Flood funding top up announced for Lismore while North Coast misses out
A funding announcement was made quietly allowing flood-affected Lismore residents and workers to access more financial support. But nearby Ballina, Byron and Tweed were excluded again.
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Flood-affected residents and workers in Lismore will be eligible for additional financial assistance after an announcement by Services Australia on Friday.
The Disaster Recovery Allowance Top-up is additional help for eligible people who live or work in Lismore.
Residents are eligible if they have received or will receive the Disaster Recovery Allowance and lived or worked within the Lismore Local Government Area when it was impacted by the floods.
The payment is for $350 and eligible residents can get it each week for up to 13 weeks.
However the move has been criticised for once again excluding other nearby flood affected local government areas of Ballina, Tweed and Byron.
The announcement has been likened to a month ago when the Prime Minister announced additional flood funding for Lismore, Clarence Valley and Richmond Valley leaving the other flood-affected North Coast LGAs off the list.
However a week later after backlash the same funding was announced for Byron, Ballina and Tweed.
Lismore State MP Janelle Saffin, who’s electorate also covers Murwillumbah and Kyogle, welcomed the additional payments for Lismore, but said the other flood impacted areas needed the same support.
“Anyone who’s been impacted to the extent that you can’t get income you should be entitled to the same payment,” Ms Saffin said.
“When you look at Lismore CBD you can see there’s devastation, but other people have suffered too.”
Ms Saffin said she would also like to see the Prime Minister announce funding for a house raising and buyback program for the Northern Rivers as was announced for Queensland on Thursday.
The National Recovery Resilience Agency has been contacted for comment.
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Originally published as Flood funding top up announced for Lismore while North Coast misses out
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