More funds for ‘national catastrophe’: Scott Morrison
Scott Morrison will today travel to flood-ravaged towns to announce new funding focused on concerns that thousands of homes are now unlivable.
Scott Morrison will travel to flood-ravaged towns in northern NSW on Wednesday armed with new funding support for reconstruction, businesses and families, as record rainfall inundated Sydney and forced mass evacuations between Kempsey and the Shoalhaven.
The Australian Defence Force on Tuesday ordered a significant ramp-up of operations in NSW and Queensland, deploying more than 2550 soldiers to the worst flood-affected areas including Lismore, Woodburn, Brisbane, Gympie and Ipswich.
The Prime Minister has held rolling meetings of cabinet’s national security and expenditure review committees from Kirribilli House over the past week and will fly to Lismore after ending seven days of isolation on Tuesday night. The ERC held an emergency meeting on Tuesday to sign off on significantly larger commonwealth recovery funding in response to the “national catastrophe”.
Since the floods wreaked havoc last week, the federal government has paid out more than $282m in disaster payments through Services Australia to 242,000 people impacted by the deluge, providing cash for households and 13-week income support for workers and small businesses.
The integrated commonwealth and state funding support will focus on long-term reconstruction plans amid concerns that thousands of homes are unlivable and require either knockdowns or major construction work. Shortages of skilled workers, especially in the regions, could delay reconstruction for up to 2-3 years. Another key concern is that lower socio-economic communities, including many elderly and disabled, will not have the financial means to rebuild.
The ADF and NSW emergency response officials have been working through major logistic problems, which have not occurred in Queensland, to better co-ordinate operations on the ground. In response to criticism about bureaucratic delays in disaster zones across the state, Dominic Perrottet appointed NSW Deputy Commissioner Mal Lanyon as the northern NSW recovery co-ordinator.
The Australian understands after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk appointed Major-General Jake Ellwood, commander of the 1st Division based in Brisbane, to lead the state’s flood recovery, senior officials had expected Mr Perrottet to seek similar ADF support.
Mr Morrison will travel to northern NSW with Emergency Management Minister Bridget McKenzie and was preparing for a similar hostile reception experienced by Mr Perrottet this week.
As Sydney suburbs and regional NSW towns were pummelled with more rain on Tuesday, Mr Morrison said the second phase of federal support would focus on rebuilding northern NSW. Last week he announced joint funding of more than $1bn with the NSW and Queensland governments to assist small business, farmers and local councils.
“The destruction and devastation in the Northern Rivers is well beyond anything previously experienced,” Mr Morrison said.
With water levels reaching 2m higher than the worst floods seen in the region, Mr Morrison described the scale of the Lismore disaster as “mind-boggling”.
“I’ll be there this week … to see this first-hand, and talk to the community, not just about the short-term clean-up and the challenges we face … which have been significant because of the scale of this flood, but also the long-term reconstruction efforts … needed,” he said.
“Right now, the government is finalising its first wave of over and above measures, particularly for the Northern Rivers area. The NSW government is doing the same. And we’re looking to integrate those plans … to ensure we can rebuild northern NSW, particularly in the most acutely affected area in and around Lismore.” Asked if Mr Morrison could face a repeat of the infamous Cobargo visit following the 2019-20 bushfires, where he was heckled by locals, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said “one of the toughest jobs you will ever do (is) see the misery of your fellow Australians”.
“The Prime Minister has obviously admitted mistakes around his trip to Hawaii but it didn’t take away from his passion, his commitment, and the emotional toll of seeing the hurt on the ground,” Mr Littleproud told Sky News.
“I’m sure the Prime Minister, whether he’s clapped or booed, wants to be there to listen, to understand and to be able to fix the catastrophe that’s been unfolded across these poor Australians and that’s his job and he’s got to do it whether they like him or not.”
Anthony Albanese, who will travel to northern NSW later this week, said the government must explain why it took so long for ADF personnel to be deployed.
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