A much anticipated NSW Upper House inquiry into major flooding across the state has recommended the abolishment of Resilience NSW as just another layer of ineffective bureaucracy.
The report, chaired by senator Walt Secord and presented to the house on Tuesday, also criticised the centralisation of the NSW State Emergency Service and its lack of volunteers while at the same time praising the actions of a volunteer citizens' navy that helped many disaster victims to safety.
"NSW Government agencies and the Bureau of Meteorology were not prepared for, nor did they comprehend the scale of the February-March 2022 floods."
The report also criticising those bodies for treating the major flood disaster as a nine to five business operation, while making decisions based on out of date regional sub plans.
"A considerable focus of the inquiry was on the performance of the SES, as the leading agency for emergency response, and Resilience NSW as the leading agency in recovery. Ultimately, the committee found that these two organisations failed to provide leadership and effective coordination in the community's greatest time of need."
The report quoted from a Lismore citizens' review that harked back to pre-2010 when local volunteer SES units managed major and minor floods with the support of a salaried regional controller and local volunteers at a regional headquarters. "Under this model, the community received regular hourly bulletins via local radio direct from the regional headquarters, based on information gathered from the catchment," the report said.
A restructure in 2017 reduced 17 regions to 5 zones and a 2019 restructure led to loss of skills, history, knowledge and response.
