Premier David Crisafulli promises $10k to Ingham residents to make homes more resilient after floods
Flood-ravaged North Queenslanders will be eligible for grants to make their homes more resilient with Premier David Crisafulli saying he didn’t want to see homes ‘bought out’.
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Stronger homes grants of up to $10,000 are available for flood-ravaged North Queenslanders to “build resilience in people’s home,” Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has revealed in flood-ravaged Ingham.
Mr Crisafulli visited the North Queensland town on Wednesday to announce the key disaster relief package for Ingham.
“(The disaster-relief packages) are an important step on road to recovery for the broader North Queensland region, a region that’s been hit really hard and a region that we said we would continue to visit to make sure the job is done and that proud communities like Ingham can pick themselves up off the canvas,” he said.
Mr Crisafulli, born and bred in rural North Queensland, said the money could be spent “on anything that makes (homes and properties), stronger in the next disaster”.
“That might be lifting up the (electrical) switchboard or the hot-water system out of harms way … whatever it takes to make your home stronger we want to partner with communities to make sure that they don’t experience that heartache into the future,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“If you drive up your resilience early you drive down your costs in recovery in the future and that is what that is about, it’s about making sure communities can withstand what Mother Nature throws at them.”
He said he did not want to see fearful residents having to “leave beautiful towns like Ingham”.
“I don’t want to see their homes bought out, I want to see their homes made more resilient and I want them to be able to get back on their feet quicker.”
Mr Crisafulli was speaking at the home of retired Ingham teacher Helen Wilson, 79, who lost power for at least a week and endured cold showers for 11 days.
He said enhanced resilience was particularly true with electrical systems.
“The ability to get your power turned off after a disaster means the difference between having cold showers for a long time or being able to pick up the pieces and start again.”
He said the resilience extended to the failed Ingham electrical substation.
“We are working on some short-, medium- and long-term ways to build resilience there … and we are also doing an audit across the state to see where we can build resilience into our electricity network.”
Mr Crisafulli said he had also visited with small- and medium-sized business owners.
“There is no doubt there is a level of pain and suffering in the North and Far North that I have never seen before, there are businesses that will not be able to get back up and trading, there are homeowners who are going to take many months to get back on their feet and that is really harrowing,” he said.
“But they need to know that we are here and we are going to see this through with them.”
Housing and Public Works Minister Sam O’Connor said the state government “wanted North Queenslanders to build back better”.
“We know that people in communities like this are sick of replacing the same things over and over again and if you build in resilience now in the recovery phase it means you can save money in the long term and that’s what the stronger homes grants package is all about.”
He said the grants of up to $10,000 were available in all Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangement (DRFA)-activated local government areas if homeowners could “prove inundation”.
“They have to show that they are impacted by this event to access this grant package.”
Mr O’Conner said estimated were that there were around 1000 homes that would be able to access the grants.
“It will mean that (home owners) can amplify the funds that they will get from their insurance companies to build back not just like-for-like to replace the same things that they’ve been replacing many times before, it’ll let them do it better.”
He said the grants would be available from mid-March and that household would have to the end of the year to apply “and they must have all the funds spent by next September”.
“We really encourage Queenslanders to put their hands up for one of these grants.”
Kylie Macfarlane of the Insurance Council of Australia said its members had received more than 7100 claims following the disaster.
“We will continue to work with policy holders in the affected areas to support both the program but to also support their recovery, whether that being repair or rebuild,” she said.
“We do encourage people to make a claim, we are hearing that people are not sure whether they should make a claim (but) please make a claim, ring your insurer, start the conversation and ask them about the new stronger homes grants program, it is important that we build back better.
“Your insurance contracts will build back like-for-like but with the stronger homes grant program, we have the opportunity to build back better and provide services about the flood line that will protect homes and communities into the future.”
Hinchinbrook Mayor Ramon Jayo said the grants “are a program that is desperately needed”.
“Because obviously we live on a flood plain … and infrastructure becomes comprised in every (flooding) event that have,” he said.
“But by enabling people to get their electricity boards and essential plants and equipment about that water means they won’t be impacted as much and they will be able to return to normality a lot quicker.”
The canefarmer said the Hinchinbrook Shire Council had “been asking for something like this for a while now … to make our homes more flood resilient”.
“Thankfully we’ve now been heard and it is a great product.”
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Originally published as Premier David Crisafulli promises $10k to Ingham residents to make homes more resilient after floods
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