COMMUNITY SERVICE links
If you have been affected by flooding, or know people who have; PLEASE check out Turning the Tide: Storms, Floods, Insurance and You and / or contact The Insurance Law Service(a free legal service available to anyone in Australia who would like advice on insurance law or in resolving a dispute with an insurer). The Insurance Law Service has three staff working solely on flood claim queries.
The Financial Ombudsman Service has established a flood victims’ hotline for anyone seeking information on insurance claims, financial hardship and other financial issues experienced as a result of the floods. The number is 1800 337 444.
The Financial Ombudsman Service says many flood victims will be experiencing financial difficulties, ranging from lost credit cards to problems accessing cash and difficulties making loan repayments. All financial institutions are required to have hardship policies in place. If a financial institution is a member of either the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Credit Ombudsman Service and has declined or not responded to a request for hardship variation, should refer the matter to the relevant ombudsman service.
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We’ve seen the images of flood impact in the state of my birth, Queensland. The city I grew up in, Brisvegas (Brisbane) did not escape the terror of flooding rains (to paraphrase Dorothea McKellar). Three quarters of the state has been affected, as well as parts of New South Wales (my home state) and Victoria. I have travelled and/or worked previously to many of those places: Chinchilla, Dalby, Toowoomba, Gatton, Grantham and Ipswich to name a few. I still can’t reconcile the images of that awful brown wall of water hitting Toowoomba; with the Toowoomba I have visited, ears popping as I scaled the ranges by car. Seven hundred metres above sea level. I’ve been waterskiing on Wivenhoe Dam. Many of my friends were in the path of the Ipswich and Brisbane floods. Only one had her house submerged – she said they have gone from having a fully furnished 4 bedroom house, to enough to fill a one bedder apartment. Yes it was on stilts.
The Lockyer Valley is the farming areas you drive through past Ipswich to Toowoomba. You may recognise it from new pictures as this. Farming areas in Victoria and NSW have been affected, but Queensland’s are virtually wiped out. It was so awful to see stoic farmers sobbing on TV from the horrors of the floods. Those blokes are tough and plain talking.
It seems almost trite to monitor the impact on food prices, given that people have lost their livelihoods or lives as a result of the floodwaters. Thirty-five people have died altogether. However, we will all be paying more at the supermarket for our veggies. I wonder how much more the farmers will get?
I’ve already noticed in a few different supermarkets all the citrus fruit is from the US (California) and some stone fruits grown in Australia are limited. There’s a kerfuffle about imported apples and I implore you, dear reader, to be ethically stingy when choosing to purchase fruit and veg. Buy Australian grown. If you are in doubt, leave it. I know sugar supply is also to be affected by the floods, Bundaberg and Maryborough were flooded in Queensland. Sugar is also grown in Northern NSW- the Clarence River/Northern Rivers region. So check your sugar place of origin. And if you haven’t been to a sugar growing region, do go. Try and visit Toowoomba, Chinchilla, Bundaberg, Maryborough etc when you next go holidaying. The Chinchilla Melonfest is still on, February 17-20 !! GO!!
I plan on sticking to milk, fruit and veg prices for a while. I tweet prices while I’m shopping or see prices when I’m out. Remember I tweet petrol prices as well 🙂
Coles and Woolworths have reduced milk prices, though I tweeted that WW has raised their own brand 3 L milk by 30 cents last week. Coles has reduced their 3 L milk 96c – from $3.96 to $3.00. Read the link. The dairy farmers aren’t getting much.
Woolworths Bondi Junction 18/01/2011
Clementine Mandarin $6.98/kg
Coles Surry Hills 14/01/2011
Blueberries 125g $3.98
CSR sugar cubes 450g $3.58
Snow Peas $9.98/kg
Bananas $2.68/kg
whole Rockmelon $2.98
Watermelon $2.98/kg (bought a whole one, 6.378 kg=$19.01) the FAb family, saving Chinchilla, one watermelon at a time.
Coles savings brand lite milk 3L $3.59
Woolworths REDFERN 22/01/2011
I bought a lot of frozen vegies on this occasion….floods, plus last year I convinced Mr Fab that we needed a freezer, and it wasn’t to fill it with ice cream cones (though in the heat, very handy to have. I have made fruit juice iceblocks with my daughter…) This Woolies is new and on Chalmers Street, under the South Sydney Leagues Club.
Bananas $3.48/kg
WW lite milk 3L $3.89
McCain Corn Cobs 1kg $4.40
McCain peas and corn 2kg $7.75
WW Broccoli 500g $3.48
WW Cauliflower 500g $2.49
Birds Eyes Potato Gems 1kg $4.15
Birds Eyes Fries 1kg $3.00
Arnotts Milk Arrowroot biscuits 250g $1.90
Coles Pyrmont 26/01/2011
Coles lite milk 3L $3.00
Edgell sweet corn kernels (only this Edgell corn is totally Australian corn, others have a mix of imported ingredients) 4 x 125g tins $3.99
Half of Australia’s sweet corn is grown in New South Wales. Bundaberg, Gympie and South East Queensland also grow sweet corn, sadly those areas were flood effected. Remember, be ethically stingy. Think about the circle of life, AND the economic cycle.
I also hope that learning about our gorgeous river systems will be re-introduced into the primary school curriculum.
Guerilla Grocery Choice Australia 