Day 26
by Lucy Wise.
Resident of North Lismore, Bundjalung Country.
all photos by Elise Derwin (@elise.derwin)
We’ve reached day 26 after the flood. I haven’t had the chance to message you all to say thank you for your incredible generosity, your words of support and for all of your kind gestures big and small. So thank you to each and every one of you.
Words can’t describe the experience we’ve all had. As many of you know this is not our first time dealing with a flood, but the magnitude of this event is just beyond words. While we endured a terrifying night worrying for our safety and the safety of our beloved friends and neighbours, lost our belongings and lost any illusion of safety within our home, we are luckier than many, in that we have such a big support network to lean on. Without you all I don’t know where we would be right now.
After 26 days of operating in pure survival mode, I have finally surrendered to my tears, and a deep deep grief is settling in. A grief for our global community of climate survivors, for First Nations and Indigenous peoples past and present, and for our precious earth, who have all endured so much.
A fury is also burning inside of me, wanting to escape and express itself. It’s hard to explain to everyone outside of the northern rivers the extent of the situation here. But the underlying currents of injustice have been boiling away for centuries, starting with the dispossession and dehumanisation of our First Nations peoples, the decimation of the land and the ongoing cycle of inequality that cyphons more wealth to the wealthy and leaves so many in positions of extreme precariousness.
Some people who don’t know the northern rivers well may wonder why we all ‘choose’ to live on a flood plain. The simple answer is that it isn’t really a choice. The extent of homelessness, and vulnerability in Lismore and surrounding regions was severe even before the flood, but now it is catastrophic.
Real estate prices have skyrocketed to eye watering levels here and many have had to sacrifice long term security and accept flood risk in order to have a roof over their heads and to remain close to our beloved community. Right now there are hundreds of people moving back into homes that are unsafe, some are full of mould and some have been covered in diesel from oil spills. All because they are left without a choice. 26 days on and the government has just released financial support for temporary accommodation, but there is nowhere to rent. Meanwhile we are surrounded by multimillion dollar properties that sit empty just 20km away. People who did not lose their homes have lost their businesses and their town and endured significant vicarious trauma. These people are holding up all of us, hosting us in their homes, fundraising and cleaning up the destruction and many are well past the point of burnout.
None of this is helped by the fact that 26 days after the disaster the Prime Minister has not spoken to or faced up to our community. Instead he hides behind closed doors making deals to secure multi-billion dollar projects to benefit his electorates, to secure more and more power whilst leaving us on our own.
A part of me feels ashamed that I have not spoken up earlier and been more vocal of my anger and my grief, which is our collective grief. But the social norms of acceptability and politeness, a fear of rejection and toxic positivity have held me back.
I am so grateful to all of the amazing individuals, businesses and organisations near and far who have felt the call to step up and help out everyone in need, not just in Australia but all around the world. I can feel your collective love and your care and it is what keeps me going.
But I want you all to know that our current government DOES NOT CARE ABOUT US.
THEY HAVE GOT TO GO.
This election I want you to speak up and get loud! Have some conversations with the people around you, including your children, your parents, your neighbours and older generations. Talking politics may be uncomfortable but our current reality is unbearable. Think hard and try your best to tune into the experience of the most vulnerable in our community and vote in their favour. We cannot be a healthy community or society if we do not look after our own. Please if you are safe and privileged use that privilege to advocate for change.
Please, think hard about what you can do, and how you can offer your strengths to the world. Just one way to start is to vote wisely and with intention.
Some key issues we need to address immediately include:
AFFORDABLE HOUSING - everyone deserves a safe and affordable home to live!
IMMEDIATE ACTION ON CLIMATE - NO NEW COAL, NO NEW GAS we simply can’t afford it.
FAIRER TAX SYSTEMS - TIME TO END NEGATIVE GEARING AND PROPERTY HOARDING because housing is a public good.
ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION SOLUTIONS- we need to utilise expert knowledge to create nature based solutions to reduce the severity and future impacts of fire, flood and drought that we will no doubt continue to experience.
UNIVERSAL MENTAL HEALTH CARE - including increased Medicare rebates for provisional and general psychologists, counsellors, and social workers and more funding for university places to allow for more mental health workers to enter the field to meet current and future demands
INDIGENOUS RECOGNITION, REPRESENTATION AND REPARATIONS - we are all living on stolen land and we need to recognise this every day and pay our reparations - we can only heal if we heal everybody, and we must all acknowledge our collective role in the multigenerational trauma of our First Nations people.
These are just a few core issues to talk about and I can think of so many more but I can only write so much today.
And remember… OUR COMMUNITIES ARE POWERFUL! Don’t assume your voice won’t be heard. Speak to your local representatives and if you don’t like what they are doing, vote to change that, and continue the conversations with your local members, your families and communities to make sure the people in power actually represent us!