We will rebuild: Northern NSW bushfire recovery inspection
15 Jan 2020
On Sunday, 12 January I travelled to Northern NSW to meet with locals who had been impacted by the recent bushfire devastation.
In Kempsey, I teamed up with the local member Melinda Pavey MP who is also the NSW Minister for Water, Property and Housing and met with Euan Ferguson, Northern NSW Recovery Coordinator, Clr. Liz Campbell, Mayor of Kempsey Shire Council and Craig Milburn, General Manager of Kempsey Shire Council.
From Kempsey, we travelled north west and began to see the impact of the devastation caused by both the drought and bushfires for local farmers and land owners around the Willawarrin area.
Just outside of Willawarrin we met with local farmer Jennifer Mainey (above, second from the right) who gave us a run down on the impact of both the ongoing drought and recent bushfires.
With Craig Milburn, General Manager of Kempsey Shire Council (above, left) and Euan Ferguson, Northern NSW Recovery Coordinator (above, right). Just one example of the devastation caused by the bushfires.
Next, we met with and thanked some of the incredible and tireless volunteers from BlazeAid (above) at Willawarrin.
We also met with Willawarrin publican Karen Anderson (above, centre) who talked about the impact the bushfires has had on the local community.
In the afternoon, we travelled north past Coffs Harbour and Grafton to the small village of Rappville where Euan (left) and myself met with Clr. Robert Mustow, Mayor of Richmond Valley Council (centre left) and Vaughan Macdonald, General Manager of Richmond Valley Council (centre right).
11 buildings (about one third of all buildings in Rappville) were tragically destroyed by raging bushfires as seen above and below.
Only by seeing the impact of the bushfires and drought in person can you really get a sense of what these folks have endured.
Australians are resilient and strong, especially during times of crisis.
As a community, we will recover and rebuild.
