Here is an edited version of her speech:

“Over half of the local government areas in Farrer have been declared natural disaster areas by the New South Wales government to date and I thank them for their speedy declarations.

“While these disaster declarations release some funds for the clean-up and the recovery ahead, many families and households need immediate financial assistance until they can get back on their feet.

“An Australian government disaster relief payment makes available through Centrelink an immediate emergency payment of $1,000 per adult and $400 per child.

“I note the comments from the Prime Minister when she visited the electorate of Riverina last week and said that her government stands ready to do all it can to assist.

“While there is some precedent on this payment being reliant on an application from the relevant state government, this does not have to be the major determining factor.

“Indeed, the payment can be at the discretion of the Commonwealth Attorney-General in the event of a major disaster having a significant impact on individuals.

“So what does this government consider to be a major disaster?

“The entire town of Urana was ordered to evacuate during the rain event and I visited there last Thursday.

“The amazing thing that touched the hearts of the people of Urana was that the Rural Fire Service and the SES had travelled up from the South Coast, from Bega, from Bungendore, from Batemans Bay and from Merimbula.

“They came to Urana to help with the clean-up. I thank all those people from so far away. While they were helping with the clean-up, they had in some cases eight inches of rain falling in their own communities, so you can imagine where their minds were.

“I visited Lockhart where 60 homes were inundated and 12, or approximately half, of the businesses in the main street were flooded.

“Lockhart has a historical society that runs a museum. Those who have visited Lockhart know it is a town that treasures its very rich heritage, its past and its pioneers. I went into the historical society’s museum.

“In anticipation of the flood, they had put a lot of things up above a certain level. But the flood this year in Lockhart was 10 inches higher than in the 2010 floods.

“No-one could possibly have expected it to be that savage so, of course, a lot of things got completely drenched including some amazing collections of birds eggs, some of them from the 1930s which were okay.

“I looked down the corridor of the museum and saw some volunteers, older ladies, with hairdryers drying the pages of Lockhart’s heritage and history because of the importance of preserving it. That, I have to say, is an image that will stay with me for a long time.

“I then went to The Rock where 40 homes were inundated—that is 25 per cent of the homes of the entire township of The Rock. Ten businesses were flooded and three homes were completely destroyed.

“The stoicism and resilience of people in this position was quite incredible.

As I said, all these towns and local farms were also flooded in late 2010 and into early 2011.

“I know that at times like this everyone’s heart is in the right place. I know that there is bipartisanship. I know that the Prime Minister, in visiting Wagga Wagga, cared very much about the things that she saw, in the same way that the Leader of the Opposition cared about the things that he saw, as we all would as members of this place.

“But we have to recognise that, where there is assistance that a government program can provide, we need to step in and, when it comes to the Attorney-General’s declaration, we just need to sign the bit of paper, to make the declaration, to pick up the phone and talk to state colleagues and to just please, please, make it happen.

“I just cannot imagine how it must feel to be flooded twice in less than two years. We know the mental effects that that has on people.

“I have talked to mostly women — because probably the men do not want to say too much — who say that now, when they go to bed and listen to the rain, they cannot sleep, and that they cannot imagine living in the same house that they have lived in all their lives, in the same community that their parents have always lived in, but they cannot sell the house.

“After all, if you have been flooded twice, who is going to buy your property? Your insurance company possibly will not insure you. What do you do? You just sort of operate in a horrible place in your mind where you cannot relax and you cannot feel a sense of security, which must be really horrible.

“So, while there is such goodwill in the parliament, I repeat the calls that I have been making and I know my colleagues have been making to the government to please help, because we do need help.”