Regional Qld monsoon support extended

The five local government areas (LGAs) made available for disaster assistance are Barcoo, Burdekin, Mackay, Whitsunday, and Winton.

Disaster assistance has already been made available to 14 other LGAs that include Barcaldine, Boulia, Carpentaria, Cook, Croydon, Diamantina, Etheridge, Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire, Mapoon Aboriginal Shire, Mornington, Napranum Aboriginal Shire, Northern Peninsula Area, Palm Island Aboriginal Shire, and Pormpuraaw Aboriginal Shire.

Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Murray Watt, said these additions bring the number of councils receiving support from the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) to 19 due to the widespread flooding over the last week.

The DRFA has aided with counter disaster operations and the repair of roads and other essential public infrastructure.

According to Mr Watt, between 100–200 millimetres of rain fell between Mackay and Ayr in a 24-hour period, with Eungella experiencing 300 millimetres of rain over another 24-hour period.

“This amount of rainfall has seen several road closures due to flooding, including parts of the Bruce Highway, and the substantial land-slip leading to the isolation of Eungella,” Mr Watt said.

“At times like this all levels of government need to work quickly to get support to communities to begin cleaning up and restoring critical infrastructure.”

Acting Minister for Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, Mark Furner, stated the disaster assistance means the impacted LGAs can focus on the immediate welfare and protection of their respective communities.

“This assistance means that local governments can deal with the immediate impact of current flooding, knowing damage to assets such as roads and dams will be repaired once the immediate threat has passed,” Mr Furner said.

“Our priority is the safety of Queenslanders, but the government is also committed to helping local authorities restore damaged public infrastructure.”

Flooding and other natural disasters have cost the Australian economy around $5 billion and have impacted two-thirds of Australians, according to federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

The Treasurer stated that this sum does not begin to capture the “full human cost”, community cost, and the cost to infrastructure needs.

In an analysis by the National Emergency Management Agency, 68 per cent of Australians live in an LGA that was subjected to a natural disaster declaration over the course of last year.

[RELATED: Regional QLD to receive monsoon assistance]