Fury amid calls for PM to extend flood assistance in northern NSW

Scott Morrison is facing more backlash over his response to the flood crisis in NSW, with one MP posting a furious reaction to one announcement.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is facing more backlash over the government’s response to the flood crisis in northern NSW with calls on the ground for assistance to be extended.

Labor MP Justine Elliot, who represents the electorate of Richmond, has posted footage of the moment she found out that some areas seriously affected by the wild weather will be left out of bonus payments.

“I’m so furious,” she said.

Visiting communities in northern NSW today, Mr Morrison declared the council areas of Richmond Valley, Lismore and Clarence Valley as catastrophe zones.

Residents in those areas will be eligible for two payments of $1000 per adult and $400 per child.

“Now, on average, those who have received payments on each claim are pulling in $2,300 to $2,400 in those Commonwealth Disaster Payments,” Mr Morrison said.

“So that’s $50 million directly going into the pockets of those most affected in just three council areas.”

JUST IN: Scott Morrison has announced that Ballina, Byron and Tweed Shire residents will NOT be able to access the federal government’s additional disaster payments.

This is an outrage and I am calling for this to be extended to ALL of us.#auspol#Floods2022

— Justine Elliot, your local Labor MP (@JElliotMP) March 9, 2022

But Ms Elliot said residents in the Tweeds, Byron and Ballina areas are in desperate need of help and have been “left out”.

“I’ve just found out that Scott Morrison has deliberately excluded the people of Tweed, Byron and Ballina from getting more disaster assistance payments yet other regions have got it,” she said, dressed in hi vis.

“We’ve got people here now who have no homes, they have no food and they have no money, we desperately need assistance right here.

“We need Scott Morrison and the NSW Premier to start acting and help our region.”

Before his visit to Lismore, Ms Elliot was already furious, claiming he “doesn’t care” and has “failed us”.

“The electorate of Richmond goes from Tweed Heads in the north to Ballina in the south,” she explained.

“All these areas have been affected by flooding. Scott Morrison is not visiting this electorate.”

Tweed, Byron and Ballina Shire residents have been LEFT OUT OF THE ADDITIONAL DISASTER PAYMENTS JUST ANNOUNCED BY SCOTT MORRISON.

Our state and federal governments are a disgrace. WE NEED ASSISTANCE NOW. pic.twitter.com/6js5nXETM6

— Justine Elliot, your local Labor MP (@JElliotMP) March 9, 2022

Aerial photographs of Ballina last week showed the sheer scope of the flooding as landmarks across the city, including the Big Prawn, were overwhelmed by water.

Defending the federal government on the ABC’s 7.30 program tonight, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce conceded “nothing is perfect”.

“If there is an area you can improve on in the future, that’s what you do. It’s an incredibly dynamic and desperate situation.”

The floodwaters beside Bunnings and The Big Prawn at West Ballina on March . .Picture: Tori-Anne Stamp

Lismore City Mayor Steve Krieg, National Recovery and Resilience Minister Bridget Mckenzie and Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Lismore City Council Chambers. Picture: Nicholas Rupolo

Directly asked if local government areas were left out due to the fact seats are held by Labor while those in Lismore, held by the Nationals, and do get the assistance, Mr Joyce said: “I know the inference behind that and it’s wrong. We make sure we look after all Australians.

“Obviously Lismore has been an epicentre not just for the area but for the nation in its effect, so I would not be surprised if their was an immediate concentration on the city of Lismore because it’s been seen by the nation as the epicentre - almost the ugly icon - in what the flood did.

“We don’t go through and say, ‘we’ll take this person’s life and that person’s life’. Just the suggestion we would do something like that is quite frank, offensive.”

Full interview: Leigh Sales interviews Deputy Prime Minister @Barnaby_Joyce about the government's response to the floods. #abc730#auspolpic.twitter.com/uUZz48Wgv5

— abc730 (@abc730) March 9, 2022

Mr Morrison addressed concerns over extending the payments to more regions, saying:

“The National Recovery and Resilience Agency will be assessing whether that would be extended to any other council areas in this, what we call this high impact zone, this high catastrophe impact zone, and they will make further assessments, and the Minister will make announcements subsequently as to how we might do that.

“Natural disasters of this scale have a brutal and terrible impact..

“This is a very complex, and very challenging environment in which to operate.

“I absolutely understand the frustration, I understand the anger … I understand the sense of abandonment. “So, what do we do about that? We restore.”