Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin finished parliament for 2024 last week, which meant she has more time to spend in the Lismore electorate attending community events and award ceremonies. As an example, she visited Lismore South Public School to recognise their national Disaster Resilience Award.

Ms Saffin sat down with the Lismore App for another Talking Lismore podcast to discuss some important local issues, such as the region's achievements in the first 1000 Days of the 2022 Floods, the local NSW Hospital contracts that hurt small businesses like Hutley Bros Butchery, the Nurses and Midwives wages battle, the MT Pleasant house relocations and the Alphadale traffic light/roundabout debate.

1000 DAYS

Ms Saffin reflected on the 1000 days since the February 2022 flood that occurred last Sunday. She acknowledged the community's desire for faster progress while highlighting the complexities of the recovery, shared that the community, including herself, wished they had done more and that the recovery process has taken longer than anticipated, citing both the challenges of completing the work and the slow pace of bureaucracy.

"Look. I see it like the community sees it. We wished we'd done more. We wished things would be faster. I also know that it takes longer than we imagine it takes longer than we want, and some of that is just getting the work done, and sometimes it is the slowness of the bureaucracy."

Looking ahead, Ms Saffin emphasised the importance of developing a master plan for economic and environmental recovery, aiming for the region to thrive, not just survive. She cited the example of Darwin's recovery from Cyclone Tracy as a source of inspiration, noting that the city is now thriving decades after the disaster.

"I was reading an article this morning, and it grabbed me. It was in Open Road, the NRMA booklet I always get, and it was about someone who was a child in Darwin when cyclone Tracy happened, and she talked about revisiting decades later, I think it was 50 years later, and she talked about it and saying it's absolutely thriving. And I thought, yes, that's where I want us to be, absolutely thriving," Ms Saffin said.

HOSPITAL CONTRACTS

Ms Saffin was not happy with the recent loss of local hospital contracts by Norco, Richmond Waste and Hutley Bros Butchery. She claims the lack of transparency and communication from Health Share NSW, the agency responsible for the contracts, has disadvantaged local businesses.

“Poor communication from HealthShare, who control all that. There should have been some process by which we knew we could have argued better. We're sort of really arguing after the horse has come down the straight and won. But, it doesn't stop us arguing, and we will,” Ms Saffin said.

She revealed that Norco was squeezed out due to the contract being transitioned to a statewide model, a change she argues should have been communicated earlier.

Ms Saffin has called for a review of the procurement process, citing the cases of Richmond Waste and Hutley Bros as examples of their unfair treatment. She has urged the Minister to consider these cases as studies of the issue, particularly highlighting Hutley Bros' 30-year history of servicing hospitals and their lack of opportunity to tender under the new system.

NURSES AND MIDWIVES PAY RISE

Ms Saffin met with representatives of nurses and midwives during the last sitting week of Parliament to discuss the ongoing wage negotiations. The Labor government has removed the previous wage cap, which had been in place for over 12 years, and introduced a 4% wage increase for 2023 and a 3% increase for 2024, backdated to July 1. However, nurses and midwives are seeking an immediate 15% pay rise.

Ms Saffin described the meeting with the nurses and midwives as "very open" and said that the attendees felt "really listened to and supported." She believes that everyone acknowledges that nurses and midwives deserve a pay rise for their essential work.

Ms Saffin emphasised the critical importance of the issue for her electorate, which borders Queensland and includes areas like Tweed Valley and Murwillumbah.

MT PLEASANT ESTATE GOONELLABAH

Two relocated houses have been moved to Mt Pleasant Estate in the last two weeks. Ms Saffin acknowledged the concerns of local residents, stating, "I know with any development, there's always feelings, uncomfortable things, and that people are worried."

She emphasised that the development was already DA-approved before the houses were moved and that something would have been built on the site regardless.

Ms Saffin expressed satisfaction with the progress of the relocations; she did admit that the houses are not in the best condition right now and assured residents that the Resilient Lands Program team and the Reconstruction Authority (RA) are committed to repairing the houses as soon as possible, with a target date of June 2025.

Another positive was the DA approval of the 50 Built To Rent apartments in East Lismore.

The East Lismore 50 Build To Rent Apartments project was described as a "great thing" and emphasised the importance of making rental housing as affordable as possible.

When asked about a construction timeline for the East Lismore apartments, Saffin stated that she would inquire with Landcom and provide an update as soon as possible.

ALPHADALE ROUNDABOUT/TRAFFIC LIGHTS

A plan to install a roundabout at the intersection of Alphadale and Cowlong roads on the Ballina Highway was the initial thought before the last state election. Traffic lights is now the preferred option.

The decision, made by Transport for NSW, comes after concerns were raised about the safety of trucks using the roundabout.

Ms Saffin said, “Transport (for NSW) have done a proper survey and study. What they said to me was the gradient of the intersection is a contributing factor, suggesting it could make trucks more unstable and prone to tipping over. Space is also limited there.

"At some point, I have to trust some of the transport experts. We’ve got a lot of bush lawyers, and we’ve got a lot of bush engineers and, you know, all of that. So, at some point, I have to trust it. It is not cut and dried, but it’s out there, and that’s what they’re exploring. People can have a say.”

This was a summary of what was discussed on the Talking Lismore podcast. Click to listen to the complete conversation on the Lismore App, or click https://talkinglismore.buzzsprout.com/ to listen via the Lismore App website.