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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-07-07 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

Eastern States Deployment, Emergency Storm Response

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS (Cheltenham—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services) (14:03): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS: The people of New South Wales have been impacted in an unprecedented way by a widespread and intense rainfall throughout 2022. On multiple occasions, with some of the most heartbreaking of outcomes, New South Wales has been hit by extensive and disastrous flooding, affecting numerous communities.

Approximately 30,000 people across the north, south and west of Sydney, as well as the Hunter region, are subject to either evacuation orders or evacuation warnings. For many of these communities, this is the fourth flood they have experienced in less than 18 months. The impact on these communities is confronting and profound and I want every individual affected to know that they are in South Australia's thoughts.

Due to the overwhelming nature of this situation and the volume of assistance required for the state of New South Wales, the New South Wales SES has called upon other jurisdictions, including South Australia and the commonwealth, to assist. Today is day five of this event. We are seeing heavier rains than forecast and higher rivers than predicted. This is causing significant access and egress issues and infrastructure damage, including to bridges and roads.

Once again, the South Australian SES is stepping up to the task and today has deployed 26 volunteers and staff to New South Wales. This includes commanders, a deputy incident controller, storm crew, a swift-water team and administrative support officers. These deployed staff and volunteers join emergency services members from Queensland, the ACT and Victoria, as well as the Australian Defence Force.

I acknowledge not just the commitment of the South Australian SES members who dedicate extensive time and effort to ensure that they are some of the most highly skilled and highly capable emergency services personnel in the nation. I also commend their bravery in responding every day across South Australia to emergencies, including marine and swift-water rescue, road crash rescue and ever-increasing extreme weather events, including floods, storms and heatwaves.

On behalf of the government of South Australia, I commit not just our words but our collective actions in support of fellow Australians who are currently in need.

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