State Emergency Services

The Hon. KAYEE GRIFFIN [4.46 p.m.]: I move:

1. That this House notes the valuable service by the State Emergency Services to the people of New South Wales when natural disasters and other emergencies occur.

2. That this House acknowledges the hard work and commitment of the many volunteers who dedicate so much of their time to the State Emergency Service, in particular during the recent storms in the Hunter, Central Coast and other areas in New South Wales.

3. That this House congratulates the Premier and Minister for Emergency Services on the 23.8 per cent increase in the 2007-08 State Emergency Services budget.

I pay tribute to the dedicated and hardworking volunteers who make up the State Emergency Service around New South Wales. As a community we are fortunate indeed to be able to rely on this force of volunteers to turn out, around the clock in the most dreadful conditions, to help protect us in times of natural disasters and other emergencies. The State Emergency Service motto is "The worst in nature, the best in us", and we have seen both over what has been one of the busiest years on record for the volunteers, who have put in a herculean effort to protect the community from the ravages of storms, floods and other emergencies.

The State Emergency Service has been in constant statewide operational response mode since the June long weekend last year when severe weather struck many areas of New South Wales. Damaging weather patterns have created an onerous workload for emergency services in a forewarning of what the future holds as we experience the increasing effects of climate change. The year 2007 started with severe storms in many areas but the largest test for the State Emergency Service and our other emergency services came in June with severe storms and widespread flooding in the Hunter Valley and on the Central Coast. This was a natural disaster of enormous magnitude, causing damage and hardship for many thousands of residents and businesspeople throughout these communities. Tragically, nine people lost their lives.

The State Emergency Service received almost 20,000 requests for assistance in an operation lasting more than three weeks, making this the second largest response operation in the history of the service after the 1999 Sydney hailstorm. The event resulted in about 90,000 insurance claims for damage totalling more than $1.4 billion, making it one of the most costly disasters in New South Wales' history. This makes the event three times larger in terms of insurance losses than Cyclone Larry in Queensland, which sparked 27,000 claims totalling $520 million. In the end, this event could prove to be the fourth largest loss suffered by the insurance industry in this country, behind only the Sydney hailstorm of 1999, the Newcastle earthquake and Cyclone Tracey.

The Premier quickly declared a natural disaster on 8 June to ensure that necessary assistance was provided to residents, business owners and councils whose properties were damaged in the flooding and storms. In particular, the declaration ensures councils will be reimbursed for the cost of repairing public infrastructure, including local roads and bridges damaged by fast-flowing floodwaters and debris. A recovery committee was also established to guide the longer-term process of helping the community get back on its feet and return to some normalcy after the immediate response phase. One-stop shops were opened in Newcastle, Singleton, Wyong and Cessnock so people could more easily access a range of government and non-government services such as EnergyAustralia, Telstra, Centrelink, the Department of Community Services, New South Wales Health, Home Care, councils, the Insurance Council of Australia, and welfare support agencies.

What this emergency really showed—yet again—was the inestimable value of emergency services to our community in times of natural disaster, and the skill, commitment and cooperation of their members, whether paid staff or volunteers. The calamitous weather, which stretched as far south as the Illawarra, presented a major test for our emergency services. It was obvious that they rose to the challenge, working non-stop to provide people suffering damage and hardship with the support and protection they needed. More than 6,000 members of the emergency services—the State Emergency Service, New South Wales Fire Brigades, the Rural Fire Service and the Volunteer Rescue Association—turned out with the other essential services, local government and community agencies to help, often at risk to their own safety, and gave their time unstintingly. It is all the more impressive that our volunteers do this for no other reward than the thanks of those they help along the way.

As well as volunteers from local units throughout the Hunter Valley and Central Coast, State Emergency Service volunteers travelled from regions as far afield as North Sydney, the Central West, Clarence Nambucca, the Far West, Namoi, the North West, Lachlan, Murray, Macquarie, Richmond Tweed, Southern Highlands, Murrumbidgee, Oxley, Illawarra South Coast, and western and southern Sydney to assist people in need. More than 400 members of the Victorian, Queensland, South Australian and Australian Capital Territory State Emergency Services travelled to assist with the operation in the largest interstate support operation in this State since the Sydney hailstorm. This cross-border cooperation in times of adversity remains one of the great strengths of this nation's emergency services.

It would be remiss of me not to thank the employers and families of all our volunteers and workers. Thousands of employers contributed to this operation by releasing their staff members who are volunteers, some for more than a week. Without this ongoing and invaluable support, our volunteers would not be able to fulfil their commitment to assist and protect the community in times of trouble. One of the lessons learnt from this emergency is the importance of building well-resourced and resilient communities that are prepared for and know how to respond to these kinds of natural disasters.

Given its long history of severe flooding, the community of Maitland and the surrounding district is particularly aware of the need to be vigilant and prepared. In fact, the New South Wales State Emergency Service was established after the tragic 1955 Maitland floods, in which 14 people died, 15,000 people were evacuated and 5,000 homes and public landmarks disappeared under the murky brown floodwaters. In recent years the Hunter State Emergency Service has devoted a great deal of energy to educating the community about flood safety and how they can best prepare and protect themselves and their properties. A series of Maitland and Singleton FloodSafe guides have been produced to provide specific information on local flooding conditions and helpful flood safety advice. In fact, the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority and the State Emergency Service were highly commended in last year's Safer Communities Awards for their Community Flood Education Strategy for Maitland and the Hunter Valley to raise awareness of how people can prepare for and respond to a flood, in order to help reduce loss and damage.

The value of all this education was seen in the sensible and responsible response by residents to State Emergency Service evacuation warnings at Maitland. The community was ready and cooperated with authorities, and the emergency evacuation centres needed to house only 90 people overnight, with the majority of people making alternative plans. This attitude was reflected downstream at Raymond Terrace and Hexham, where people were ready to leave should the floodwaters have reached their peak, and at towns such as Hinton, Weston and Cessnock, where residents coped stoically with inundation and isolation. Special commemorative State medallions have been struck to thank all those who took part in the response, and I am aware that these are being presented to individuals from the emergency services, essential services and other agencies that contributed.

The Hunter and Central Coast emergency presented a major challenge but the work did not stop there. Since that operation, which placed such a heavy demand on personnel and resources, the State Emergency Service has mounted 17 separate operations in response to major storms and another 22 individual flood operations around the State. Thousands of State Emergency Service members have responded to this almost constant string of emergencies. The depth of their commitment to the service and the community is seen in the fact that so far this financial year members of the State Emergency Service have dedicated more than 250,000 hours. As at 18 March this year 251,340 hours have been committed to emergency operations and other duties. That is an amazing effort—and all the more so when we remember that these people are volunteers who are giving up time at work and with their families and friends to go to the aid of people in need.

The emergencies since that disastrous June long weekend have included a string of storms with heavy rains and gusting winds, starting in July, that have caused damage in many areas, including Sydney, the Illawarra, the Hunter, the Central West, and along the coast north of Sydney; a severe hailstorm in Lismore and a tornado in the nearby village of Dunoon in October; continuing flooding on the Paroo and Warrego rivers and in Inverell in December; the devastating 9 December hailstorm in Blacktown, and continuing rain and storm activity; damaging storms and widespread flooding across the Riverina and Central West, including at Coonamble, Condobolin, Griffith, Deniliquin and Peak Hill in the week before and after Christmas; the extensive North Coast storms and floods from the border south to the Clarence-Nambucca region in early January; and severe thunderstorms in many areas, with flooding in Thora and on the Georges, Hunter and Macleay rivers.

This statewide weather-related workload has been on top of the other essential services State Emergency Service members have provided throughout the year, including rescue services at 350 road crashes, initial medical assistance on 150 occasions as part of the Community First Responder Program in remote villages; supporting the response to equine influenza; and assisting in police searches, including the search for two boys feared drowned in a swollen creek in western Sydney. The hailstorm that struck Blacktown and surrounding areas of Western Sydney on 9 December had a terrible impact on the community and imposed another heavy and continuing workload on emergency services. I understand the Insurance Council of Australia has reported that more than 62,000 claims have been lodged for damage to buildings and vehicles, totalling more than $400 million.

The State Emergency Service and our other emergency services, including the Rural Fire Service and New South Wales Fire Brigades, again responded rapidly to help people whose homes were damaged by pelting hailstones. Again, crews travelled from far afield to assist their colleagues in local units and give them a well-earned break, especially throughout December and January when continuing rain and storms created additional work for the emergency services as they turned out again and again to re-secure tarpaulins to help keep homes waterproof. This event was also declared a natural disaster, to trigger the necessary assistance to people and set up a recovery committee to steer the immediate clean-up operation.

The Premier appointed the Western Sydney Recovery Taskforce to lead the next phase of the recovery operation, working with the insurance industry to coordinate the supply of building materials, builders and tradespeople, to set priorities for repair, and to provide information to the community. Experienced civil engineer and infrastructure expert Bob Leece, who coordinated the recovery after the 1999 hailstorm, has returned to ensure that every available resource is channelled into helping repair homes as quickly as possible. I understand that the latest advice from the Insurance Council of Australia is that more than 80 per cent of roofs have now been repaired, so life is gradually returning to normal for many of the families who had been enduring life beneath tarpaulins stretched over their homes.

What we have seen so clearly throughout all these major operations is the mettle of the volunteers from the State Emergency Service. They have worked efficiently, tirelessly and professionally. They are cheerful and good spirited as they go about their work in rain, wind, or hot or cold weather, regardless of whether it is day or night. I am sure all members will join me in expressing admiration and thanks to the volunteers for their outstanding effort over the past year. I also thank the families and employers of State Emergency Service volunteers for their support.

The Iemma Government has a proud record of supporting our emergency volunteers with record funding to ensure they receive the training, equipment and resources they need for their vital work. Over 13 years the Government has provided the State Emergency Service with unprecedented levels of funding, totalling more than $365 million. Funding has increased from a paltry $14.4 million under the previous Coalition Government in 1994-95 to this year's record budget of $51.5 million. That is an increase of more than $37 million, or 265 per cent, over our term of office, compared with the neglectful efforts of those opposite when they were last in Government.

One of the highlights of this record investment has been the establishment of the State Emergency Service's new 24-hour call centre at the Wollongong State headquarters to support the volunteers answering calls for help and deploy State Emergency Service road crash rescue units to emergencies. Significantly for our rural and regional centres, this funding has led also to an increase in staff numbers from three to five in each of the 17 State Emergency Service region headquarters.

Pursuant to sessional orders business interrupted to permit a motion to adjourn the House if desired.