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Tension in flood town as premier flags recovery pivot

Northern Rivers community groups say the NSW government flood relief program needs a reset. (Jason O'BRIEN/AAP PHOTOS)

The NSW Northern Rivers remains mired in flood disaster and the recovery program has proven cruel and inhumane, a grassroots organisation says.

Reclaiming Our Recovery called on Premier Chris Minns and his ministers to press the reset button and better engage the community 15 months after one of the nation's worst flood disasters.

A $700 million buyback and retrofit scheme has been roundly criticised, including for leaving most of its 6900 applicants in the lurch due to funding constraints.

"We strongly believe that the problems with the current program, its failure, and the compounding trauma we are experiencing is because we have not had a say in our own future," the group said on Wednesday.

"This situation in the Northern Rivers remains a humanitarian disaster, and the way the recovery has been rolled out has proven to be both inhumane and incalculably cruel."

It comes as a small group of protesters interrupted a ministerial press conference in Lismore this week by blasting the AC/DC song Highway to Hell and holding signs saying "The levee is broke and so are we".

The two ministers responsible for the recovery authority, Jihad Dib and Paul Scully, visited the area this week talking to locals and community leaders.

They are expected to brief Premier Chris Minns on their return to Sydney.

Mr Minns acknowledged the government needed to do more and had to ensure the rebuild was accompanied by constant communication with locals.

"I anticipate that we'll have more to say in the coming days," he told reporters on Wednesday.

But the premier stressed budget pressures were affecting the second stage of the buyback, after the federal and NSW government funnelled $350 million into the scheme's first stage before the election.

"Tranche two is unfunded and we were elected in March without that second tranche of money being set aside by the previous government," he said.

"So we've got a real challenge.

"We had good conversations with the leaders of the North Coast community two weeks ago in parliament, I know we need to do more and I'm committed to doing it."

The money explanation didn't fly with Opposition leader Mark Speakman.

"That's a cop-out by the premier," he said.

"If something is urgent and important, you can find the money for it.

"It's a matter of priorities."

The premier appeared to have done a deal with unions to increase public sector wages and hence he can "find a way forward for the Northern Rivers", Mr Speakman said.

A buyback recipient told AAP last week her former neighbours were still waiting to hear whether the government would also buy their stricken properties.

"If you sell your house as it is - a flood house - it's going to be worth peanuts," Jenna Breeze said.

Community centre Resilient Lismore has called for governments to release more funding to enable retrofits and give people access to basic amenities in the short term.

As of last Tuesday, 19 buybacks had been settled while another 1075 deals were in the works.

The homes of some 439 families and single people are part of the raising and retrofitting program.

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