Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison was left out of a major meeting to discuss the region’s natural disaster response last week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ms Aitchison says she also had to contact Premier Mike Baird so she could be involved in the announcement that Maitland had been declared a natural disaster zone on April 23, two days after a super storm ravaged the Hunter and devastated much of the region with floodwater.
A staffer for Mr Baird sent Ms Aitchison a text message confirming the Premier’s plans just two hours before the official announcement took place – more than five hours after an invitation was sent to the media.
Ms Aitchison said she received the text after she had contacted the Premier’s office.
When asked about the timing of the invitation and who initiated contact, a spokesman for Mr Baird said: “The Member for Maitland was invited by the Premier to attend the media conference on April 23.
“The NSW government will continue to work closely with all MPs as we recover from these storms, which devastated parts of the Hunter.”
Ms Aitchison said that communication with the community and public safety should have been the government’s priorities in the days after the storm, not political point-scoring.
“There are so many people in Maitland who are hurting and helping them has to be above politics,” she said.
“When the Premier came to Maitland two days after the flood, I stood with him in solidarity for the good of our community.
“Local members of Parliament are the front line of government services.
“I have had hundreds of inquiries both to my office and Facebook page from local residents wanting to know what services are available to assist them in the recovery process or even just to find out information on things like road closures, counselling services, volunteer debriefing, disaster assistance and school and route buses.”
Ms Aitchison also said she was not allowed to be involved in an inter-agency natural disaster response meeting last week.
A spokeswoman for Emergency Services Minister David Elliott said no MPs were invited to the regional recovery meetings and the Public Information and Inquiry Centre had been established to keep the community informed.
“This meeting sketched out the broad recovery issues facing the region, and identified strategies to respond,” she said.
“State MPs are being provided with information through the MP reference group, chaired by Scot MacDonald, Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter and Central Coast, who has received daily briefings from Brigadier [David] Naumann.”
