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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.
