Wednesday 6 July 2022 05:21 AM NSW flood disaster: Hawkesbury Windsor local confronts PM Anthony Albanese and ... trends now
Anthony Albanese has been angrily confronted by a furious local whose property has been repeatedly flooded in recurring disasters, saying no-one is helping him.
The Akubra-wearing Windsor resident tackled the Prime Minister and NSW Premier Dom Perrottet as they made a flying visit to flood-affected areas in the Hawkesbury region, north of Sydney.
He raged at the lack of urgency from all levels of government to come up with long-term solutions to stop the floods happening time after time.
'No-one's going to help me clean up,' raged the local. 'Out the backyard, I've got chemical containers that have floated in.
'We actually need action now. Your governments need to start working together. You've had flood studies since 2012...but nothing's happened.'
Anthony Albanese has been angrily confronted by a furious local whose property has been repeatedly flooded in recurring disasters - but he says no-one is helping him
He desperately appealed to the PM, as a fellow Rabbitohs rugby league fan, to come to the area's rescue.
'You and I are both Souths supporters,' he said. 'Let's get into the front row and start working. Otherwise you're going to visit here again.'
The exasperated local revealed his land was under four metres of water but so far his home had luckily escaped the worst of the rising waters this time.
But he said the local economy would be smashed by the latest floods with businesses closed down for days as locals take time off for the big clean up.
And that's even before the cost of repairs, he said, which mostly wouldn't be covered by insurance.
The Windsor local raged at the lack of urgency from all levels of government to come up with long-term solutions to stop the Hawkesbury flood happening time after time
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Dom Perrottet made a flying visit to flood-affected areas in the Hawkesbury region, north of Sydney
'The majority of people here, including me, we're not insured,' he told the politicians. 'The cost that is incurred, not only to the government, but to the locals, is ongoing.
'This happened three months ago and everyone was talking about fixing the same problem, "It's all on the radar..."
'But nothing happened. It's just getting repetitive. We're just fed up with it.'
He said calls to the local and state government had proved fruitless in even trying to find help to tackle the clean up operation after the floods.
He demanded a fresh bipartisan approach to the problem which actually delivered solutions and not just press releases.
The premier vowed to take up the issue with the local council, who the Mr Perrottet said had previously been slow to act, but the response was shot down by the local.
'You will speak to the council but that's the problem,' he fumed. 'There's a lot of speaking...but we need action.
'I wouldn't blame the council. This is way beyond the council. This is all levels of government.'
But he said he welcomed the sight of the Labor PM and Liberal Premier making the
