Mali brave young person from my flood ravaged community Lismore charged with NSW Govt draconian protest laws. Court heard what climate anxiety is - dismissed charges. Imagine if Coalition did as much to stop climate change as it does to criminalise people who are worried about it pic.twitter.com/GtFDXvDPUb
— Sue Higginson (@SueHigginson_) September 27, 2022
Lismore today, a full seven months after the February floods this year. pic.twitter.com/FgxEtfLPwO
— Spiritonajourney (@LawsofLORE) September 30, 2022
This is a main street in Lismore today, 7 months after the flood. This is NOT GOOD ENOUGH. We are stuck in limbo, traumatised & losing hope. Pls sign this petition calling on @Dom_Perrottet to front up to Lismore & give us some answers. #nswpol https://t.co/O9aXvD1b96 pic.twitter.com/4EJkEb4zyi
— Eddie Lloyd (@worldzonfire) September 29, 2022
Saturday morning in Lismore CBD Molesworth st. People writing on their boarded up shops, crying out for help. Please sign our petition calling on the Premier to come to Lismore & give us some answers about our future #LismoreInLimbo @Dom_Perrottet https://t.co/r5yhnNZr6c pic.twitter.com/1MBnZZ9ecv
— Eddie Lloyd (@worldzonfire) September 30, 2022
Saturday morning in Lismore CBD Molesworth st. People writing on their boarded up shops, crying out for help. Please sign our petition calling on the Premier to come to Lismore & give us some answers about our future #LismoreInLimbo @Dom_Perrottet https://t.co/3pPktW4gIL pic.twitter.com/rHrmnKjSrB
— Eddie Lloyd (@worldzonfire) September 30, 2022
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| @worldzonfire, 1 October 2022 |
There are currently around 77 Apprehended Violence Orders listed before Lismore Local Court from 4 to 24 October 2022.
Possibly one of the signs that since March 2022 post-flood stress has been taking a heavy toll on the community.
BACKGROUND
The Northern Star, 26 September 2022:
There are approximately 4000 businesses in Lismore, and 3000 were flood affected, according to Lismore Chamber of Commerce president Ellen Kronen.
Many businesses relocated to surrounding towns like Ballina or Alstonville temporarily, but it’s unlikely some will return.
Very few Lismore businesses have publicly announced they are leaving permanently.
About 100 have left so far, but Ms Kronen suspects as many as 10 per cent won’t come back.
“I think some of those have an intention of coming back but they probably won’t,” Ms Kronen said……
The bigger corporates like Officeworks and Spotlight are coming back just fine. But the problem is the local small, and micro businesses are struggling to get back operational.
Ms Kronen said 80 per cent of flood damaged Lismore businesses are still operating on one power point six months on from the devastating February floods – with commercial landlords struggling to finance repairs.
Grants for flood affected businesses may be the difference between shop owners who’ve been struggling to generate an income for six-months staying or leaving, Ms Kronen said.
“When you look at the number of buildings that are empty, often it’s a lack of money that the landlords just don’t have, or they’re just so stretched that you know, they can’t finance anymore.” she said.
“I know people love bagging landlords, but my experience with landlords ... they want businesses back in their building, because that’s their income.”
Lismore business owners have been left in the dark while electricity retailers and government play hot potato on the responsibility of reconnecting flood damaged premises, Ms Kronen said.
Stores are reporting service fees and power bills for electricity for derelict and uninhabitable buildings, followed by threatening debt collection notices.
“It’s just another layer of stress on top of everything else,” Ms Kronen said.
Electricity retailers are working to resolve the issues with individual businesses, but Ms Kronen, owner of Made In Lismore, said it’s too little too late.
“They seem to be a little bit tone deaf when they’re fielding complaints or trying to explain the situation,” she said.
“I had someone from overseas answer my call who didn’t even know about the Lismore floods.”
Ms Kronen said Essential Energy did a great job getting power back online in Lismore, but the town has been left with the bare minimum and shop owners are surviving on emergency infrastructure.
Murray Watts, Senator for Energy Management, was going to visit a delegation of flood affected Lismore businesses - only to cancel at the last minute, Ms Kronen said.
“If all levels of government know what’s going on then we might actually see something happen,” she said.
“The government could have a conversation with the power companies to have a better response next time.
“I hate saying ‘next time’, but there will be a next time.”
The Australian (Online), 26 September 2022:
Medical peak bodies are calling on the federal government to provide an immediate $15m injection of funds to help health services recover, endorsing a proposal put forward by the NSW Rural Doctors Network.
They also want all regional and rural health services classified as essential services for the purposes of support and recovery in the event of a disaster, which would open up access to immediate financial support and resources to rebuild damaged or destroyed health facilities and replace equipment.
The calls to prop up struggling medics in Lismore comes as the nation faces a looming doctor shortage crisis, particularly in the regions and the bush. The Royal Australian College of GPs has called a General Practice Crisis Summit in Canberra on October 5 to “tackle the most pressing issues affecting patient care”……
In Lismore, local medics estimate that about half the private medical workforce is no longer practising in the area. The town lost three major GP clinics and Lismore Base Hospital’s emergency department is overloaded.
With most given only $50,000 emergency relief grant funding, doctors and pharmacists have been struggling to repair destroyed premises and replace expensive medical equipment lost in the floods. Many were not insured for flood, given the risks in the area, and have had to take out hundreds of thousands of dollars in commercial loans to rebuild.
Pharmacist Kyle Wood, owner of Southside Pharmacy which has two premises in Lismore destroyed in the floods, estimates he has had to spend between $1m and $1.5m to rebuild and restock the chemists.
“Everyone is just running on empty, stressed and fatigued,” Dr Wood said.
The business lost a lot of specialist equipment it used to supply to patients and the hospital, such as commercial breast pumps, electric patient lifters and rehabilitation equipment.
Dr Wood has received an extra $150,000 in relief from the NSW government but it is only a fraction of his costs. “The government was willing to give Norco $35m to keep them alive, I think they had 170 jobs there. We’re asking for half that. There’s far more people employed in health services in Lismore. We have more than 30 people employed in our two stores.”
Australian Medical Association president Steve Robson said he was not prepared for the devastation and the conditions health workers were dealing with when he toured the region last week.
“The personal toll still being borne by the community is shocking,” he said.
“No community health service provider should have to experience the funding uncertainty that healthcare businesses in the Lismore region have faced over the last 6½ months.
“Lismore is the blueprint for ensuring all health services are treated as essential services. It’s time to act now before parts of this great country become dystopian landscapes of desperate climate refugees with no access to health, housing and other basic human rights.”
ABC North Coast, 27 September 2022:
…...Former Lismore City councillor Eddie Lloyd launched the petition, saying the uncertainty was compounding people's trauma & anxiety.
"It's been seven months now & we're still in limbo in terms of our future, waiting for bureaucrats to tell us what's going on & who will be eligible for a buyback & land swap," she said.
Premier Dominic Perrottet & Deputy Premier & Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole have been approached for a response.
The state member for Lismore, Labor MP Janelle Saffin, said the "radio silence" from the government was unacceptable.
"People need to be informed," she said.
"We can live with things slowing down a little bit if we know it's coming … [but] the communications from the state government on flood recovery [has been] appalling."
In August, the government's independent flood inquiry was released, recommending people in the highest-risk areas of the Northern Rivers be "urgently" relocated by way of land swaps & buybacks.
Many expected expressions of interest for such schemes to have been announced in late July or early August following an announcement by the head of the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation.
They were disappointed when it was later announced that expressions of interest would be used to identify land that could be considered for future developments…..
Mr Witherdin [Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation chief executive] said an announcement about buybacks, land swaps, house raising or resilient rebuilding was contingent on funding from the state & federal governments.
"These are really significant investments from a government perspective — you're talking hundreds of millions, into billions, so it's a matter of getting the data there to support that," he said.
"Once we get that [decision] we can lock in on clear dates & give the community that road map of how we roll [it] out."
Ms Saffin said despite the delays there would be assistance for flood affected residents.
"There's a commitment there to do it, so please take heart in that," she said.
"But equally, the government should have done it sooner — & it was promised that it would be done sooner & we're still waiting for those expressions of interest."
As Northern Rivers residents brace for a third consecutive La Niña & the very real possibility of more flooding, Ms Lenane said having hope for the future in the form of some certainty around rebuilding or relocating would be like a light at the end of the very dark tunnel.
"I'd really love a piece of that hope right now," she said.
Australian Bureau of Meteorology, 27 September 2022:
La Niña conditions increase the chance of above average spring and summer rainfall in northern and eastern Australia. When a La Niña and a negative phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole coincide, the likelihood of above average rainfall over Australia, particularly over the eastern half of the continent, is further increased.
Bureau climatologists will continue to closely monitor conditions in the tropical Pacific as well as model outlooks for further developments.
