the NSW Government’s Management of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Tuesday 10 August 2021, she did so in company with Liberal MLA for Wakehurst & NSW Minister for Health and Medical Research Brad Hazzard.

It was noticeable from the start of their joint appearance before the Inquiry that Hazzard was hostile to the existence of this particular inquiry and suspicious of certain members of the 8-member Committee.

"The first speaker said this was not in some sort of—gotcha moment. And all you are trying to do is carry-on like a—"

"...you are just asking questions which are just aimed at just having a go."

"I actually thought it [giving evidence] was a ridiculous proposition..." [Brad Hazzard, NSW Minister for Health and Medical Research, 10 August 2021]

Equally, it was evident that Hazzard also intended to constrain the questioning of and evidence given by Dr. Chant.

He reminded the Chair and Dr. Chant that she was unable to speak to the Inquiry as to the nature/content of discussions held during crisis committee meetings or produce copies of correspondence, reports or other written advice that Dr. Chant had given to this committee because the crisis committee was a committee within Cabinet.

Nevertheless Dr. Chant did reveal that, 4 days after the NSW Delta Variant Outbreak began, a birthday party at West Hoxton attended by around 30 people was underway and, although in coming days 24 of the 30 guests were diagnosed as infected with COVID-19, it was felt that infection spread had been contained early.

However, although the party was broken up by NSW Police and everyone was sent into home isolation by NSW Health, the containment door was never really locked and NSW Health failed to notice. Or if it did notice, failed to realise the full public health implications of a highly infectious new variant which might not act like the original virus or other known variants.

It appears that the public health response to this super spreader birthday party was the originating error which undid whatever effective infection containment had been achieved in the first few weeks of the Delta Variant Outbreak, because this particular infection focal point began cascading the virus through south-west Sydney.

Becoming a tipping point to a growing infection rate, until the outbreak could not be contained within Greater Sydney and began to infect regional and rural New South Wales.

Cabinet crisis committee members might have received the first hint of a south-west Sydney containment issue by 29 June 2021 when it was discovered that at least 39-40 people had actually attended the West Hoxton birthday party and first contact and subsequent contact infections were still growing. Other COVID-19 infections which likely originated within that area 30-40 miles south-west of Sydney's CBD were still being reported on 4 July 2021. 

Although concerns were growing of a possibly unknown transmission trail, there was not yet the political will to further extend the already expanded Greater Sydney lockdown or initiate a statewide hard lockdown. 

The Berejiklian Coalition Government's approach to public health infectious disease control was not occurring in a vacuum. On 23 June 2021 a fellow Coalition Government leader, Liberal MP for Cook & Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, publicly endorsed the Premier Gladys Berejiklian's reluctance to lockdown hard and early:

 “I commend the New South Wales Premier for the way that she is handling the outbreak in New South Wales, the fact that she hasn't gone to lock down Australia's biggest city. She has taken, I think, the very positive decision to keep Sydney open and to keep New South Wales open for its residents and to continue to rely on what is Australia's best contact-tracing system, the one in New South Wales.” [Prime Minister Scott Morrison in House of Representatives Hansard, 23 June 2021, p.44] 

It wasn’t until 25 June 2021 - 10 days after the West Hoxton super spreader party was held - that what might be described as a semi-hard lockdown began in Sydney's eastern and inner west suburbs. It seems at the time no-one had turned their minds to thoughts of possible further infection spread from West Hoxton deeper into Sydney's south-western suburbs.

On 25 June NSW Health reported that 20 of the 80 COVID-19 cases linked to the Bondi infection cluster were associated with the West Hoxton birthday party.

July 25th was Day 40 of the NSW Delta Variant Outbreak and 36 days after the West Hoxton party. The original figure of two people in the state with a locally acquired Delta Variant COVID-19 infection had risen to an est. 2,226  men, women and children with 8 deaths. On that day the records show 156 COVID-19 cases were in hospital, with 44 people in intensive care, 18 of whom require ventilation.

The next day that semi-hard lockdown grew to include all of Greater Sydney, as well as Wollongong, Blue Mountains and the Central Coast.

It wasn't until a tardy 56 days after that disastrous birthday party that a state-wide lockdown was imposed for 7 days.

At that point on Day 60 of the Delta Variant Outbreak data showed that, as of 8pm Saturday 14 August 2021, there had been 415 new locally acquired  COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours with 4 deaths and, the number of locally acquired COVID-19 infections since the 16 June beginning of the outbreak in NSW now totalled 7,745 people - inclusive of 47 deaths. In addition there were currently 381 COVID-19 cases admitted to NSW hospitals, with 62 people in intensive care, 24 of whom require ventilation. 

COVID-19 infections caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant continue to spread within the state population.

BACKGROUND

Uncorrected Hansard, excerpts of 10 August 2021 evidence before the New South Wales Legislative Council Public Accountability Committee of Dr. KERRY CHANT, Chief Health Officer, and Deputy Secretary, Population and Public Health, NSW Health, on former oath.

The Hon. PENNY SHARPE: We are looking for the precise date. The nature in which the advice was provided, we will ask you about a bit later, but we are specifically asking for the date—two dates really—on which your public health team started to prepare for the need to lock down parts of Sydney and on what date you informed the Health Minister of the need to do this?

Dr CHANT: There was a progressive range of restrictions put in place and on the twenty-fifth [June] we briefed—we acted quickly. There were already preparatory orders that had been previous orders that formed the basis of the stay-at-home restrictions. On that day, the Government responded to our initial request for lockdown of the Waverley, Woollahra, Randwick, City of Sydney and then quickly the escalating nature justified locking down the remainder of Greater Sydney. The lockdown did have effect in bringing the disease under control in south-eastern Sydney quite quickly. Unfortunately, it was unknown at the time that there was not containment of the West Hoxton party. Obviously more investigations will be done, genomic sequencing, and I have to apologise to the Committee that I have not had the opportunity to go back and look at all of that. But there is concern that there was leakage at that point that was not recognised at the time and then that led to establishment in south-western Sydney. The lockdown was less effective in south-western Sydney because of the lower testing rates and the impacted community needed to be engaged with. There were a number of challenges in seeing the same effect that we were seeing in south-eastern Sydney in that area. There has been a range of strategies put in place to work cooperatively with the local communities.....

Dr CHANT: Consistently public health has indicated the risk of seeding regionally and we have done a lot of work to prevent that. So there are requirements around testing for people who are going to the regions. We have certainly been doing a lot of messaging and we have been looking at opportunities to provide feedback on elements where the orders can be strengthened or clarified. As the Minister has said, we are actually asking people to not try and look for loopholes in the orders but rather to comply with the intent. We also were aware that our regional communities require critical health workers, other critical infrastructure workers—.....

Dr CHANT: At every step of the way we looked at the exposures, whether there were direct linkages, what were the risks, and made those decisions about the actions that needed to be put in place. Obviously with looking back there was a chain of transmission that was not detected and that was also playing into the mind that we needed to lock down. So all I can say is that we were looking closely at the information available, working with our public health networks and provided advice to government on a range of strategies. As I said, the outbreak was actually brought under control in south-eastern Sydney. It was really around when it got introduced into south-western Sydney that we saw the escalating case numbers. To be fair, it needed a different response in south-western Sydney and there is a lot of focus on supporting communities in south-western Sydney and understanding the disease…..

Dr CHANT: The information was based on the best available evidence at the time. Clearly the disease was not—initially they were very linked cases and then other controls were put in place. Clearly the lockdown was recommended and enacted, and we did have success in bringing the cases down. It was a seeding event into western Sydney that led to those—....

Dr CHANT: —West Hoxton, which was not recognised at the time. It was thought that cluster had actually been identified very early but there were issues around containment of that which were not appreciated. Obviously, with the benefit of hindsight, there are different decisions that can be made, but just be reassured that we were looking very closely at all elements of the response in terms of the recommendations to government about the controls at the time…… 

Dr CHANT: There would have been a range of discussions with the Minister, but the formal advice around going into lockdown was provided on the dates when the lockdown was instituted. As I said, everyone was looking at the data closely. I think the key issue was the issue around the seeding event and whether it was contained or not, which was not—initially, the West Hoxton party was thought to have been well contained because it was picked up quite quickly. With the benefit of hindsight, I think it is very clear to see that there was a greater risk of the seeding event in south-western Sydney than was appreciated at the time that emerged and that led to the lockdown. The lockdown did have effect in bringing down the numbers in south-western Sydney but was not as effective in heeding the cluster growth in south-western Sydney.……

Dr CHANT: Obviously in controlling case numbers we want to see the effective reproductive [R] rate down beneath one. We want to see declining numbers. Clearly there is no silver bullet for that but what you want to do is make sure you have effective recognition of cases and contacts and that good public health contact tracing…..

You also want to limit the opportunity for people to mix and reduce mobility. Things like mask-wearing can further mitigate that. Clearly I want to see a range of actions taken that reduce the R effective beneath one. As I said, we monitor those metrics but it is complex because we are wanting people to behave. I should say that we did observe that the community response to this outbreak was different from the first wave and we did not see the same changes in mobility patterns as we did with the first wave……

The Hon. COURTNEY HOUSSOS: I understand. Dr Chant, if it does fall below one, would that be then the basis for you recommending to loosen the current restrictions, including the lockdown?

Dr CHANT: No. I would like to see it go beneath one and then I would like to see the case numbers continue to decline. I would like to see us get down to very, very low levels of the virus and I would like to see vaccine coverage increase. They are my public health objectives that I would like to see.

Dr CHANT: If I could just comment on the Doherty report. I think what it reflects is that we will need some level of restrictions as we increase our vaccine coverage from that 70 to a higher percentage. We will still need restrictions. We will still need mask-wearing, we will still need to have public health contact tracing, we will still need to have a range of measures. Obviously the higher we get our vaccine coverage the better, but we will be responding to COVID. In the end COVID will be an endemic disease. We are very privileged that we have good vaccines that actually perform much better than the influenza vaccines. I think it is very important to know that we are not talking about "a normal". We know that as vaccine coverage goes up there will still need to be a range of public health restrictions and measures in place as we work to get that balance between societal, which is a matter for government, and the public health outcome, which is reducing the number of cases of COVID. [my yellow highlighting]

Meet John Barilaro - Deputy-Premier, Minister for Regional News South Wales and property developer

 

ABC News, 11 September 2020

The NSW Deputy-Premier, Minister for Regional New South Wales and National Party MP for Monaro since 2011 (shown left) - who formerly worked in the family business manufacturing timber products and who went on to become a property developer in his own right - has some questions to answer.

Starting with this……..

The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 November 2020:

The controversy centres on the demise of the Marco Polo Social Club, which for decades was a thriving social hub for Queanbeyan’s large Italian community.

John Barilaro joined the board of the Social Club in 1995, seven years after his father, Domenico Barilaro, who died earlier this year.

The Barilaros were both directors of the Social Club in 1996 when it sold its clubhouse for $300,000 to Monaro Properties Pty Ltd.

John Barilaro was Monaro Properties’ secretary and Domenico Barilaro was one of its directors at the time. The pair also purchased shares in Monaro Properties six months after it acquired the clubhouse.

The Social Club went broke in the early 2000s.

According to the minutes of a creditors’ meeting in February 2003, the social club’s administrator commented that he was “concerned that a number of company directors may have a conflict of interest in that they are also actively involved in the management of the company that owns the company’s trading premises”.

The club’s demise was publicly blamed on mounting debts, an “unforgiving fiscal market” and infighting among board members.

With the clubhouse no longer needed, Monaro Properties on-sold it for $1.025 million in mid 2004, securing the company a $700,000 windfall.

There is no evidence John Barilaro directly financially benefited, as he was no longer a shareholder or director of Monaro Properties at the time.

However Domenico Barilaro was still a director of Monaro Properties at the time

It is unclear whether Domenico Barilaro still held his shares because the company did not lodge a financial return that year.

However ASIC records show Domenico Barilaro held shares before the transaction in 2002 and afterwards in 2005 and there was no publicly available record of any change to his shareholdings.

On 26 March 2001 Giovanni (John) Domenic Barilaro MLA entered the NSW Parliament as a backbencher.

It took him a little over 5 years and 7 months to work his way up to being Leader of the Nationals in the NSW Parliament, a position which automatically made him Deputy-Premier of New South Wales, and another 1 year & 15 weeks to add Minister for Regional New South Wales to his current titles.

Like many other parliamentarians John Barilaro comes with a backstory he created and elaborated for the benefit of parliament, telling the Legislative Assembly that he had stood for election because; “I have had a gutful of a Government, led by the vocal minority, selling out our hopes and dreams; a Government that was infected by a corrupt culture, which was attacking and abandoning the virtues and qualities of this once-great State.”

Again like many other parliamentarians, Barilaro’s backstory does not quite match up with what both mainstream media articles and his voting record reveal about him.

Although he probably came closest to uttering one particular unvarnished truth when he spoke with a Fairfax-Nine journalist recently: "Barilaro has defended pork barrelling for regional seats, even dubbing himself "Pork Barilaro"...."that's what people would expect from me". 

Nor are many parliamentarians quick to publicly and loudly inform the electorate of exactly what they they disclosed to Parliament concerning their financial affairs.

So voters in NSW disturbed about the Nationals push for more logging on private rural land and increased vegetation clearing on agricultural land – seen by many concerned regional residents as a crafted backdoor to increased residential development on the fringes of existing towns and villages – never realise that the Nationals Leader insisting on this landowner 'right' is himself a property developer.

This is a basic outline of his business background since entering state politics......

At the present time John Barilaro appears to jointly own five properties, including “Dungowan” a 94ha rural estate he & wife purchased for est. 2 million about six years ago & industrial land he owns with his brother on which the family had operated three companies.

"Dungowan" and its very extensive grounds have been operating as a 13-bed Airbnb villa since at least August 2014. Currently it charges $1,850.00/per night per person. A fact that to date is not yet attached to Barilaro's last publicly available online Register of Disclosures by Members of the Legislative Assembly 

The 'Estate' as a business is being managed by Barilaro's wife who seems to also act as official greeter for Airbnb guests and, this property would potentially generate est. $160,000 per year for Barialaro and his wife.

Previously Barilaro was joint owner of Ryleho Pty Ltd (presumed voluntarily deregistered in January 2019) & Ryleho Home Solutions Pty Ltd (voluntarily deregistered in September 2019). The third company on site Ryleho Group Pty Ltd now owned by his brother was sent into receivership by the Australian Tax Office - presumably for non-payment of taxes - in October 2019.

All three companies were involved in manufacturing timber products.

According to the last Register of Disclosures by Members of the Legislative Assembly form he lodged for 2018-19 Barilaro also has a beneficial interests in three trusts: the J & D Barilaro Family Trust, JJDA Trust and Kotsobola Group Unit Trust.

J & D Barilaro Family Trust conducted business at a location in NSW 2620 between August 2002 and the end of December 2019 according to the Australian Business Register (ABN) website. Presumably this trust was associated with Barilaro’s 50 per cent share in Ryleho Pty Ltd.

The JJDA Trust is associated with Domale Pty Ltd in which Barilaro’s wife has been sole director and company secretary since May 2010.

The Kotsobola Group Unit Trust is associated with Kotsobola Group Pty Ltd in which John Barilaro was one of four founding directors until March 2012 when his wife became a director in his place. This company’s purpose Barilaro described in 2014 as “Property Development”.

Another “Property Development” company Barilaro and his wife were at different time directors of was Euro Partners Pty Ltd. They appear to have been shareholders along with three other individuals up to the company’s reregistration in July 2016.

Barilaro’s Member’s Disclosure forms since entering state parliament also record he had held shares in at least five racehorses of which only two were currently listed in 2019.