Federal leaders expected to visit bushfire-hit Tasmania this week

UPDATED 9.30AM: Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will touch down in the state this morning to speak with bushfire-affected communities.

Premier Will Hodgman, centre, flanked by Emergency Services minister Michael Ferguson, left, and Huon Valley mayor Bec Enders, second from right, and the federal Assistant Minister for Home Affairs, Linda Reynolds, announcing bushfire assistance yesterday. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

UPDATED 9.30AM: Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will touch down in the state this morning to speak with bushfire-affected communities.

Both men are expected to visit the Huonville evacuation centre which is housing those displaced by the Riveaux Road blaze.

While the bushfires have been raging for weeks, Mr Morrison and Mr Shorten haven’t set foot on the Apple Isle this year.

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Emergency Services minister Michael Ferguson, left, Premier Will Hodgman and federal Assistant Minister for Home Affairs, Linda Reynolds, announcing bushfire disaster assistance at Huonville yesterday. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

Premier Will Hodgman said he was not annoyed the Prime Minister had not yet visited.

“My principal concern and the thing that is motivating me is the affected communities, the business operators, the people in the evacuation centres, the hardworking firefighting personnel, Tasmania Police and those on the ground,” he said.

Huon Valley mayor Bec Enders said the embattled community did not feel neglected because the PM had not yet visited.

“Nobody is asking for the Prime Minister to be here,” she said. “What they are asking for is help and financial assistance. We’re not feeling like we are being left out.”

Senator Reynolds also defended the no-show from Mr Morrison — saying the Prime Minister and all other federal ministers were all “deeply engaged in this natural disaster”.

“Every single one of the natural disasters occurring around Australia is not about politicians,” she said.

Premier Will Hodgman and Huon Valley mayor Bec Enders talking with the federal Assistant Minister for Home Affairs, Hon. Linda Reynolds. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

Tasmanian Senator Eric Abetz, Tasmanian Senator Richard Colbeck and Hobart City Council Alderman Simon Behrakis — as a staffer to Senator Abetz — were all at the Huonville evacuation centre yesterday.

Affected individuals in the Central Highlands, Derwent Valley, Huon Valley and West Coast council areas can now apply for a Disaster Recovery Allowance.

For more information visit www.humanservices.gov.au/disaster or phone [phone].