East Gippsland allocated just $4.5m in bushfire recovery program

More than half of East Gippsland was ravaged in Black Summer — yet the region is only set to receive $4.5m in a recovery program.

East Gippsland leaders are demanding Scott Morrison fix a bushfire recovery program they say defies logic by short-changing their region, which was ravaged in Australia’s Black Summer.

The Herald Sun can reveal just $4.5m has been set aside for East Gippsland in the first year of the $276m, three-year grant program to support local projects in bushfire-hit communities.

But $27m will be made available for northeast Victoria, based on a funding model that allocates $4.5m for each council area affected by the disaster.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, ex-cabinet minister Darren Chester, state MP Tim Bull and mayor Mendy Urie said 1.1 million hectares was burnt in East Gippsland — more than half the local government area — and 410 homes were destroyed.

Much of East Gippsland was razed in the Black Summer bushfires.

“As our region continues to recover from the bushfires, each government grant program has been heavily oversubscribed, and the unmet demand in East Gippsland remains considerable,” they told Mr Morrison.

“It is beyond our understanding how a simplistic local government area criteria has been used to allocate equal funding to municipalities, many of which sustained limited, if any, direct fire damage.”

The grants, worth at least $20,000 per project, can be used for repairing damaged infrastructure, initiatives that boost employment in affected areas, and programs which support mental and physical wellbeing across impacted communities.

Mr Chester, who raised the issue with bureaucrats before the grant rules were finalised last month, said he was “bitterly disappointed”.

“It defies logic that they believe Wangaratta and Wodonga suffered anything like the same damage as East Gippsland Shire,” the Gippsland MP said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and MP Darren Chester at a fire-ravaged farm in Sarsfield last year. Picture: AAP Image/James Ross

More than 18 months since the crisis, Gippsland residents are frustrated at the slow pace of repairing community infrastructure. The local leaders said their region had continually been disadvantaged by “outdated” grant rules based on council areas.

Cr Urie said the latest allocation was “unacceptable”, while Mr Bull said the federal government had “clearly made a mistake” and needed to increase support for East Gippsland.

Emergency Management Minister Bridget McKenzie has sought briefings about the guidelines.

National Recovery and Resilience Agency Coordinator-General Shane Stone said the per-LGA funding was “not fixed’, and that an assessment panel would make recommendations to Senator McKenzie.

“Grant funding might exceed or fall below these notional amounts depending on the project applications that come in,” Mr Stone said.

“MPs from all parties, state and federal, are lobbying the minister and National Recovery and Resilience Agency for as great a share as possible … The final allocation will be based on project eligibility and merit.”