Flood-impacted NSW communities say they feel forgotten, having to fight for money to trickle in from governments for disaster recovery.
Representatives from the northern NSW town of Lismore fronted a Senate inquiry on Wednesday to update politicians on flood recovery efforts 18 months on from the disaster.
Grief and trauma still hang over the residents in Lismore, and mayor Steve Krieg said the lack of information from government agencies on top of stagnant recovery works by red tape exacerbated the issue.
One of the biggest roadblocks was the council's inability to access funding, specifically the main road in Nimbin which costs between $20 and $30 million to fix.
"We cannot carry that sort of debt. Every week you're pleading and begging for something that was promised," Mr Krieg said.
"I've stood shoulder to shoulder with two prime ministers and two premiers (telling us), 'you won't be left behind. We're committed to the rebuild'.
"It doesn't feel like it. It's a fight. The whole step of the way is a fight."
Mr Krieg said private organisations have stepped in to help with the recovery, repairing homes at a fraction of the cost and time of the public sector
"It should make every level of government cringe that the private sector is getting on and doing far more."
"One in 10 houses are occupied but they're still running off a double powerpoint and tarps on their walls to keep the cold breeze out of the morning," Mr Krieg said.
Government promises of house buybacks have been described as a "lottery-draw" based on the location of people's houses, crunched from data with little community consultation.
Across the six local government areas impacted by the floods, 6700 home-owners expressed interest in buybacks but only 1100 were offered. The second round of buybacks has been put on hold.
The Lismore mayor said the heavily traumatised community had been left in limbo.
"These are the same people that were clinging for their lives on their roof holding their children's hands to stop them from getting swept away and hoping that some civilian tinny is going to come past to get them off their roof."
"You've got a whole region that feels like we're being left behind. We've been forgotten."
The state member for Lismore Janelle Saffin told the inquiry she was working to ensure promises were kept after her community was told governments would fund 2000 buybacks, 2000 house raisings and 2000 retrofits.
"The bureaucracies, while they do some good work, they operate what I call 'business as usual'. Humanitarian disasters require something different," Ms Saffin said.
The Lismore MP said governments need to commit to a second tranche of funding.
"It's not just buying houses. It's not real estate. This is about people's lives, about our survival and thriving."
Communities in south-east Queensland and northern NSW were lashed by intense rain in February 2022 which led to deadly and destructive floods, damaging more than 7000 homes in each region.
