NSW Labor frontbencher Walt Secord is stepping down from the shadow ministry after being accused of bullying by past and current colleagues.
Key points:
Walt Secord says he asked to stand aside following a “long reflection”
Several past and present colleagues have accused Mr Secord of bullying
It follows the release of the Broderick review into NSW parliament
Mr Secord, who held several shadow portfolios, said he had asked Opposition Leader Chris Minns to “let me stand aside” after a “long reflection.”
It follows the release of the Broderick review into the culture of the NSW parliament, which exposed a “toxic” environment of bullying and sexual harassment.
Mr Secord has spent more than 30 years in the Labor Party and was serving as the opposition spokesman for police, counter terrorism, arts and heritage and the north coast.
He issued an apology last week after an ABC investigation uncovered allegations against him by several unnamed people.
“Chris [Minns]myself, and the NSW Labor Party have committed to adopting the recommendations of the Broderick review and working across party lines to make the NSW Parliament and NSW politics a workplace we can all be proud of,” he said in a statement.
“I fully support the Broderick review and the change it will hopefully lead to. But my remaining in the shadow ministry at this time has become a distraction from these major revelations and the important work that needs to be done.
“I will be making no further comment.”
Mr Secord is the first NSW politician to step down following the review conducted by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.
Last week, Premier Dominic Perrottet said the findings were “sobering, confronting and unacceptable”.
“If parliamentarians cannot lead and provide an environment where the workplace is safe, what hope do we have for other workplaces across our great state?”
On Friday, Mr Secord apologized for his conduct in office, acknowledging he could be “too blunt and too direct” in the high-pressure environment.
“If any parliamentary staff members feel that my conduct in the workplace was unprofessional and caused offense or distress and was unacceptable, I unreservedly apologize,” he said.
The senior Labor figure said he wanted to be part of “repairing the culture in state parliament, and addressing my behavior as part of that”.
Mr Minns has called a press conference for later this morning.
Australia’s national weather agency has issued a staunch defense of its handling of deadly flooding in New South Wales earlier this year, after a parliamentary report found it did not comprehend the scale of the threat.
Key points:
The Bureau of Meteorology has defended its role in the 2022 flood event, arguing government and communities were warned
A NSW parliamentary report found the bureau used “incorrect” data to brief agencies
A residents group wants more control over decisions made in a flood crisis
Five people died in the first flood event in the Northern Rivers on February 28, with evacuation orders for towns such as Lismore issued through the night as flood waters tore through the region.
A NSW parliamentary committee found the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) was not prepared, that information used to make decisions was “incorrect and out of date”, and recommended it review its data processes.
The bureau declined to be interviewed by the ABC but in a statement a spokesperson said the agency “strongly refutes” the committee’s findings.
The statement outlined how the BOM warned governments, including national cabinet, and the community in 2021 of a likely La Niña event and above-average flooding risk across Australia’s north and east.
Specifically in relation to flooding in northern NSW, it said it told the State Emergency Service (SES) five days before the first event of “the potential for life-threatening flash-flooding over the NSW north coast” and that it issued flood watches and warnings “many days in advance”.
“The bureau also explicitly identified the risk for intense localized rain events, life threatening flash flooding and the potential for rapid river rises,” it said.
The Northern Rivers flood event was the region’s worst on record.(ABC North Coast: Ruby Cornish)
The statement also addressed the report findings that some agencies treated it “as a nine-to-five business operation”, arguing it was instead a “365 days a year, 24/7 operation”.
The bureau said that for this event, a specialized meteorologist and a hydrologist were embedded with the SES at the Wollongong headquarters, and that the bureau supplied area-specific briefings to agencies.
It also noted that engagement with the parliamentary committee had been “limited”, and that a separate independent flood inquiry, which has handed its report to the government but was not yet public, was much more proactive with asking for information.
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Probe finds lead emergency agencies failed in flood response(Bruce MacKenzie)
‘more of the same’
Kyogle Shire Council general manager Graham Kennett said the report was missing recommendations to improve telecommunications, which were crucial for monitoring levels to make decisions.
“If we know what’s going on in this catchment and in that catchment, then we have warning times and we can predict flood levels to a degree of accuracy that is good enough to make informed decisions about when people need to leave,” he said.
“It takes 45 minutes to an hour for the data to get online and in some cases that is too long for a decision-making process.”
In Lismore, a group of residents said the 37 recommendations did not go far enough, and wanted locals to be given the power to make decisions in future flood events
The parliamentary committee slammed the response of the SES during the flood crisis, accusing it of “issuing out of date, inaccurate and confusing messages”.
It has recommended that a restructure of the SES be conducted to harness local knowledge and increase the number of salaried staff and volunteers.
Beth Trevan (left) believes the recommendations do not afford local people enough autonomy.(ABC North Coast: Bruce MacKenzie)
Lismore Citizens Flood Review group coordinator Beth Trevan said while the inquiry findings mirrored the group’s submission, the recommendations were “disappointing” as they appeared to be “more of the same”.
Ms Trevan wants local people on the ground to have the power to make decisions.
“In the past we’ve had long term local people, who had been here for 30 or 40 years and were in senior positions at a regional level … and the knowledge of the entire area and the knowledge of all the agencies and the people who ran them was at their fingertips,” she said.
“By the time it gets transferred from here to Sydney and they have a chat with the bureau, the time is wasted, and we don’t have time.”
Catherine Cusack left parliament in protest of her party’s handling of the flood crisis.(abcnews)
Catherine Cusack represented the Liberal Party on the parliamentary committee, but no longer sits in parliament after letting her membership lapse in protest at her party’s handling of the crisis.
She fell short of backing the notion that local people should be making decisions but said they should be “more front and centre”.
“Of all the data that flows into them, there’s just no capacity for locals to say ‘I don’t know what it is in your gauges … but all I can tell you is the water is meters high up here in an unprecedented way’ ,” she said.
The SES said it is reviewing the report and will provide a response to parliament.
A parliamentary inquiry has found the government agencies in charge of preparing for and responding to major flooding in New South Wales this year failed affected communities.
Key points:
A NSW parliamentary committee has found lead agencies failed to warn and protect communities
It is recommending the SES restructure to harness local knowledge, and that Resilience NSW be abolished
The weather bureau is also being told to consider reviewing its data
Seven people died and thousands of people were displaced or cut off when floodwaters devastated the Northern Rivers region twice since late February.
Despite calls from authorities to stand down, residents took to boats and jet skis to rescue each other from rooftops, and took with them axes and other equipment to cut open roof cavities in which people were stuck.
Led by Labor’s Walt Secord, the parliamentary committee took evidence at a series of hearings across the state’s north as well as Western Sydney, where floods also became deadly.
“The committee found that the [State Emergency Service and Resilience NSW] failed to provide leadership and effective coordination in the community’s greatest time of need,” Mr Secord told parliament as he tabled the report.
The NSW Parliamentary Flood Inquiry held hearings on the north coast in May.(ABC North Coast: Bruce MacKenzie)
The report found that information from the State Emergency Service (SES) and Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) was “incorrect and out of date”, leaving the community with “no other option but to ignore government advice and save lives”.
It made 37 recommendations, including that the SES, the state’s lead agency in a flood event, undergo a restructure to harness local knowledge and employ more salaried staff.
It urged the weather bureau to review its rain data infrastructure and flood modeling tools.
The report found the state agencies and BOM were “not prepared for, nor did they comprehend the scale” of the floods and that “some agencies were criticized for treating it as a nine to five business operation”.
Lismore resident Billy Curry was one of many in the “tinny army” who took it upon themselves to rescue people the day his home town went under.
He agreed there did not seem to be enough resources to assess and respond to the situation, and that without the impromptu volunteers “the community would have been in a lot of trouble”.
“There were scenes there where you were ducking under power lines and street lights in a boat,” he said.
“We lifted 64 older people from an elderly aged care place into a boat, so that’s something you don’t forget.”
Billy Curry wants a database created to better manage willing and able volunteers.(ABC North Coast: Bruce MacKenzie)
Mr Curry said he wanted the State Emergency Service to adopt a database of volunteers who had lifesaving skills and equipment such as jet skis, who could be quickly briefed via SMS in an emergency.
“Also, there was no management of knowing who was in the water and how many people were volunteering,” Mr Curry said.
“SW [no] database of managing the demand of incidences, that definitely stood out, it was absolute chaos.”
The committee has also recommended the NSW Government consider abolishing Resilience NSW, the disaster recovery agency set up in the wake of the Black Summer bushfires, currently led by former Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons.
The inquiry is separate to an independent report, that the government has received but not made public, which the ABC understands will also recommend dismantling Resilience NSW.
Both the SES and Resilience NSW told the ABC they would consider the findings before responding to parliament.
A spokesman for the NSW Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said they did not know when the report would be tabled and that the minister would not be able to comment “until the NSW Government actually receives the report and has an opportunity to review and respond”.
The report findings include:
SES and Resilience NSW failed as lead agencies
SES was hindered by centralization and shortage of volunteers
SES issued out of date, inaccurate and confusing messages
Community members had no other option but to ignore government advice and save lives
Grants process was insensitive and compounded trauma
NSW Government agencies lacked coordination, created confusion
Demarcation disputes between NSW Government agencies slowed the roll-out of support
NSW Government failed to adequately prepare effective temporary and long-term housing solutions
Recommendations for NSW Government include:
Consider a restructure of SES to harness local knowledge, coordinate more closely with other rescue agencies, increase salaried staff and drive volunteer recruitment
Consider abolishing Resilience NSW
Appoint a senior police officer to lead recovery efforts
Prioritize the rebuild of Cabbage Tree Island
Significantly increase investment in flood mitigation and preparation
