Tuesday, 17 October 2023

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:36): Twelve months ago Victoria experienced one of the worst flooding disasters our state has ever seen. We saw people’s homes destroyed, whole towns under water, crops wiped out and roads severely damaged. This week we mark one year on from that really difficult and terrible event for many of our communities. Whilst we saw the floodwaters recede and they are now long gone, we know that the long road to recovery is underway.

Last week, along with the Minister for Emergency Services, I was very pleased to visit Rochester to officially open the new dedicated community recovery hub. We know Rochester was in many ways the epicentre of the flooding events in that part of northern Victoria, a community that was particularly devastated by those significant floods. The community recovery centre is a one-stop shop for services like Anglicare, Emergency Recovery Victoria and Bendigo Community Health to directly deliver services in the local community. They are services that the community need like mental health services, financial advice and also, as that building recovery process continues, building and planning support.

We know that hubs like this are a place where the community can come together to, importantly, check in on each other to see if people are going okay, because we know that it is a long recovery journey. Everyone’s journey is different, and the community are there to support one another as their community rebuilds. That is why the Victorian and federal governments jointly supported the establishment of the hub, and support continues to be provided across flood-affected communities. As I said, we are 12 months on from that flooding event. The floodwaters have receded, but that long recovery journey continues, and the government will continue to support flood-affected communities along the way.