The Rural Fire Service boss who steered NSW through the worst bushfire season in living memory says the Hunter is "inherently resilient", but he is calling on communities across the state to band together and use experiences of hard times to prepare for the future.
Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, who now heads the state government's disaster recovery and relief agency - Resilience NSW - was in the Hunter on Wednesday to deliver a keynote speech and be part of an expert panel to discuss the idea of resilience as part of the University of Newcastle's 'Looking Ahead' lecture series.
Commissioner Fitzsimmons was RFS chief from September, 2007, until last April. He led the state through the catastrophic 2019-20 bushfire season, which claimed 26 lives and left communities scorched.
"When we talk about the thousands of homes that have been destroyed, when we talk about the thousands of businesses that have been destroyed, when we talk about livelihoods and infrastructure being decimated - behind every one of those data sets is a person, are people, are families, are business owners, are local communities," he told the Newcastle Herald a few hours before the event.
"So I think what we've all got to do is make sure we don't become complacent. Lethargy and complacency are one of our biggest risks.
"In my view the Hunter is inherently resilient. You've got extraordinary elements around extremes in weather, you've got legacies and history of changes to industry and jobs and the environment.
"The more we share and learn and plan together, the more resilient we will be going into the future."
During his speech at City Hall, Commissioner Fitzsimmons spoke about the challenges the state has faced in the past two years - from communities being "on their knees" because of drought, to raging bushfires, severe rain events and flooding, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said almost 2500 homes were lost during the long fire season of 2019-20, but between 1300 and 1500 were rendered uninhabitable in the March rain and floods - which particularly affected the Mid North Coast and the Hawkesbury-Nepean areas.
Commissioner Fitzsimmons said he did not subscribe to the commonly held definition of resilience - the ability for people to "bounce back" - instead, he believed the concept to mean using what has been learned in the past to prepare for and adapt to the future.
"Resilience is not the sole purview of any individual, it's not the sole purview of any family, no one government can resolve it, no one local government can resolve it, no business can resolve it - it requires a community effort to pull together and build resilience," he said.
"For me, resilience is about learning from the past locally and abroad, constructing the evidence base using science and education and technology, looking ahead and seeking to get the best forecast around what might be what is likely and what that then means for adaptation."
