Herbert MP Phillip Thompson demands Prime Minister give fair go for funding
The government response to Tropical Cyclone Alfred has left a sour taste in the mouth of North Queenslanders who believe the southeast received special treatment never afforded to disaster-prone regions.
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The government response to Tropical Cyclone Alfred has left a sour taste in the mouth of North Queenslanders who believe the southeast received special treatment never afforded to disaster-prone regions.
Herbert MP Phillip Thompson has launched a scathing attack on the federal government for the “speed’ in which it acted as TC Alfred hovered off the coast of Brisbane.
The MP sent a letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese again requesting an expansion of the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements to include the whole broader Townsville region.
This comes after the southeast corner was given blanket coverage for the cyclone before it had made landfall, or done any significant damage to the region.
The Townsville Bulletin has been campaigning to have the whole region covered for the January and February flood event, but some suburbs like Pimlico are still not included.
In the wake of the flooding in North Queensland some Ingham residents had all their possessions destroyed but still did not qualify for federal government assistance.
“It makes absolutely no sense and it is grossly unfair that you have applied one set of standards to funding arrangement eligibility in the South-East corner and another, less favourable approach to residents in North Queensland,” Mr Thompson said.
Mr Thompson said in the past six weeks he had received “thousands of emails, social media comments, messages and photos” of damage to houses, cars and possessions as a result of the North Queensland flood event.
He gave examples of residents from areas such as Pimlico, Kirwan and Wulguru had their houses flooded and lost clothes, whitegoods and furniture and were not able to apply for any funding.
“By way of example, over the past week alone, I have been contacted by a single mother who was not in the designated ‘Black’ or ‘Pink’ area,” Mr Thompson said.
“She was evacuated and lost clothes, a bed, and whitegoods, yet she is not eligible for any Commonwealth assistance.
“An Army veteran who had water through his house and has had to throw out belongings is also not eligible.”
Asking for a reassessment of the requirements, Mr Thompson called out the unequal guidelines.
“I ask that you urgently reassess the funding eligibility requirements and make the necessary changes to what can only be described as an unfair and appalling policy,” he wrote.
Some residents in Wulguru were inundated by raw sewage, which flows back up into peoples homes every time there is a serious downpour.
Townsville City Council commissioned a new pump station in 2023 to help with the smelly situation, but work is still ongoing to address the issue.
Dubbed “poonami”, residents of Wulguru streets including Wright St, Combe Street and several others reported the raw sewage flowing through their houses for 10 days.
Plea for help
Mr Thompson has written to federal Emergency Management Minister Jenny McAllister multiple times asking for the entirety of Townsville’s LGA to be covered, but the government was yet to play ball.
“Unfortunately, many people who have contacted me are distressed to realise that they are currently not eligible for assistance through the joint Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), despite being severely impacted by the flood event,” Mr Thompson wrote in February.
On March 10, Ms McAllister said the government added Bluewater to the list of those impacted when the state government provided more information and data.
As the Queensland Government understands and makes more data available, we’ve been able to activate assistance for more communities,” Ms McAllister said.
Joint state and federal funding was activated on March 5 in preparation for TC Alfred, with 12 southeast Queensland areas given support for disaster operation expenses including emergency repairs and the reconstruction of essential public assets.
The funding also supported “counter-disaster” operations including sandbagging, evacuations, emergency road repairs and debris removal.
Since the North Queensland floods, suburbs have been added in dribs and drabs, but there are still people without monetary support from the federal government.
On February 13, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli had promised that anyone able to prove they were impacted by the floods would be eligible, despite some affected residents saying they have been knocked back.
“If someone has been impacted, and they are outside the Townsville black zone for example, they are still able to get help,” the Queensland Premier said.
“You will get assistance if you have been impacted. Pick up the phone and call,” he said at the time.
Mr Thompson said a “case-by-case” analysis of households was not enough.
The people forgotten
Having lived there for six years and with many of her items all wrecked, Merissa struggled to find alternative accommodation.
Despite multiple pleas for it to be added, Pimlico is still not covered by federal government assistance.
“It’s not good enough to have all these people in Canberra and wherever look through a very skewed microscope and then tell people like Merissa that she is not eligible,” Mr Thompson previously said on the case.
Last week the announcement came that Bluewater, another badly affected area in Townsville, had been added to the list with Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto saying it was “disappointing” to see how long it took for the area to be added.
“The flood started in those areas, although it became quite prevalent on the second of February and we saw widespread flooding,” he said.
“We are at the start of March now, a month later and those people are finally going to be able to get some sort of relief when they’ve been crying out through their MP officers and we’ve been feeding that through to the Federal Ministers offices for the last three and half weeks.”
“It’s very disappointing that it’s taken this long. But for all those residents I encourage you now to please apply online or go and apply in person for those grants.”
What the government says
Minister McAllister said in preparation for the monsoonal trough in North Queensland, the government ensured a range of measures were in place.
“This included pre-positioning aerial assets in Cairns, to assist with resupply and, if needed, evacuations,” she said.
“The Queensland Government leads on recovery. This includes proposing the nature and timing of any jointly funded support, and this was the approach taken during both the North Queensland monsoonal trough as well as through Tropical Cyclone Alfred.”
Ms McAllister said there were different payments available for different needs.
“There are specific payments designed to meet different needs. People may be eligible for more than one payment. It’s important to check the eligibility criteria,” she said.
“Our Government has been working closely with the Queensland Government and other information holders to understand that impact of floods.
“As more data becomes available, the Commonwealth has been able to activate assistance for more communities. This process is ongoing.
“Last week we tripled grants to farmers, doubled the help for small businesses and announced a further $50m for community and sporting infrastructure.
“Recovery takes time, we want the region to know we are here for the long haul.”
What’s available
The joint federal and state government support includes emergency hardship assistance grants of $180 for individuals and up to $900 for a family of five or more to cover essentials like food, clothing and medicine.
Uninsured residents may also be entitled to income-tested grants up to $5000 per household to inspect and reconnect damaged services like electricity, gas and water.
Available government funding for residents:
Queensland government: Personal/Emergency Hardship Assistance Scheme ($900 for families, $180 per person, up to $5000 for uninsured homeowners)
Australian Government: Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment ($1000 per adult, $400 per child) and the Disaster Recovery Allowance (13 weeks of income).
Suburbs eligible for the Personal Hardship Assistance Scheme as of March 17
Townsville: “Targeted addresses” in Alligator Creek, Arcadia, Balgal Beach, Black river, Blue Hills, Bluewater, Bluewater Park, Cape Cleveland, Clemant, Cluden, Crystal Creek, Cungulla, Florence Bay, Gumlow, Hermit Park, Horseshoe Bay, Idalia, Lynam, Majors Creek, Mutarnee,
Nelly Bay, Nome, Oonoonba, Paluma, Picnic Bay, Railway Estate, Rollingstone, Rosslea, Saunders Beach, South Townsville, Stuart, Toolakea, Toomulla, West Point and Yabulu.
Burdekin: All areas.
Cairns: Gordonvale (targeted areas).
Cassowary Coast: “Defined” localities in Bilyana, Bingil Bay, Birkalla, Bulgun, Cardwell, Carmoo, Carruchan, Damper Creek, Dingo Pocket, Djarawong, Djiru, Dunk, East Feluga, El Arish, Ellerbeck, Euramo, Feluga, Friday Pocket, Garners Beach, Granadilla, Gulngai, Hull Heads, Jarra Creek, Kennedy, Lower Tully, Lumholtz, Maadi, Maria Creeks, Merryburn, Midgenoo, Midgeree Bar, Mission Beach, Mount Mackay, Munro Plains, Murray Upper, Murrigal, Rockingham, Shell Pocket, Silky Oak, South Mission Beach, Tam O’Shanter, Tully, Tully Heads, Walter Hill, Warrami, Wongaling Beach.
Charters Towers: All areas
Hinchinbrook: All areas
Palm Island: All areas
Eligible residents can apply via www.qld.gov.au/disasterhelp or by calling the Queensland Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349.
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