Bushfire disaster recovery boss Andrew Colvin to tour Queensland

New bushfire recovery boss Andrew Colvin has revealed how he will tackle the massive $2 billion job of rebuilding communities devastated by this summer’s bushfire crisis.

DISASTER recovery tsar Andrew Colvin will prioritise bushfire rebuilding efforts in Queensland and northern NSW as he tackles the massive job of supporting devastated communities throughout the country.

Mr Colvin told The Courier-Mail he was getting his head around the “magnitude and breadth of areas affected” by bushfires after being appointed on Sunday to lead the Morrison Government’s $2 billion National Bushfire Recovery Agency.

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Historic Binna Burra Lodge in the Gold Coast hinterland was destroyed when a bushfire ripped through the area in September. Picture: Nigel Hallett

He said he wanted to stay out of the way in areas still fighting fires and would focus his early efforts in regions such as central Queensland, where the worst of the fires had ended months ago.

“They have gone through that immediate relief and are getting themselves back on their feet again and that’s where I think we can start to help,” he said.

“I’m hoping as early as next week … I’d like to get up to Queensland, I’d like to go to central Queensland and northern NSW and hear from the communities what they need.

“So that is a priority because I think they’re ready for us.”

New bushfire recovery boss Andrew Colvin wants to stay out of the way of areas still fighting fires so will focus on recovery efforts in Queensland and northern NSW. Picture: Gary Ramage

Mr Colvin, a former Australian Federal Police Commissioner from Rockhampton, said he would work closely with agencies that have been delivering drought and flood relief throughout the state.

“We need to learn the lessons of the past … and make sure that we’re having an impact,” he said.

Natural Disaster and Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud said the most important goal for the agency was to “get people’s lives up and going again”.

He has directed Mr Colvin to get out of Canberra and “sit around town halls and kitchen tables, talking to people, understanding” their issues.

“There’ll be whole-of-government responses and programs but we also want to empower the local community … it’s important that we empower them to help in that recovery and making sure that the money that the Australian taxpayers are investing in the process of recovery and rebuilding of these lives is done appropriately,” he said.

He said he expected to make further announcements soon about broader relief packages and business support.