The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has come under fire from communities in the flood-stricken northern regions of NSW after some personnel were seen appearing to hold photo opportunities during the clean-up efforts.
More than 3,000 troops have been deployed across NSW after severe storms led to unprecedented flooding across the east coast, destroying thousands of homes and claiming the lives of nine people so far.
The ADF has been assisting with rescuing people, helping to clear homes and roads, fixing telecommunication networks, using helicopters to drop critical supplies to cut-off communities and supporting evacuation centres.
Residents have posted images of photography crews with troops appearing to pose while assisting with the recovery, but the ADF said social media posts are "misrepresenting the hard work" of personnel.
With local residents wading through the mud in what is left of their homes, attempting to understand how they can resume their lives in a destructed community, there is a feeling of outrage.
Northern Rivers resident Russ Berry, 33, said he saw cameras set up with people pretending to manoeuvre items "to look like they are doing a little bit of heavy lifting".
"What really concerns [me] right now is that these are the people that we rely on in critical situations, regardless of what they have been directed to do," Mr Berry told SBS News.
"I personally have gone through that phase of anger, and I can speak for the community ... that everybody has seen outright disgrace at that response."
Mr Berry stressed the community frustration is not targeted at the ADF personally — it's at the government who he said have failed to provide a co-ordinated response to assist them in their critical times of need.
"It is not the defence force that we are angry at. That to be seen is a kick in the teeth from the highest point of government," he said.
He said some personnel helping in the clean-up efforts are reserve soldiers who are local community members, wanting desperately to save their homes.
In a statement issued to SBS News, a spokesperson for the ADF said "Defence is aware of a small number of social media posts misrepresenting the hard work of ADF personnel".
"To describe this work as a photo opportunity misrepresents the values of all those who serve," the ADF spokesperson continued.
'I don't feel safe'
Alexandra, 28, also from the Northern Rivers, has been on the ground, centralising workflows and creating spreadsheets to coordinate a recovery response since the floods ravaged NSW.
Residents in the Northern Rivers region of NSW aid in the clean-up efforts and examine significant road damage. Credit: Olivia Katz/The Heart Atlas
She said she has no words to adequately describe the anger her community has felt for doing a job that is meant for government authorities such as Resilience NSW.
"It's f----ng insulting and it's enraging because these people that are actually shovelling mud from the second floor of their houses don't want to see a camera," she said.
She said the anger comes especially when those who are being photographed are "wearing a uniform of the ultimate authority".
Alexandra has seen the ADF assisting in jobs that she said are given to people who don't have the capacity to help with the heavy lifting - like folding clothes and packing items in the donation centres.
"Our volunteers are coming back covered in mud from head to toe. How come their uniforms are clean?
"It's not a good way to build trust in the authority."
But the ADF has defended its move to take photographs in the region, citing the necessity to "keep Australians informed" of their activities.
"Our imagery specialists deploy on Defence operations and activities, both domestically and across the globe, to record Defence's work in the communities that it supports."
at the delays by the state and federal governments to offer up assistance.
For Alexandra, any trust she had in the government has now dissipated as she is left exhausted at the work thrust into her and her community's laps.
"I don't feel safe and I don't I don't feel like we can trust the authorities or the services or the organisations that are there to support us in the worst-case scenario, like a disaster that we've experienced."
Defence Minister Peter Dutton has staunchly defended the decision to avoid sending any troops out during dangerous weather conditions.
"I’m not going to cop criticism of the ADF,” he told Sunrise on Tuesday.
“They have looked at the situation on the ground, they’re responding, they’re bringing vehicles in, they rescued 113 people who otherwise would have drowned."
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese did not harbour criticism over the ADF — but questioned why locals were forced to do much of the work themselves.
"The ADF has access to substantial helicopters, for example. Why are people having to pitch in and hire private helicopters when the ADF has access to those resources?" he said.
to declare a national emergency on Wednesday, nine days after the flooding shook up the country's east coast, and has apologised to the community for their suffering.
"What's been seen here around the town centre today and many other areas, was nothing more than heartbreaking,” he told reporters at the Lismore Emergency Operations Centre," he told reporters on Wednesday in Lismore.
“You have to see it, you have to smell it, you have to feel it.”
