"I want to make it really clear, to the people of Lismore, the people of flood-affected and natural disaster-affected areas right around Australia and we think of our brothers and sisters in WA and South Australia right now as well, that we will be there for people and not just during the worst of the natural disaster itself, but also in the rebuild," that was the main message from Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers as he toured Lismore on Friday with Minister Murray Watt, Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin and Member for Richmond Justine Elliot.

They are only words but it does give a level of comfort as the commitment and support of the government to the people of Lismore is reinforced during our long city rebuild that will more than likely take 10 years.

The Treasurer made mention of a startling fact, that "something like 7 in every 10 Australians lived in a natural disaster declared area in 2022." A statistic that makes you realise the enormous task facing all levels of government heading into 2023, especially the federal government which usually funds rescue, recovery and rebuild efforts 50/50 with the relevant state governments. The most recent cases are in Western Australia and South Australia.

Another vital part of the federal government's plan, which was reinforced by the Treasurer is for much better preparedness and mitigation to reduce the economic impact in the future. A sum that is already in the billions plus the loss of economic activity which the Treasurer estimates at $5 billion for 2022.

"We will work enthusiastically and tirelessly and closely with community leaders like the mayor here, business leaders and employers to make sure that we rebuild these communities as best we can, working collaboratively with local governments, state governments and, as the national government, to make sure that communities can get back on their feet," Mr Chalmers added.

"One of the reasons we're optimistic about the future is because communities like this can and do and will bounce back."

That sense of optimism was shared by Minister for Emergency Management Murray Watt who has visited Lismore a number of times, "I can feel even from the short time I've been here today, that this town is getting some of its bounce back. We're seeing more shops opening, we're seeing progress being made with Norco rebuilding, we've of course put money into that process along with Norco and in many other ways we are seeing some real progress."

When asked what his thoughts on Lismore's recovery were, Minister Watt said, "I think there's always hope that you can make even more progress than what's been made but I want to pay tribute to the people in these communities. For the incredible resilience and determination that they've shown in getting this region back up on its feet. I mean, I remember those days straight after the floods when we were down here inspecting it, it was devastating, it was a warzone. You know, if you walk down Molesworth street now, it may not be back to where it was, but it's certainly a long way from where it was straight after those floods and that's a terrific thing.

"So it's a real testament I think to community strength, and, you know, to the human spirit that can people bounce back and really come together to take the region forward.

Two big issues for Lismore and the Northern Rivers going forward are the CSIRO report and the cost of insurance.

CSIRO REPORT

The initial report has been with NEMA (National Emergency Management Agency) since mid-December 2022. It was expected to be released before Christmas to the public so we can learn what flood mitigation measures can start to be implemented while the greater body of the project is researched and then released in May 2024.

Minister Watts said he was hoping the report will become public very soon, "We have received the CSIRO report which was funded by the federal government to examine the short-term and longer-term resiliency to this region just before Christmas. We provided a confidential copy of that report to the NSW government because we also want to share that information with them and get their sense of what is doable, what the likely cost of some of those resilience measures will be and I'd be hoping to make that public very soon."

"Just so you know, that report will inform another round of financial assistance for this region in the form of resilience measures that the federal government has already devoted $75 million of the former government's Emergency Response Fund for this region with resilience measures. This CSIRO report will inform $150 million worth of mitigation and resilience measures and of course, we've just this week opened applications for our new Disaster Ready Fund, which will provide up to $200 million each and every year to fund mitigation measures right around the country."

INSURANCE

Minister Watts said "The honest truth is that insurance is a really big challenge for our nation. This is a direct result of the disasters that we keep seeing happen here as a result of climate change.

"You know, unfortunately, for about 10 years, we had a government in Canberra that didn't take climate change seriously And we saw more and more of these sorts of disasters impacting on humans and their properties over and over again. Now we have a number of things underway to deal with this problem, Again, it's not going to be solved overnight, but Jim, very kindly in last year's budget funded, what we're calling a Hazards Insurance Partnership. Which is a partnership between governments and insurance to better understand exactly what the risk level is, so that we can be putting the mitigation measures in the right places to help deal with some of those rising premiums.

"The very best thing that we can do to help people with their insurance costs is to reduce the risk of disaster and that's why we're making all these big investments in disaster mitigation. I remember, you know, people around Australia learnt about that $5 billion fund that Scott Morrison had after the Lismore floods. We've been talking about it a while, but people were just astonished that the federal government of the day had a $5 billion dollar fund set aside to invest in disaster mitigation, hadn't built a single project in three years, and it earned the then government over $800 million in interest.

"Well, we announced in the election campaign that we would overhaul that and put that money to work to protect Australians to protect their properties. And that's exactly what we're doing through that Disaster Ready Fund and there's a lot more to come on that front."

As locals are realising and as The Beatles said, "It is a long and winding road."