Scott Morrison commits $2bn to bushfire recovery fund
At least $2 billion will be pumped into a national bushfire recovery fund over the next two years, supporting local governments, farmers and first responders.
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At least $2 billion will be pumped into a national bushfire recovery fund over the next two years.
The fund will support local governments, farmers and primary producers, and deliver mental health supports to first responders.
“The fires are still burning and they will be burning for months to come,” Scott Morrison told reporters today.
“If more is needed and the cost is higher, then more will be provided.”
The Prime Minister says he is unfazed by the impact of the bushfire recovery fund on the federal budget.
“The surplus is no focus for me,” Mr Morrison said.
“What matters to me is the human cost and meeting whatever cost we need to meet.”
The bushfire recovery fund will operate alongside three levels of existing disaster relief payments available through the Commonwealth. Twenty Service Australia pop-ups will open in fire-affected communities to help people access disaster payments.
“We have taken a number of decisions to streamline those payments to make sure cash gets into people’s hands as soon as possible,” Mr Morrison said. Welfare debt recovery and mutual obligation requirements in bushfire-affected regions are also being suspended for at least two months.
The consumer watchdog will set up a hotline for people to report any bogus charities using the bushfire crisis to rip people off.
The ATO has granted automatic two-month deferrals for activity statements lodgments and payments due in impacted local government areas. Taxpayers or their agents do not need to apply for a deferral.
A spokesperson said: “The ATO recognises that bushfires continue to devastate communities across Australia. The ATO does not want individuals and businesses who have been impacted to face additional stress related to their tax obligations during this time. The ATO will give you time to recover and work with you to sort out your tax affairs when you are ready.
So far, 497 Army reservists have been called to help in the bushfire response. New Zealand has committed three helicopters and an engineering team, while Singapore is sending two Chinooks to East Sale in Victoria.
France has offered firefighting assistance as well as engineering and environmental support.
The government’s national bushfire recovery agency, to be led by former Australian Federal Police commissioner Andrew Colvin and operate for at least two years.
The agency will offer income support to farmers, small business owners and residents affected by the fires.
Farmers who lost stock in the fires will be an urgent priority.
Hundreds of thousands of animals are believed to have died in fires that have ravaged parts of the country for many weeks.
“We will be trying to take pre-emptive steps today with state agencies around making sure the disposal of the livestock is done quickly – there is a biosecurity risk there,” Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud said.
“We have to think about our native species that have been decimated by the fires, too, in terms of our recovery.”
Cabinet ministers will also consider mental health supports.
“We won’t be just rebuilding infrastructure, we want to rebuild lives,” Mr Littleproud said.
Mr Morrison hasn’t ruled out a royal commission into the bushfire crisis.
“It is something I would consider in concert with states and territories,” he said.
He said there may be a role for a national agency when it came to hazard reduction burns.
“Hazard reduction has been a constant refrain as I have been on the ground but I also acknowledge the drought conditions can make that very difficult,” he said.
Claims hazard reduction burns would have helped stem the bushfire crisis have been disputed by experts, with Australia’s ex-fire chiefs saying climate change was the main culprit.
Former foreign minister Julie Bishop said Australia needs to show global leadership on climate change in response to the bushfire crisis.
“Countries do look to Australia for direction for guidance and leadership,” she told the Nine Network today.
Ms Bishop said Australia must compose a coherent national climate and energy policy to present at international conferences.
The government has already announced the rollout of up to 3000 Defence Force reservists to help handle the fallout from fires.
Fire crews across South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and NSW today will race to build containment lines around dozens of dangerous blazes.
One hundred reservists will head to South Australia’s Kangaroos Island to help with bushfire recovery.
SA will be under a total fire ban with warmer conditions predicted there on Wednesday, and expected to cross the eastern states on Thursday and Friday.
The nationwide bushfire death toll rose to 23 on Sunday, when police confirmed a man had died while helping a friend battling a fire at Batlow, south of Canberra.
The 47-year-old is among 14 to have died in the past week.
Four people remain missing in Victoria.
More than 6.75 million hectares of land – nearly seven times the size of Melbourne or the total mass of the Republic of Ireland – has been scorched nationwide since July.
Millions of wildlife have also died, though Zoos Victoria chief executive Jenny Gray said the full impact was “impossible to determine at this early stage”.
Insurance claims are estimated at $375 million since November, with a further $56 million in insured property losses in September and October.