Northern NSW leaders’ flood cash call on feds

An annual $200 million disaster mitigation fund tops a list of demands by North Coast mayors and councillors calling for aid from the federal government amid grim predictions of what floods could cost. What they want:

Mayors Michael Lyon (Byron) and Chris Cherry (Tweed) and Lismore councillor Elly Bird are among 31 local government leaders to sign a statement demanding the federal government make good on flood mitigation funding.

Byron mayor Michael Lyon, Tweed mayor Chris Cherry and Lismore City councillor Elly Bird are signatories to the demand.

The statement, brought about by the Climate Council of Australia, lists key asks from the ‘people on the ground’ in flood-affected communities.

Principal among them is a call from councils for the federal government to make available a $200 million fund every year for disaster mitigation.

They also want an extra $200 million over four years for a local government climate response partnership.

The wishlist includes that the Commonwealth establish a body or “expand the remit of an existing one to research adaptation and act as a centralised hub for up-to-date climate change information”.

The statement says flood events will cost the Australian economy $40 billion per year by 2060.

Lismore councillor Elly Bird signed the document because, she said, the costs associated with rebuilding will be exorbitant in the future if climate and disasters aren’t addressed.

Elly Bird wants substantial funding for Lismore flood mitigation.

“We are coming up to the fifth anniversary of 2017 flooding - the urgency is clear for me around these demands and we need government to respond effectively and significantly,” she said.

On top of the flood mitigation fund to be made available every year, Ms Bird says massive investment needs to be made into these communities as soon as possible because ferocious natural disasters are happening more frequently.

“It takes two to five years to recover fully from disasters like this,” she said.

“People really want to be able to make their own decisions about where they go next - some want to rebuild and other people want to be able to relocate.

Pressure has been placed on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to stump up funding for the future of flood affected areas. Picture: Nicholas Rupolo.

“Some want to be enabled to put themselves in safer locations.

“If we were to build back better we would put in place truly resilient building with resistant building materials and design, we would be enabling preparedness and response measures and funding them adequately, and we would be repairing roads and infrastructure to a higher standard to withstand impact.”

Ms Bird said community leadership needs to be acknowledged and funded, with emergency services often cut off in the most recent disaster.