FOLLOWING the aftermath of the October floods on the township of Rochester, where approximately 90 percent of homes were inundated, damaged, or isolated by the disaster, the Liberal Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell has used the most recent sitting of State Parliament to call on the Andrews Labor Government to deliver more support for residents.
In three separate speeches over the duration of the sitting week, Ms Lovell called on Labor to provide across the board support to residents of Rochester, in particular more mental health services, more housing support and additional consumer affairs workers to assist with insurance claims.
Ms Lovell explained how the people of Rochester are facing many challenges as they recover from the catastrophic flood event, the number one issue for the community is the deterioration of the mental health of many residents, with too many people suffering due to a lack of qualified mental health practitioners in the region.
Ms Lovell urged the Government needed to ensure additional Mental health professionals are immediately provided on the ground in Rochester and called on the Minister for Mental Health Gabrielle Williams to deliver the services desperately required by many residents. Ms Lovell also called on the Minister for Consumer Affairs Danny Pearson to deploy more officers from Consumer Affairs Victoria to assist residents to navigate the complex insurance claims to repair their homes and businesses damaged by the devastating flood.
She spoke of how many residents had complained about a lack of communication from insurance companies, technical language from companies that is not easily understood, and insurance companies exerting pressure on clients to accept cash settlements to settle claims, usually to the financial detriment of the client.
Ms Lovell said it was important that the rights of clients were supported, particularly while recovering from such a traumatic event such as a flood and asked that a team from CAV be deployed into the town to provide advice and assistance to those that need it.
