00:00 Lismore and many other parts of the northern rivers continue to be in a state of flux.
00:09 Catastrophic flooding in 2022 has left the region with a major housing shortage.
00:14 And according to the Auditor-General, the state government should have been better prepared.
00:19 It was really difficult to read how there was so much confusion and so many different
00:24 agencies in the mix when our community was suffering and had such a desperate need for housing.
00:30 The Auditor-General found there was no plan to guide the temporary housing response at
00:35 the time of the floods.
00:37 The number of temporary dwellings built in the northern rivers didn't meet demand.
00:42 And there's no long-term plan to transition people out of temporary housing.
00:47 Beth Webster is among those living at a pod village in Lismore.
00:51 It's easy to look at numbers and groups and say, yeah, well this many people are now staying
00:54 there somewhere and this many people.
00:56 But it's not that, it's people's lives.
00:59 The report also touched on the response to major flooding in the state's central west
01:04 later that year.
01:06 It found lessons from the northern rivers were applied and caravans and later pods were
01:11 mostly installed on people's properties.
01:14 Among the recommendations is a new temporary housing plan for future emergencies.
01:20 And a strategy for transitioning people into long-term accommodation.
01:24 The Premier says he'll consider the findings.
01:27 I just haven't had a chance to read that report and I want to take some time to read it before
01:31 I comment.
01:32 For those living with uncertainty, change can't come soon enough.
01:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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