Transcription of the above interview with minor grammatical edits.
We sprang into action with the call for help. And having been involved with the 2011 floods, I’d seen [the impacts] firsthand. So, I had the experience to bring to the table, and that was when we jumped in the car, filled up with water and non-perishable foods, things like that. And lots of towels and practical items–we filled up the car and then went down there [to the Northern Rivers] and found somewhere to give them, or people to give them to.
So, the first place that we hit was the summit fitness centre because they had set up a local distribution because they were on top of the hill. We went there and unloaded our cars with what we had and asked them what else they needed. Lots of people were jumping in and doing what they could which was just awesome to see.
With the 2011 floods, myself and my daughter ended up six months on the ground in the Goodna area helping people clean up their houses, get items to them, and helping them rebuild. We also ended up co-helping the set up of a huge distribution centre in the middle of Ipswich and organizing that and distributing all the goods that were coming. We had donations on trucks and everything coming to that place and just helping the locals. So that was my experience.
My natural experience is I’m a really good organizer – it just happens. And I like to bring solutions to problems. It’s just how I’m wired – it’s how I tick and do it really, really well. So, when we hit down there–the same thing–that’s what kicked in. However I can help, I was prepared to help, and whoever wanted to jump on board with me was welcomed.
So, we travelled the entire Northern Rivers area to Coraki, Woodburn, Broadwater–all the areas. We went to every place that was starting to set up or needing help to be set up, and we went in and offered whatever we could do. We ended up in Coraki, mostly at the fire station, and started really concentrating particularly in that area because, at this stage, some of the other little towns weren’t opened, yet. They were still waiting for the water to recede. It was huge, huge devastation, an incredible amount of water you can’t even comprehend. Even if you go down there now and you look at the marking of where the water was, you just go oh my goodness, that is an incredible amount of volume of water, and still so much devastation down there.
We had a conversation with a couple of people about getting the word out to the community [calling for] whoever wanted to offer help. And it was suggested that people wanted to give money, and I happen to have a bank account for the community. We opened up that bank account for people to donate to, on the promise that the money they gave would go directly to the people–with integrity and being very open with what we were doing. Which is exactly what we did. And we hit the ground running.
The response was incredible. The money was coming in so quickly; it blew my mind because I wasn’t concentrating on funds. I was concentrating on getting things to the people and what was in my hands. And it just blew out from there. It was extraordinary, really. We kept very good books and receipts of everything we were doing, where everything went, and who we were helping. We were putting $5,000 cash injections into people’s bank accounts who we were connected with on the ground, face to face. They were verified by seeing them in that devastation, on their properties, and seeing their hearts broken by what had happened to them. And there are so many of those stories, and we collected all those stories. We did get recordings because, you know, we wanted to verify, but we also wanted to let people see this is what happened on the ground and for help to continue.
So that went on; we were full chat. We were doing 18-hour days and doing everything that we could, and lots of people rallied around Aussie Helping Hands, and it was just fantastic. But then what happened–on the 8th of April, I went to do some bank transfers. And they didn’t go through, and I was like, well, what’s going on here? And I thought, oh, maybe there’s a glitch in the banking system or the internet because we get plenty of that these days. By Monday, the 11th of April, I got an email at 8:35pm from Fair Trading, stating that they have shut down the bank account and that I am under investigation for misconduct and misappropriation of funds.
When that happened, it took the wind–it took my breath away, actually. It took the wind out of my sails. I was like, what the heck? Because all I wanted to do was help people–there was no gain in this for anybody [helping]. No volunteers or anybody [involved] gained–financially or any other way–we were all putting our hands in our own pockets to get down there however way we could to help. So, it was a bit of a shock, and it was about a week [later], and I ended up ringing up Fair Trading and asking what was actually going on. I was happy to cooperate, and they said, well, we want to see your books. I said that they could see our books. Everything was documented.
Things just went a little bit haywire for a couple of weeks–different people were coming up and giving advice, and it was a mess, actually. And then I got raided. My house got raided by Fair Trading with four of his officers, and I just broke down and cried. I couldn’t believe it because, in my mind, I’m going all I was doing was trying to help people. Why am I getting penalized for actually caring about, you know, my fellow human beings? It still does my head in a little bit.
Then Fair Trading said, well, we want to see your books, and I just picked them up and handed them to them. And I was interrogated for four hours. And basically, they kept saying, well, you’re going to prison. You know, you have broken the law. And I’m just going, I don’t believe this. Finally, at the end of that, they left. They took my phone, they took my laptop, and they took all the documentation. Even though I had everything ready to give them copies of everything, they took the originals, and it took them quite a while to go through all that. And then once they did–and I’ve got it in writing–they could not find any misappropriation of funds, no misconduct, every cent was accounted for. And they then said, well, we’re going to have to fine you for not having sanction, which is basically a license to ask for donations.
And I didn’t know that you had to because who would know? And part of that is–and I did say to them–look, if I’m your neighbour and your house is burning down, do you want me to go and get a fireman’s license or certificate to come and help you? Because it doesn’t make sense to me. It just didn’t. It just does not compute–where is the common sense in this? And yes, I understand they’re doing their job because there are a lot of people that do fraudulent things, and they have been exposed, and I get that, but it still was like, but hang on a minute.
This is six months. We’ve just had the court case on Monday [10 October 2022], and I got fined $795 for not having a sanction and $145 for court costs. So that’s where we’ve ended up. And in that duration, I was encouraged by Fair Trading to start up a charity under their regulations. And that’s exactly what we’ve done. And we’re now going from Aussie Helping Hands to Aussie Helping Hearts.
The reason that we’ve gone to the Aussie Helping Hearts is because your heart needs to be engaged for your hand to work, and we are about the heart. Everything we did was about the heart and helping people. And at the end of the day, integrity has won. We stood in our integrity. We were honest, we were honourable, and we were happy to cooperate, and integrity has won. And that, to me, just speaks volumes.
We are a charity that will run with integrity. We are not afraid for anyone to come and see what we’re doing or how we’ve done it. Everything’s going to be documented like it already has. And that’s why they said you should start a charity because they were very impressed with the way we did our bookwork.
And that’s what we’re going to do. We’re coming out, and we’re launching. There’s a lot of need down at Lismore and Northern Rivers – it’s still horrific. There are a lot of stories coming back. And the saddest thing was I was told I couldn’t even hand out a can of beans. I was not allowed back down in the Northern Rivers to help, and that really broke my heart because there’s still so much [to do]. So many people that are devastated were promised so many things from different organizations and governments, and they’re not being met. Their needs are not being met–their basic humanitarian needs. They don’t have a house to live in. They don’t have food on their table. They’re struggling to pay their rent, they’ve lost their businesses, they’ve lost their cars, they’ve lost everything. And we can only but go and try and help them start again.
And in the midst of that, we need to help and heal their hearts and the trauma that they’ve endured. And we are going to kick off with a PTSD course which is absolutely excellent. That will help heal them, and then [we’ll] come beside them and help them practically as well.
So, you know, we’re only just getting started. And we want to get in there and get as many people [as possible] from the community that are aware and awake to the hearts of humanity that need to be supported. That’s the new. Stepping into the new as a community where we care for one another. It’s a community where we are felt at a heart level–not for what I can get out of it, not for my agenda, not for the praise or the egoism. It is about actually caring for one another genuinely. And that’s what we’re we are stepping out to do.
