Condobolin volunteers were personally acknowledged by the NSW Premier at a reception in Sydney last week.

NSW SES volunteers attended the Premier's Volunteer Reception at Sydney Opera House Friday, 9 December, organised to celebrate the dedicated work of volunteers during the devastating floods that swept inland NSW recently.  

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet hosted the event and presented a speech acknowledging Condobolin's SES Unit Commander, Susan Bennett, for her tireless work.  

"Susan is a tough woman, but ask her why she does it and her voice cracks - her eyes well up – and she says: “Nobody’s going to die on my watch,” said Mr Perrottet at the beginning of his speech on Friday.  

Mr Perrottet thanked the Condobolin SES Unit for their work during such a relentless and stressful time for the community.  



Condobolin's Susan Bennett and GraemeYetman with other volunteers at the Premier's reception.

"The swollen Lachlan River became deadly, levees broke, families were cut off, the elderly were caught in perilous conditions. At the height of the crisis Susan, deputy Graeme Yetman and three other SES volunteers covered a one-hundred-kilometer radius. 

"I want to say thank you for your service - we are forever in your debt," he said. 

Mrs Bennett says that she was pleasantly surprised to receive the invitation.  

"It was unexpected I can assure you! We received a special request from the premier himself to attend and we were just about the only out of town volunteers there."  

For Mrs Bennett, the Premier's thank you was not just a thank you to herself – but to all the volunteers involved in the flood response that assisted the Condobolin SES unit during the difficult time.  

"I was humbled by the Premier's speech but considering I, as a unit commander, am only as good as the team standing beside me, it's important to acknowledge that that thank you belongs to the team of people from all agencies and members of the community who were here when we needed them," she said.  

In reflecting on the team's experiences during the record-breaking event, Mrs Bennett concludes that it was an extremely difficult but also highly rewarding time.  

"It was very challenging, especially when we had to make decisions that directly affected people's homes when we were at a point where we couldn’t help anymore," she said.   

"With limited resources and limited members – we only had four volunteers including myself and Graeme who were actively helping during the emergency – it was definitely challenging, but although we had limited resources we were still able to minimise the damage and get through a record breaking flood event with no fatalities so it was also very rewarding," said Mrs Bennett.  

The Premier's event acted as an official way for him to acknowledge the work of not just flood volunteers – but all volunteers in NSW.  

"Volunteers in NSW contribute more than 1.5 billion hours of their time each year," said Mr Perrottet.   "It's that everyday service – unseen and unsung – that makes a society great."  

As special guests at the event, Mrs Bennet and Mr Yetman were very grateful for the invitation and wished to extend the Premier's thanks to all volunteers who assisted their SES unit during the floods.