On Friday, former Premier Dominic Perrottet visited Lismore and toured the area with Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin to get an update on Lismore's flood recovery.

No matter what your political belief is, you cannot help but admire the bipartisanship shown between two key political figures. As Premier of NSW at the time of the February 28 2022 event, Dominic Perrottet visited Lismore soon after the February 28, 2022, flood devastated Lismore, and then made regular trips to the region to see how the cleanup and recovery was progressing.

Mr Perrottet genuinely appeared to care as his government went about putting funding in place, including the $1.4 billion tabled in parliament for the Resilient Homes Program and the $50,000 Commercial Landlord Grant.

Ms Saffin acknowledged Mr Perrottet's commitment to Lismore in her introduction.

"One of the first people on the ground was Dominic Perrottet at that time, and he came back many times over up until the last election, and he has come back today to have a look, see and listen to just see how we're going and hear from local people, particularly some of our local commercial landlords, our family investors, our are locals, about how that commercial landlord grant went."

The meeting at the Living Lab involved some well-known local business owners, such as Elton Cummings from Bi-Rite, Matt Healy from Daleys Homewares, Deb Ray from Music Bizarre, and Ken Arnett from the Star Court Arcade, to name a few.

The business owners expressed their thanks for the Commercial Landlord Grant as it saved their business from going under. Could it have been made available faster, yes, but we all would like to see faster progress in our rebuild. The reality is changes in legislation take time.

When Ms Saffin and Mr Perrottet popped into Southside Chempro in South Lismore, owner Kyle Wood said he lost a million dollars of stock, and the Commercial Landlord Grant kept the doors open while he rebuilt his business.

(Southside Chempro owner Kyle Wood talking with former Premier Dominic Perrottet and Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin on Friday)

"It was it was fantastic to hear the stories today of locals, saying that those grants saved their businesses," Mr Perrottet said, "And then the landlords are helping the retailers, and the tenants, so it all flows down. It's good to hear the feedback, but ultimately as well, I think it's good to learn, and that is the most positive thing I heard today, was that that approach is now a precedent that is available in every other state. And, if that is true, that is a good thing."

"The only thing I'd say is, we got that money out the door, and there are still things I think could be improved, and as long as we learn those lessons for next time, we'll be in a better spot."

Mr Perrottet said that Lismore has a special place in his heart.

"It's great to be with Janelle in Lismore, and I was saying earlier that Lismore has a special place in my heart. It was obviously a very devastating and difficult time, but working very closely with Janelle and, I think, the entire community at that time. It brought out the best in Australians."

"What I saw on the ground during that period of time was the spirit of sacrifice and service. The way that everyone came out and looked after each other was incredibly special. It's an untold story that people across New South Wales in Australia would appreciate because it was an incredibly difficult time, but sometimes hard times bring out the best in people, and that's exactly what happened here in Lismore."

"It's fantastic to be back. I called Janelle, and I said I wanted to come up and see how things are going, and to thank people who had obviously worked incredibly hard during that period of time. It's fantastic to be here and to see the progress."

"In fact, I remember just after every time I'd come up, I could see progress. You'd go from absolute devastation, to clean up and just to be here now and see how the town has come back to life. Yes, there's a long way to go, there's a lot of planning that needs to be done, but it's a long way from where we were on that very first day. That's due to the people here. And, to hear their stories, to hear their experiences today and what worked and what didn't, it's been great."

Mr Perrottet admitted that when he saw the devastation the first day he visited Lismore, he could not see the future.

"The people of Lismore have made the future, and that's why we're here today. It fills me with a lot of happiness to see people getting on with life and running their businesses. Obviously, it is difficult times right now, like talking to Janelle about the cost of living biting, not just in Lismore but everywhere, right. So, that's another challenge. There's always challenges, but I think you put that in perspective. I think from where we were to where the community is today. It's fantastic."

The former Premier was standing in the Living lab surrounded by the Look Ahead exhibition, where SCU, UTS (University of Technology Sydney) and the NSWRA have collaborated with the community to form a vision for the CBD, South Lismore and North Lismore. What are Mr Perrottet's impression?

"Hope. What filled me with hope is that it's a realistic vision. It's a realistic vision, and it's a smart vision. You're getting planning right in the areas where it matters. You're building homes, and homes that are affordable. With the housing crisis across Australia, New South Wales, these are affordable homes, which brings people into town, which creates culture, which creates life, which drives economic growth, and ultimately, there's no point of an economy if you don't have a society, and that's exactly what I think this vision will deliver for Lismore."

"It's exciting to see that you can just come in and put a post-it note on the wall and give your idea because I can tell you what helped me during the floods was being on the ground hearing people's ideas. Speaking to Janelle, listening to her views, going back and telling the public service, no, we're doing it this way, because that's what we'd seen on the ground and heard on the ground. The same principles are occurring here, and that's getting ideas from the public; everyone having buy-in to the vision doesn't. It doesn't mean you're all going to agree, that's never going to happen, but ultimately, the more ideas you have, the better the outcomes."

(The post-it notes on the Living Lab Ideas Board)

You can view the Living Lab 'Look Ahead' exhibition Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 1pm and 4pm at 11 Woodlark Street, Lismore CBD (the Molesworth Street end).