Climate change, distant war & a continuing global pandemic are all impacting on household budgets and business in Australia right now

With La Niña conditions expected to continue above average rainfall over Winter months, higher commercial and residential electricity prices to be reflected in quarterly bills sometime after 1 July 2022, petrol prices at the pump making life harder for small business and households alike, food prices rapidly rising and the loss of commercial passenger flights to Lismore and Grafton airports with a significant reduction in flights to Ballina, Northern Rivers residents are going to have to dig a little deeper to find that fortitude the region’s communities are known for.

BACKGROUND

ANZ Research, Agricultural Insight, 31 May 2022. “Global Food Crisis To Worsen”, exceprt:

Bringing it home

Food shortages are expected to worsen as climatic issues, energy shortages, the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine all impact the world’s ability to produce sufficient food. China appears to be one step ahead of the rest of the world in terms of securing additional food supplies. Their policy to increase their reserves of imported products is now serving them well as other countries scramble to import product at inflated prices.

High global food prices will cause hunger in developing nations and erode wealth globally, as it will continue to underpin inflation. Food-exporting nations like Australia and New Zealand may continue to benefit in a net sense from high commodity prices, but it’s hard going for lower-income earners. In addition, as global prices become too expensive, demand will fall, as consumers’ ability to purchase higher-value proteins such as dairy products and red meats is reduced. Demand for basic foodstuffs such as grains is not expected to wane to the same extent – people have to eat.

Therefore the world will need to wait for global supply to increase before these markets rebalance and prices temper.

It’s also worth noting that high food prices are not conducive to geopolitical stability. Hunger induces migration and topples governments. The food crisis is another factor to add to the growing list of potential geopolitical risks as the world tentatively emerges from the shadow of COVID-19. [my yellow highlighting]

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Consumer Priece Index: March Quarter 2022, 27 April 2022:

• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.1% this quarter.

• Over the twelve months to the March 2022 quarter, the CPI rose 5.1%.

• The most significant price rises were New dwelling purchase by owner-occupiers (+5.7%) and Automotive fuel (+11.0%)….

Food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 2.8% since the previous December 2021 quarter and 4.3% since March Quarter 2021. Health prices also rose 2.3% since the previous quarter and 3.5% since March Quarter 2021. Education prices went up by 4.5% since the previous quarter and 4.7% since March Quarter 2021. Housing prices rose by 2.4% from the previous quarter and 6.7% since last year’s March quarter. While Transport prices rose 4.2% since the previous quarter and a whopping 13.7% since last year’s March quarter.

With the exception of Clothing and footwear every CPI benchmark rose since the previous quarter.

The Guardian, 1 June 2022:

Australia is set for its third bumper season of crops in a row, but the increased production will probably bring little relief at the cash register as rising global demand pushes prices skyward.

Australian farmers will plant an area almost the size of England this winter as they try to take advantage of soaring global food prices and a third year of good rains.

The quality of production, though, may be hit by waterlogged fields and reduced fertiliser use as those costs surge, according to Rabobank. Local manufacturers, too, say they’re under strain as raw material and other prices climb and not all of the increases can be passed on.

This winter, farmers will plant a record 23.83m hectares, up 1% on last year, and just shy of England’s 24.36m total area, the bank said in its Winter Crop Outlook. That tally is also 11% more than the five-year average, with wheat plantings up 1.4% and canola, an oilseed, up by 20.9%. Plantings of barley, oats and pulses have dropped…..

Too much rain, though, has forced some farmers to delay or even replant crops – including three plantings of canola in some parts of New South Wales, Voznesenski said.

Other challenges include higher costs for diesel and agrochemicals from pesticides to fertilisers. And while prices have been hitting record levels globally, limited export capacity has hindered exports, meaning farmers have missed out on some of the best prices, he said.

However, Tanya Barden, chief executive of the Food & Grocery Council, said local food manufacturers hadn’t seen much benefit. They were struggling from unprecedented steepening prices for all manner of inputs, from wheat to energy and freight and packaging costs.

“Input costs had risen by 50% over the last decade, and so profitability has dropped from $8bn [a year] to $5bn, and capital investment stagnated,” Barden said. “Industry now is not in a position where it’s able to keep absorbing all these massive additional levels of cost increases.”

While grocery food prices rose 5.3% in the year to March, according to ABS data, they rose 4% in the previous three months alone, she said.

With the full impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Covid-related disruptions in China still to be felt, it was likely food price inflation would quicken in this and coming quarters, she said.

A separate report by ANZ on Tuesday, meanwhile, argued the world faced a “prolonged global food crisis” caused by lost exports from Russia and Ukraine, two of the biggest exporters…..

Susan Kilsby, an agriculture economist with ANZ, said food inflation is going to be an issue that will “plague Australia and most other countries” well into 2023.

“Demand for grains tends to be relatively inelastic, so for global grain prices to ease we really need to see an increase in the supply of grain that is available to be exported globally,” Kilsby said.

While wheat plantings in Australia will be large by historical levels, yields may fall from the highs of recent years.

“La Niña brings more rains in Australia and Asia, while drought in the Americas,” she said, adding the timing of the rainfall can also have a big effect on output.

Rabobank in its report noted Australian farmers have been investing heavily in new storage capacity to cope with increased production and also the limited capacity of grain handlers and exporters to move their crops.

Supply chain snags, however, mean some of the additional spending is not resulting in the equipment arriving.

In some cases, farmers “can order them, but they’re not even told when they can get” the extra storage, with waits stretching out to a year.

“There’s a lot less certainty in their world at the moment,” Rabobank’s Voznesenski said. [my yellow highlighting]

Soybean farmers on NSW North Coast suffer near-total crop losses. Region grows high-end soy bean crop for foods such as tofu with estimated value of $20 million. Ongoing rain after Feburary-March flooding is causing further losses.

That record flood caused extensive damage to the NSW Sugar Milling Co-operative’s three sugar mills on the Northern Rivers and 3,000 tonnes of raw sugar had to be condemned at Harwood, but it is expected that Condong on the Tweed and Harwood on the Clarence will be operational for the late June start to crushing while the Broadwater enterprise on the Richmond, which experienced extensive damage to the steam and power generation facility may not be fully operational until the end of August.

Australian Institute of Petroleum, Weekly Petrol Prices Report: Week Ending 29 May 2022:

Average Petrol retail price this week: 200.0 cents

Average Petrol wholesale price this week: 189.7 cents

Prices have been rising steadily. With the average petrol retail price for the week ending 1 May 2022 coming in at 178.2 cents and the average petrol wholesale price at 163.1 cents.

The week ending 8 May saw the retail price at 179.6 cents and wholesale price 169.2 cents. By the week ending 15 May average prices had risen to retail 185.0 cents and wholesale 178.7 cents. The following week ending 22 May averages prices had again increased to retail 199.1 cents and wholesale 183.3 cents.

Australian Energy Market, AER Statement – Retail Market, 1 June 2022, excerpt:

As outlined in both our Q1 Quarterly Wholesale Report and our Final Determination of the Default Market Offer last week, there continues to be volatility in the wholesale energy market resulting in added cost pressures on both retailers and consumers.

The AER is closely monitoring the situation in both the wholesale and retail markets and ensuring all participants are complying with the law and the rules…..

ABS, Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, March 2022, 1 June 2022:

The La Nina weather cycle influenced Australia’s weather during summer and early autumn, leading to severe flooding in areas of south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales.

The impacts of these events can be seen in key national accounts aggregates. Severe storms disrupted mining and construction activity, resulting in reduced gross value added for these industries. Residential and commercial properties were damaged, resulting in increased non-life insurance claims and governments increased spending on defence assistance for affected areas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Industry Gross Value Added

The response to the L-strain outbreak of COVID-19 led to a large fall in gross value added (GVA) in the June quarter 2020, driven by a record decrease in market sector GVA. Impacts were widespread throughout market industries, with only Mining and Financial and Insurance Services recording growth. The largest falls were seen in tourism and hospitality-related industries, reflecting the restrictions imposed on movement.

Non-market GVA declined driven by Health Care and Social Assistance. Elective surgeries were cancelled and visits to health care professionals declined as households sought to limit the spread of the virus. Both market and non-market GVA partially recovered in the September quarter 2020 as restrictions were lifted.

The Delta strain of COVID-19 had similar effects on market and non-market GVA, with trading and mobility restrictions reducing demand for many goods and services. The falls were not as pronounced as those that occurred during the L-strain, as fewer states experienced outbreaks. Additionally, trading frameworks such as COVID-19 safety plans were developed to allow some businesses in affected states to keep operating under restrictions such as mandatory QR check-ins for patrons and venue capacity limits.

The absence of lockdowns under the Omicron variant resulted in a lower impact on demand. While restrictions were less stringent, hours worked fell due to high COVID-19 infection rates and subsequent isolation requirements. Market sector GVA rose in the March quarter 2022, with the reopening of domestic and international borders. Growth was recorded in travel-related industries such as Transport, Postal and Warehousing and Accommodation and Food Services. Non-market GVA fell due to a contraction in Health Care and Social Assistance, however the fall was less severe than for the prior strains.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATE

ABC News, 3 June 2022:

Australian manufacturers facing massive increases in gas prices are warning they could be forced to shut, with tens of thousands of jobs on the line.

Gas prices on the spot market have quadrupled amid supply constraints, local coal-fired power station outages, and the war in Ukraine.

Australia's largest plastics producer Qenos buys about 40 per cent of its gas on the open market.

"Prices have gone up in the spot market to between $30 and $40 a gigajoule. In fact, that's in a month alone, that's an increase of 300 to 400 per cent," Qenos chief executive Steve Bell said.

"For energy-intensive businesses like ours that is not sustainable."….

On Wednesday, AEMO triggered the Gas Supply Guarantee Mechanism for the first time since it was introduced in 2017. The mechanism calls for the market to release supply and come up with a plan to address a potential shortfall.

Analyst Gilles Walgenwitz said without enough renewables capacity in the grid to make up the shortfall, local coal fired power station outages were also pushing up gas prices.

"We have about six gigawatts of coal capacity missing in Queensland, six gigawatts in New South Wales. That's huge, when you compare to the total capacity normally available," he said.

"And so, we have much more gas power generation coming into play to meet the demand and it happens that at the same time, the price of gas is extremely high."

City of Lismore - first Australian city to begin a major planned climate change reconstruction. Will all three tiers of government, the building-construction lobby, property developers & land speculators be able to resist the temptation to indulge their personal or political ambitions as well as their financial greed, in order to ensure the restoration of safe living space for a vibrant community whilst securing a culturally & environmentally sustainable future?

Lismore City in happier times
IMAGE: Lismore City Council

The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 May 2022:

Public servant David Witherdin holds the fate of the Northern Rivers in his hands, charged with extensive powers to rebuild the flood-ravaged region, writes Heath Gilmore.

David Witherdin is about to begin one of the biggest reconstruction jobs in Australian history, restoring the flood-blighted Northern Rivers of NSW, but he also must confront an even bigger task, almost existential in complexity: can he stop Lismore from drowning?…..

Extensive powers have been bestowed on Witherdin, chief executive of the newly created Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation, including to compulsorily acquire or subdivide land, fast-track the building of new premises and accelerate the delivery of planning proposals through the Department of Planning and Environment.

From July 1, and based in Lismore, the corporation will work with all state government agencies, seven local councils and the private sector to ensure that the reconstruction of infrastructure is co-ordinated and streamlined.

And, it is not only the building of new schools, bridges, roads, water and sewerage infrastructure that Witherdin will oversee. Thousands of residents potentially will be rehoused in new estates signed off by him; buildings rebuilt in a manner dictated by him; the order of infrastructure projects determined by him; and multimillion-dollar contracts awarded by him. Undoubtedly, developers and big contractors will lobby him. Further, he will drive a new master plan for Lismore City that responds to these changes, shaping the social and economic fabric of lives for generations.

He will have an advisory board, consult widely with community and local representatives, but ultimately, he will be answerable to one person: Deputy Premier Paul Toole.

It makes this father of three from Newcastle - a trained civil engineer who worked across the mining, utility, transport and local government sectors before a senior leadership role with the Department of Regional NSW - one of the most powerful figures in the Perrottet government. He has to succeed.

Walking the streets of towns and villages in the Northern Rivers it becomes clear why so much power has been vested in a stand-alone, unelected body. "We'll be pushing through mud literally for the next six months to make things happen, yeah, literally wading through s---," Witherdin says…..

Desolation is splattered right across the Northern Rivers, in the tongue-twister towns of Murwillumbah and Mullumbimby, along the winding rivers bordered by earthier named villages such as Wardell, Woodburn, Coraki and Broadwater, right up into the isolated dreamscape communities of the surrounding hills that are cut off by landslides. The region's population is about 280,000.

Ground zero is Lismore, known as the flood capital of Australia, with a population of about 27,000. Four people died in February as rising water inundated 3045 residential, commercial and industrial buildings and damaged hundreds of millions of dollars worth of critical infrastructure.

Large swaths of the city remain in limbo, waiting for the state or federal government to make a call on their future. Lismore City Council believes at least 1000 households should be relocated to higher ground at a cost of $400 million. And, the region faced flooding again this week.

Usually, elected officials in NSW - councillors, mayors and local MPs - jealously guard their role as the democratically elected repositories of political power that plays out across our lives. Lismore MP Janelle Saffin, Ballina MP Tamara Smith and the regions' seven mayors, however, all support the elevation of Witherdin and his corporation. This disaster was just too big to argue otherwise.

From the first day of the disaster, a still wet Saffin, who had to swim for her life through the floodwater, voiced the need for a single body to rebuild the Northern Rivers, similar to what happened after Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin, and the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, which was created after the 2011 floods.

Saffin made it her mission to convince the NSW government to back the idea by being "persistent, consistent". "We were wiped out," Saffin, a Labor MP, says. "I've been through over 40 years of floods, and even 2017, which was really catastrophic, we were able to manage to get up, even with a lot of trauma and pain, but this one was different.

"State and federal governments can be with you in the immediacy of a big event. But they get consumed by the daily business of everything else and everywhere else in the state.

"So I wanted a commitment from government, with a reconstruction body, recognising that this event is like no other we've experienced, and we're going to back you for the long haul.

"Otherwise we'll be buggered."

An ongoing NSW Flood Inquiry, chaired by Professor Mary O'Kane and former NSW Police commissioner Mick Fuller, is conducting hearings and taking submissions, examining everything contributing to the frequency, intensity, timing and location of floods, including climate change.

NSW Deputy Premier Toole says their recommendations will drive the focus of the corporation. The first report from O'Kane and Fuller is due by the end of June.

Toole says the corporation will look at areas where it makes the "most sense" to rebuild as well as work with the insurance industry to ensure reconstruction is sustainable and insurable.

"We want the NRRC [Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation] to make decisions on what the evidence is telling us because we're not just building back for now, this is about future-proofing these towns," he says.

The Northern Rivers can be a chaotic and passionate mix of rural conservatism, hard-scrabble working class and loud green activism. It straddles world heritage rainforest, prime farm land and a multimillion-dollar coastal property market, including Byron Bay.

Ballina MP Tamara Smith, from the Greens, whose electorate includes Byron Bay, Mullumbimby, Lennox Head and Ballina, says the community will be on guard for opportunists trying to take advantage of the flood disaster.

"The Greens are very concerned that under the cloak of a natural disaster, we could see open slather development," she says.

"I'm less worried about them compulsorily acquiring property, as I am about them declaring a moratorium on planning laws so developers could do what they want in certain areas, under the argument of providing more stock."

Witherdin will not be drawn on how the lives of Northern Rivers residents will be safeguarded until the inquiry presents its first report. However, he says engineering and planning expertise will be vital, especially in the areas of hydrology and flood modelling. Promising a full and honest dialogue with the community, respecting their wishes, he candidly admits that some decisions may be unpopular. "This won't be easy," he says. "I think as soon as you draw a line on a map, we will absolutely feel that. But we'll get there. I know the solutions will be different from town to town, catchment to catchment. We've got to listen to our community and understand what they've been through, a lot of pain. I know the corporation will have the tools in the toolkit and the relevant experience [to meet the government's aims], but the corporation is there to work with the community to also find out their best outcomes, not to sort of walk in there and impose things."

Witherdin says the work of the corporation will set up the Northern Rivers communities for the next 50 to 100 years. "As we look to the future [with climate change], I think we are likely to see more of this kind of natural disaster - not just in Australia but internationally," he says. "If we do this reconstruction well, it could really serve as a great template of what to do in the future across Australia."

Clarence Valley Council is now publishing its Schedule of Works each week to better inform residents and ratepayers about general maintenance and flood damage repairs to bridges, roads and pedestrian thoroughfares

The Northern Rivers' floods of February-March 2022 left behind a mountain of debris, damaged bridges, roads and water & mud ravaged homes. 

The Clarence Valley was not immune and, like the rest of the Northern Rivers, it has been experiencing intermittent flooding ever since.

To keep residents and ratepayers abreast of the lengthy Schedule of Works produced by the continuing adverse weather, Clarence Valley Council is posting the coming week's schedule every Friday via its Noticeboard E-News.

To receive these weekly updates on bridge construction & maintenance, grading underway or finished and capital roadworks, quick and easy registration can be completed at:

https://www.clarence.nsw.gov.au/Connect-with-us. 

The Schedule of Works will also be published each week in the Clarence Valley Independent newspaper which is available in print and online.

Communities in the seven local government areas of the NSW Northern Rivers region know where they have been in 2022 and now they know where they are heading - into more rain

ENSO Outlook

An alert system for the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, 24 May 2022

Australian Bureau of Meteorology:

Special Climate Statement 76 - Extreme rainfall and flooding in south-east Queensland and eastern New South Wales, February-March 2022

25/05/2022 - National

Issued at 10:30am, Wednesday 25 May 2022

The Bureau of Meteorology has released a formal record of the extreme rainfall and flooding that occurred in south-east Queensland and eastern New South Wales in February and March this year.

Special Climate Statement 76 outlines that several rainfall records were broken between 22 February and 9 March 2022, with more than 50 sites recording more than one metre of rainfall in one week.

In the last week of February, parts of south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales had rainfall 2.5 times their monthly average with some regions recording more than five times their monthly average.

After two years of La Niña conditions, the rain fell on saturated catchments leading to flash and riverine flooding extending from Maryborough in Queensland to Grafton in New South Wales.

For many areas, this was the wettest week since at least 1900. Some areas of south-eastern Queensland had their highest flood peaks since 1893, though the lower Brisbane and Bremer rivers and Lockyer Creek peaked below the levels of both January 1974 and January 2011 floods.

In parts of northern New South Wales, flood levels broke previous records. Wilsons River in Lismore peaked at a record high level, estimated to be 14.4 m on 28 February. The previous record was 12.27 m in February 1954.

The rainfall was the result of a combination of weather systems over eastern Australia and the Tasman Sea, where a large volume of humid tropical air moving onshore over eastern Australia was lifted in the atmosphere to produce heavy rain and thunderstorms.

In recent decades, there has been a trend towards a greater proportion of high-intensity, short-duration rainfall events, especially across northern Australia.

The Bureau's special climate statements provide detailed summaries of significant weather and climate events that impact Australians. This Special Climate Statement has been added to an archive of Special Climate Statements dating back more than 15 years, providing easy access to data and information.

Special Climate Statement 76 can be found here: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/statements

The Guardian, 25 May 2022:

The breakdown of the La Niña weather pattern in the Pacific has stalled while a key Indian Ocean climate driver is tilting towards its wetter phase, making it more likely that eastern Australia will face more heavy rain and floods.

Just as the Bureau of Meteorology released a special climate report on the extreme rainfall and flooding that hit parts of south-eastern Queensland, northern New South Wales and the region around Sydney in February and March, its fortnightly report on climate influences pointed to the big wet extending for months to come.

The La Niña event, already in its second year, could yet persist into a third. The expected dissipation of the pattern has not progressed in the past two weeks, and two of the seven models used by the bureau project that the La Niña will last through winter.

Out west, the Indian Ocean dipole is forecast by all climate models to enter its negative phase in coming months.

That phase of the dipole – which gauges the relative differences of sea-surface temperatures across the ocean – increases the chances of above-average winter-spring rainfall for much of Australia. It also lifts the odds of warmer days and nights for northern Australia, according to the bureau.

Models are becoming more confident that we'll get a negative Indian Ocean Dipole in coming months. That typically results in above-average rainfall for central and eastern Australia. @BOM_au pic.twitter.com/w9Xlp0HYUi

— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) May 24, 2022

The prospect of wetter than normal conditions for the east coast in particular will prompt fears of further floods. Catchments remain damp and dams are full, so it won’t require significant bursts of rain to cause more flash flooding and damage.

Spot the difference: June-August (left) and July-September show the odds strongly favour above-average rainfall across most of the country in coming months. @BOM_au pic.twitter.com/lBCXkD1PP0

— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) May 25, 2022

Read the full article here.

NSW Flood February-March 2022: long wait for flood insurance assessments of damaged properties & independent review of emergency services response

 

Grafton NSW
IMAGE: Sydney Morning Herald, 1 March 2022

The Daily Examiner online, 13 March 2021:

The words on the wooden sign have become a symbol of what the Tucabia couple say they’ve repeatedly faced with their insurer in an attempt to save the two-storey house they’ve owned for 30 years.

They’re one of many flood-hit families that have filled the nearby town of Grafton, with insurance delays causing them to keep extending their temporary accommodation.

All but one hotel in Grafton was running at capacity on Friday – with owners largely attributing that to an influx of emergency service workers and newly homeless flood victims from throughout the region.

The clean and tidy Quality Inn Grafton is a far cry from the horrid stench of Suzanne and David Larkin’s water-edge house some 20 minutes away, which was flooded in water half way up its second floor.

“It’s devastating, there’s no other way to put it,” Ms Larkin said.

“Everything is ruined.”

She said her free-range chickens were cramped in a tiny cage and her rescue dogs were traumatised.

“All that’s sentimental is gone,” she said.

She said most days she had spent hours on hold to her insurance company, AAMI, only to have to explain her situation to a new person each time.

That person kept pushing back the house assessment date, pushing the chances of her home being demolished higher each time.

She said AAMI had agreed to cover their temporary accommodation cost until March 30, but the couple expected they’d live in Grafton up to two more months.

“The government says it’ll give us a rental grant, but have you seen the market around here,” Ms Larkin said.

“Where are the houses?”

It appears they’re not alone.

Quality Inn Grafton owner Janelle Boekman said the majority of her rooms were full of homeless families from nearby towns seeking refuge, and a large portion of them complained of similar delays with insurance companies.

“It seems the companies are prioritising other areas and it’s got a lot of people upset, which is really hard to see,” Ms Boekman said.

Abbey Motor Inn Grafton manager Grant Cornish said he had been turning dozens of people away who were looking for temporary accommodation while waiting on insurers.

“This town is chockers – it could do with a few more hotels at the moment,” he said.

Although frustrating insurance delays were disrupting many lives, insurance expert from Compare the Market Steven Zeller said there was no simple solution.

“Insurers have been inundated with well above 80,000 claims across NSW and Queensland and it’s putting absolute pressure on them,” he said.

“They’re trying to get additional staff to help with the shortage and get assessors out, but they might be isolating due to Covid, there could be difficulty getting out to these areas, there are many reasons.”

Mr Zeller said there was a double whammy of a serious supply shortage that posed challenges for insurers trying to access building materials and tradesman.

“So even when an assessor gets out, you’re likely to experience a delay for several more months to have your property fixed,” he said.

“We’re all in a waiting game here.”

In terms of salvaging homes before it’s too late, Mr Zeller said people could take off damaged carpets and furniture to ease some dampness but could not go “knocking down walls” until the place was assessed.

Suncorp Group, which own AAMI insurance, said it has increased staff to help with the flood response in NSW and Queensland, where it had received more than 32,000 claims.

The most claims came from Lismore, Chinderah and Murwillumbah in NSW and Deagon, Aspley and Everton Park in Queensland.

Suncorp Group CEO Steve Johnston said it had created a new dedicated flood response and recovery team that relied on aerial imagery, real-time data and on the ground insights to direct the right support.

“We recognise the scale of this flooding emergency, and the devastating impact it has had on so many people and communities, many of whom are facing a long road to recovery,” Mr Johnston said.....

NSW flood emergency response scrutinised

AAP General News Wire, 13 March 2022:

NSW Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke says all aspects of the emergency services response to the flood crisis will be examined in an independent review.

An independent review of the NSW government's response to the state's flood crisis will determine what mistakes were made and what can be improved, the emergency services minister says.

"I think we can always do better next time," Step Cooke told Sydney radio 2GB on Monday.

There are now 8000 Australian Defence Force personnel in NSW ensuring supplies reach communities that are still cut off by floodwaters, as well as helping with the massive clean-up operation.

However, there has been criticism of how long it took to deploy troops to help with the crisis and questions are being asked about who is to blame.

SES commissioner Carlene York has also faced questions about why civilian rescue helicopters were left grounded across the state as floodwaters inundated the Northern Rivers.

Ms Cooke says all aspects of the emergency services response will be examined, adding it's a complex issue.

The review will determine why it took so long to get troops on the ground in the Northern Rivers to help thousands of people whose homes were inundated with flood waters.

"The deployment of ADF troops is something that will be considered as part of that review," Ms Cooke said.

"If there are ways that we need to do things differently in the future to ensure that our communities have the maximum amount of notice to prepare and our response is timely and is where it is needed, when it is needed, then that is something that will benefit communities right across NSW."

Ms York says worse than forecast weather explained why civilian rescue helicopters were not called to help with the crisis.

Emergency crews were only expecting minor to moderate flooding in the region; less than had inundated the north coast last year.

"We resourced appropriately on those levels," Ms York said on Sunday.

Instead towns were hit with record floods, including in Lismore where waters were two metres above any event recorded.

Helicopters were meanwhile deployed to areas like Cooma, near the Snowy Mountains, to be on standby for floods that never arrived.

Ms York said the worst of the floods in the Northern Rivers had hit at night when rescue crews were restricted in what they could do.

Meanwhile, the SES has determined 3396 homes are uninhabitable and 6708 were inundated as 120 motor homes were last week on their way to the Northern Rivers to deal with a drastic shortage of accommodation as part of a $551 million housing support package…...