GREY nomads who have come to the rescue for communities in the Hunter deserve all the plaudits that can be heaped upon them, particularly when some residents perhaps feel that governments have failed to help them bounce back from natural disaster.
Judy Robbins, one of the organisers of BlazeAid's ongoing efforts in the upper Hunter, puts it plainly: "There's a lot ... that goes on, it's not just building fences."
The organisation was born out of 2009's Black Saturday bushfires, and it is perhaps an indictment on institutional preparedness that they find themselves needed 14 years on from that tragedy.
This region has been devastated by fire and floods savage enough to carve themselves indelibly into memory too many times to count. While we largely escaped the worst of the 2019 fires, those who live in areas wracked with blazes know that our turn will come again all too soon. With a state election in the air, and many continuing to pick up the pieces of disasters long passed, perhaps it is time to think about the preparedness to get boots on the ground in a hurry when and where required.
The stark reality is that volunteers do much of the heavy lifting when nature bares its teeth in this state. Marine Rescue NSW, the NSW State Emergency Service and the NSW Rural Fire Brigade are pillars of our communities, yet they run entirely on the goodwill of those who step forward. As Mrs Robbins says, too, the full extent of the damage can often transcend the physical.
That is by no means a denigration of the crucial, life-saving efforts of these groups. But after the extent of damage to Lismore and other areas repeatedly battered in recent years there is a case to be made for greater government support.
The camaraderie and community spirit that drives these organisations is an integral part of what makes them so appreciated. But, to borrow a line from Tennessee Williams, how long can those in the firing line of nature's ferocity afford to depend upon the kindness of strangers in lieu of actual funded, staffed recovery efforts designed to get them back on their feet with efficiency? Such groups should leave a place for organisations including BlazeAid without heaping the entire burden on their unpaid shoulders. Sadly, there is likely to be plenty of work to go around for whoever is there to clean up the mess, and those of us unlucky enough to need help can never thank them enough.
