State’s face-off with Prime Minister over fire funds

Queensland has issued an urgent request to the Prime Minister for disaster-hit communities that missed vital funding — and is yet to hear back.

THE State Government has called on the Prime Minister to stump up millions of dollars for bushfire-affected communities in Queensland that have missed crucial relief payments.

The Courier-Mail can reveal State Development Minister Cameron Dick has written to Scott Morrison, urging him to extend $1 million assistance packages to an extra nine Queensland councils that were devastated during the fires.

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Among those councils the Government says have missed out are the Gold Coast, Bundaberg, Toowoomba, Lockyer Valley, Gladstone, Redlands and Ipswich.

Mr Dick said he was yet to hear back from Mr Morrison, and pointed out that some of the communities that had not received the payments were devastated by the same fires as those that did.

He said the state welcomed the Federal Government’s move to increase the grants to up to $1.3 million, but they want them to go out to more communities.

“Providing $1 million grants to the other nine communities would have given them a welcome boost to deliver activities they deem priorities,” Mr Dick said.

“We need all levels of government working together to help these communities but it seems we have the Commonwealth making decisions and the state and local governments left scratching our heads.”

Local Government Association of Queensland chief executive Greg Hallam also criticised the distribution of the relief packages, saying councils deserved equal treatment and a fair go.

“The Morrison Government should not be playing favourites with disaster-hit communities,” he said.

The payments have already been made to five Queensland councils, including Livingstone and Scenic Rim — where the Binna Burra Lodge burnt down.

When the assistance packages were unveiled, the Federal Government said they would go to those councils that had been activated by their State Government for Category C bushfire disaster recovery relief.

It is understood all nine councils that had not received the payments had been activated to Category C.