My heart goes out to everyone who was affected by the disastrous floods we saw across the Hunter and mid-north coast of New South Wales towards the end of May this year.
At that time, authorities reported that between 8,000 and 10,000 homes and businesses had been damaged with thousands of insurance claims being submitted.
It will take some time to recover, but I want to acknowledge all of the support, rescue and transport workers who are assisting in getting affected communities back on their feet.
I was blown away when I saw the footage taken by owner driver Dave Walker from his truck after he woke to find it and him trapped by almost a metre of water. This highlighted how quick and relentless this flood event was, as well as the impact it had on industry. And thank heavens Dave was rescued.
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But this was only one example of how owner-drivers can be impacted by severe weather events like this one.
As news articles touched on, despite the marvellous news that Dave was rescued, what he didn’t know until he got back to his truck was what condition it was going to be in when he returned or how long it was going to be before he could get it back on the road and get him back to work.
And this all comes at a cost for owner-drivers.
Owner-drivers who are caught in flood events or who are affected like Dave was need help with covering related costs in the immediate aftermath to help get them back on the road.
Owner-drivers don’t have the ability to cover what can be extremely high costs associated with natural disasters.
Owner-drivers are the lifeline between our regions, our cities and our ports, and owner-drivers who have lost income as a result of these horrendous weather events should be at the front of the mind of governments when they are developing relief and support programs for those affected.
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