$650 million unlocked for bushfire hit towns and industries
Millions of dollars have announced to rebuild bushfire-ravaged towns but Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the debris clean up program had been “very difficult” for the states to roll out, with work still ‘months’ from completion.
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Millions of dollars have announced to rebuild bushfire-ravaged towns but Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the bushfire debris clean up program had been “very difficult” for the states to roll out, as they were dealing with serious safety issues, including asbestos contamination risks.
“They’re about a third of the way through,” Mr Morrison said today.
“We’re funding half of the project, but the project is run by the states and territories and the Commonwealth doesn’t run them.
Mr Morrison said NSW was expected to be done with clean up by the end of June, Victoria by the end of August and South Australia was “almost done”.
“I’m pleased to learn this the briefs I received that more than half owe well over half the workforce, doing the clean-up, is local contractors and suppliers,” he said.
“Part of the rebuilding process is aiding in the economic recovery process on the ground as well. I welcome that.”
Mr Morrison said the government had got about $1 billion “out” to spend on bushfire recovery.
But in a response to a question on notice released on Monday, Federal government figures show only $538 million had been released as of March.
Some programs such as the $15 million for rural financial counsellors have had zero dollars spent so far, but when asked about this gap Mr Morrison said the money had been paid.
“It’s in rural financial counselling, it’s in childcare subsidies, mental health, school communities, wildlife and habitat recovery, in international surge support, in tourism, but a large part of what is to come relates to the payments to the states for the site clean-ups, those item also be billed separately, they are hundreds of millions,” he said.
“What you’re seeing and what’s being paid out and is expected to be paid out shortly across all the areas I referred to before … (will be) twice what we anticipated in January.”
National Bushfire Recovery Coordinator Andrew Colvin said he thought the states were doing a “remarkable job” cleaning up bushfire damage, admitting it took “time at the start” to get going.
“I visited many of the sites … it’s not always a nice flat suburban area,” he said.
“A lot of them are rural and on very inaccessible land.
“We know asbestos and contaminants are an issue.”
Mr Colvin said he had heard about situations where residents were still in tents.
“The states are working hard to make sure that they’re not (in tents),” he said.
“I know that every person who has been displaced from their home has been given the offer of temporary accommodation.”
This comes as the Morrison government announced a massive cash injection for fire-affected regions, which includes $448.5 million for local areas to execute their state-approved "recovery plans," $149.7 million for restoring damaged landscapes and habitats, and $27.1 million to strengthen communications capability for future natural disasters.
More than 2000 satellites will be installed across the country to keep communications open if phone lines are downed.
The funding will also go toward solar panels and large batteries for fire depots to continue operating if a future disaster causes power outages.
The forestry industry will get a share of $15 million for transport assistance to cope with the increased costs of moving burned salvaged logs over longer distances to surviving timber mills or storage sites in bushfire affected areas in NSW and Victoria.
A further $13.5 million has been allocated to Primary Health Networks to provide critical, localised emotional and mental health support for people impacted by the bushfires.
But the bulk of the cash – coming from the federal government’s $2 billion Bushfire Recovery Fund – will be used for the individual recovery plans developed by local councils.
These projects could include replacing lost resources, repairing water infrastructure, holding workshops and events for the community or improving resilience for future bushfires.
The National Bushfire Recovery Agency (NBRA) will lead the work delivering projects designed to help more than 18,600 families and businesses in bushfire-affected areas get back on their feet.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the funding for rebuilding projects was not “one size fits all” in recognition of the different priorities in each community.
“Every community is different and every community is at a different point in their recovery,” he said.
“I urge local communities to work with their state governments and to provide the National Bushfire Recovery Agency with their priority projects as soon as possible.
Disaster Management Minister David Littleproud said the last six months had been “incredibly tough” with recovery from the bushfires hampered by the outbreak of COVID-19.
“To date, the efforts of every level of government have been focused on emergency relief, the restoration of basic services, clean-up operations and the immediate wellbeing needs of people in the most severely impacted communities,” he said.
“While we recognise not all communities are at the same point of recovery, some communities are starting to consider longer-term planning. We’re here to support them with opportunities to rebuild.”
Mr Littleproud said the government was working “side-by-side” with families, small businesses, primary producers and the tourism sector deliver economic support “as quickly as possible”.