“Several of these floods happened on your watch”: Nat Barr slams Liberal Party deputy leader
Sunrise host Natalie Barr has called out Liberal MP Sussan Ley for claiming the Labor government was too slow in their handling of the NSW floods.
The Liberal Party deputy leader appeared alongside Labor's Minister for Education Jason Clare on Sunrise on Friday July 8 who were discussing raising the walls of Warragamba Dam to stop future flooding.
Ms Barr got the ball rolling, asking Ms Ley why nothing was done when her government was in power.
“Sussan what do you think? Because several of these floods happened on your watch and nothing seemed to go ahead did it?” she asked.
“It’s heartbreaking to hear from those people who are so affected when they feel yet another flood event,” Ms Ley began before she was cut off by Ms Barr.
“Hang on Sussan, the first flood, the big one, was in March last year, then we had March this year, April this year, with all due respect, what did your government do?” Ms Barr questioned.
“We worked closely and started a planning process at federal environment level that I was actually involved with. At the moment, the issue is with the NSW Government but a lot of work has been done by the Commonwealth,” Ms Ley said.
“Now, this incoming government seems to not know how to pick up that work and continue with it. And that’s my point, at least start with the right minister. It’s waiting there and it needs [NSW]..., but at least start in the right area of the government to get this ball running.”
“Nat, I think Sussan’s got a short memory here. Go back to the start of the year, we had a tinny army that rescued people,” Mr Clare said of Morrison’s Government response to the March floods.
“People had to hire their own helicopters because rescue services weren't on the way.
“We were proactive. We got helicopters ready and soldiers ready before we were even asked.”
Ms Ley however then questioned why the government took too long to announce relief payments for the affected areas.
“On Monday I raised the issue that payments that could have been made in hours were taking days,” she said.
“The floods were on the weekend. It wasn't until Thursday that a signature on a paper was made, coincidentally when the Prime Minister came back from overseas.”
Ms Barr snapped at Ms Ley saying: “Well, it may have been a couple of days but it's burnt into our memory that people had to go rescue themselves and their communities.”
The residents in the 23 LGAs affected by the severe storms and flooding since June 27, are eligible for disaster relief payments funded by the NSW government and the Commonwealth.
The LGAs include Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Camden, Canterbury Bankstown, Campbelltown, Central Coast, Cessnock, Fairfield, Georges River, Hawkesbury, Hornsby, Kiama, Lithgow, Liverpool, Northern Beaches, Penrith, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Sutherland, The Hills, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly and Wollongong.
Images: Sunrise