Page 231 - Week 01 - Thursday, 10 February 2022

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MS DAVIDSON (Murrumbidgee—Assistant Minister for Seniors, Veterans, Families and Community Services, Minister for Disability, Minister for Justice Health and Minister for Mental Health) (11.41): I move:

Omit all text after “That this Assembly”, substitute:

(1) notes that:

(a) storms are a regular occurrence in the ACT, with 26 severe storms recorded in the last 10 years, that have included significant rainfalls contributing to flooding events, hail causing major damage, and strong wind gusts leaving a trail of debris;

(b) storm events will, due to climate change, become more frequent and damaging;

(d) storms cause high social, emotional and financial costs;

(e) the 3 January supercell thunderstorm event caused significant damage to many homes and streetscapes;

(f) the State Emergency Services responded to, and completed, more than 1023 jobs; however, some areas of Belconnen were without power for six days and storm debris clean up has taken more than a month and is still ongoing;

(g) the effectiveness and adequacy of the ACT Government and wider community’s resilience and responsiveness is crucial in light of likely increased storm frequency and damage, due to climate change; and

(h) in addition to responding to requests from the community, ACT Government crews prioritised assessment and clean up of roads and paths in the immediate aftermath of the storm, proactively assessed verges in every Belconnen suburb throughout the month of January and identified more than 1400 jobs in need of action, and have now commenced proactive auditing of open spaces;

(2) draws this motion to the attention of the Standing Committee on Health and Community Wellbeing and requests the Committee consider an inquiry relating to the recovery following the recent storms, the appropriateness of the communication strategies used to reach out to those affected, and the service delivery options of various agencies throughout the storm period and in the weeks afterwards, to repair, redress and clean up the storm debris and support the community in these matters;

(3) further requests the Committee have regard to the:

(a) social, emotional and financial costs of those who have experienced storm damage;

(b) lessons for the ACT Government, and other agencies, in:

(i) recovery and the necessary steps for subsequent clean ups;

(ii) considering the future community need for services provided in the immediate aftermath of a storm event; and

(iii) considering what should be in place to enable social recovery following such events;

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