Anthony Albanese and Dominic Perrottet flag flood plain review

Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet say communities can’t keep being rebuilt on flood plains, with governments needing to learn from the ‘mistakes of the past’.

Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announce more than $172m in fresh funding for flood-ravaged communities. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet have warned the increased frequency and severity of natural disasters means communities can’t keep being rebuilt on flood plains, saying governments need to learn from the “mistakes of the past”.

As eight more local government areas were declared disaster zones on Tuesday, making 37 across NSW, Anthony Albanese and Mr Perrottet announced more than $172m in funding to help the estimated 620,000 people affected by flooding.

But with Lismore, in the state’s Northern Rivers, and parts of western Sydney suffering repeated flooding events, the Prime Minister and Premier warned fresh thinking was required to deal with the increasingly damaging climate change epoch.

“We need to make sure that we can stand here as leaders in a circumstance where an event like this happens in the future, which it will inevitably, that we have done everything we can to make sure we don’t make the mistakes of the past,” Mr Perrottet said.

“And whether that’s development on flood plains, in circumstances where not only does that cost and risk lives, but the impact on properties, homes, and businesses … the government, at a commonwealth and state level, will always be there to provide that financial support.”

Mr Perrottet said it would be “remiss” of any government to have overseen the catastrophic damage of bushfires and floods over the past three years and not “look at new ways of doing things”. “I agree with the principle that you can’t keep doing the same things the same way and expect a different outcome. And there’s no doubt these events are becoming more prevalent.”

The Prime Minister said he had had “informal” discussions with Mr Perrottet about what planning for these regions would look like, but said there were no plans to relocate “the whole of Lismore”. “I think we’d have a common view that you can’t continue to commit the same issues and wonder why you get the same outcomes,” Mr Albanese said.

“And quite clearly, planning and development in flood plains is something that is primarily the responsibility of state governments, but common sense has got to apply here as well and I’m confident that the Premier will be doing just that.”

The fresh round of emergency support measures, split 50-50 between the commonwealth and Perrottet government, will see $80m committed to help the clean-up and recovery effort.

A grants program will provide up to $75,000 for primary producers and up to $50,000 for small businesses and not-for-profit organisations that have suffered direct damage from inundation.

The 37 councils affected by flooding will each receive $1m to assist with repairing the social and environmental damage, and $36m will be committed for a building assessment program for flooded properties. Residents of the eight LGAs declared disaster zones on Tuesday – Cumberland, Mid-Coast, Muswellbrook, Nambucca, Newcastle, Port Stephens, Randwick and Warren – are eligible for disaster payments.