The Governor-General of Australia David Hurley and his wife Linda Hurley have been visiting the flood affected of Northern NSW and spent yesterday in Mullumbimby and Wilsons Creek speaking to residents and local business representatives about the impact of the recent, extreme, flooding in the area.
Having holidayed in the Byron Shire hinterland last year they said that they really appreciated the area and its natural beauty when they were speaking to Vanessa Mathews, secretary of the Mullumbimby Chamber of Commerce.
They spent time at the Mullumbimby District and Neighbourhood Centre (MDNC) as well visiting local businesses.
‘They came right into the heat of the MDNC and had were visibly connected and interested in what was going on,’ said Councillor Mark Swivel.
‘You might say they plugged a significant gap with their vice regal visit.’
Local Palmwoods resident and primary producer Mick Pike, who had to walk several kilometres as he still doesn’t have vehicle access to get to the meeting arranged by the Mullumbimby Chamber of Commerce, said that His Excellency recognised that ‘they are behind the eight ball on the communications network. It means neighbours can’t contact each other in emergencies like this. My wife ended up directing a chopper in with her hands. They couldn’t contact people because of the lack on comms.
‘It was an education for him to learn about what impacts us and a privilege for me to have the opportunity to talk to the governor and his wife one-on-one,’ he said.
Her Excellency Linda Hurley leads a sing-a-long of You Are My Sunshine
Housing pressure
‘We talked about the fact that pre-flood we had a housing crisis and this has made it worse,’ said Ms Mathews.
‘Kirsten Redmond from Mullum Creek also spoke to him about the risks of fragmentation of the community and friendship groups as people are forced to leave the area because of the housing crisis.’
‘The real problem is the paltry funding for disaster relief,’ said Cr Swivel.
‘The people of Page who got $3,000 is deeply insulting. We’ve spent billions of dollars on refugee camps but there will be hesitation on spending billions on housing. That is a disgrace. If we spent that much money on housing people we wouldn’t have this housing crisis problem.’
From Mullumbimby they headed up to Wilsons Creek where there has been at least one lost in landslides and many residents are still unable to get out from their homes.
Cr Sarah Ndiaye said the Governor-General listened closely to the concerns of the local community there who raised a range of issues regarding the government and ADF response and contribution to recovery while in Wilsons Creek.
Tweed Mayor hopes for a visit
With the Tweed Shire having 500 houses declared uninhabitable and more than 2,000 damaged by the recent flooding Tweed Shire Mayor said ‘I am hoping to see the Governor-General, as he is going around the region so that he can see the devastation that has also taken place in the Tweed Shire first hand.’
A spokesperson for the Governor-General said that ‘Throughout their visits to flood-affected communities, the Governor-General and Mrs Hurley have been equal parts struck by the scale of the devastation and inspired by the grit, determination and generosity of the response.
‘The Governor-General is not involved in and does not intervene in operational or policy decisions.’
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