Drought Relief Fundraising
Reverend the Hon. Dr GORDON MOYES [10.09 p.m.]: All honourable members are aware of the personal costs being paid by rural and regional families and individuals, businesses and farms due to the drought. Such natural disasters can have far-reaching consequences long after the rains have come or the floods have subsided. My wife and I have been travelling to many rural and regional areas to meet with local families and farmers who are economically disadvantaged and who have been unable to fund the cost of fodder or feed. We have a schedule of weekly rural visits that is taking us to the most remote places of New South Wales, covering some 63 regions. Three months ago I started a project through the Wesley Mission to raise funds to help. The fundraising among city people has amounted to more than $60,000 to date for drought relief. This fundraising predated subsequent efforts such as Farmhand. I wrote to 900 farming families I knew in New South Wales asking whether they needed financial aid. We have received a number of very graphic responses. Due to limited funds we are only able to help each family with $1,000, but the fundraising is continuing.
As I said, natural disasters have long-term consequences. I want to tell the House about one person impacted by the floods of Christmas 2001. The reason for a repeat visit recently to the mountain village of Nundle was that when we went there during the floods of 2001 it had suffered more than $5 million damage in November and December. More than $800 million of damage was caused to the whole region, with massive crop losses. Wesley Mission had raised and distributed a quarter of a million dollars in cash and food to the needy families. I had given gift cheques of $10,000 each to farmers to help them get fresh crops in after three years of losses. We organised Christmas parties and left behind about $250,000 worth of food and goods that we had purchased locally.
At that time, floods had washed away three major bridges. A young widow in the area had to drive around a steep back road and in doing so had a single vehicle accident that crippled her; she was trapped in the car and her injuries left her a quadriplegic. Mrs Naomi Newbury had not long buried her young husband who had died from cancer. They had no children, but she was pregnant. We visited Naomi at Royal North Shore Hospital’s spinal unit after her baby boy, Samuel, was born. She was unable to nurse or bathe him because she was confined to a wheelchair. On behalf of the people of Sydney we presented her with a cheque for $10,000 to help cover her expenses. She spent three more months in the spinal unit, another three months at the rehabilitation unit at Ryde and another six months in the maternity section, and was then moved to Tamworth Base Hospital. She now needs to go home to Nundle.
We have launched an appeal locally through the Nundle Community Welfare Foundation to raise $100,000. Last week I stood before television cameras and indicated a half-finished house that will be Naomi’s new home when it is finished. It will be owned by the community of Nundle and made available to Naomi. We hope that before Christmas she will drive her wheelchair into the specially built house. Following the telecast of the launch of that appeal the huge Bunnings store in Tamworth indicated that it would be happy to supply every item required for the completion of the house totally free of charge. We hope to have the house finished by Christmas. What a wonderful Christmas present for a young family! Naomi’s determination reflects Nundle’s determination to recover from flood and drought. I commend the people of Nundle and Tamworth and the Bunnings store, which has been so wonderful. Wesley Mission started its relationship with Naomi when the floods occurred at the end of 2000, but a long-term commitment is required.
I remind the House that natural disasters can have long-term consequences. They require continuing commitment; a one-off drought relief donation is not the end of the matter. Assistance from both State and Federal governments must be ongoing. As we approach Christmas we must remember the people suffering from the drought and those who have suffered the long-term consequences of the floods that occurred of a couple of years ago and commend the local communities for what they are doing. Their determination to recover from natural disasters is matched by people such as Naomi Newbury, a remarkable quadriplegic who is bringing up her young baby and is now about to move into her own home. 20 November 2002.
