Grants to floodproof homes for the future
AUSTRALIANS living through their fourth flood in two years could be given a handout from the federal government to protect their homes from future disasters.
Parts of NSW have endured yet another flood event this year, prompting tens of thousands of residents to evacuate.
While the federal and state government acknowledge there is no short answer to a long-term solution, Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said the country as a whole needed to have a conversation about “longterm planning”.
One such train of conversation could be to follow the lead of the Morrison government in offering cash grants to floodproof homes.
The Queensland Government announced a $750m buyback scheme earlier this year to help those affected by flooding to rebuild, sell, or floodproof their homes.
The federal government committed to match the funding to help more people.
Senator Watt said his government would consider rolling out the program to NSW and other flood-prone parts of the country.
“I do think that we have to have a conversation as a country about the long-term planning and what we do about areas where we see repeated numbers of floods,” he told Sky News.
“I saw before the election, the former federal government eventually reached an agreement with the Queensland Government to help pay for people to raise their homes and make their homes more resilient in parts of South-East Queensland.
“We’re certainly prepared to talk about those kinds of things, because while they do cost a lot of money to do, we’re also spending a huge amount of money every time we have to repair the infrastructure in homes and make these payments.”
The federal government announced on Wednesday it would provide $1000 immediately to eligible flood-affected adults, and $400 to children.
As of Thursday morning, the destructive weather system has moved north, but there were still 74 evacuation orders in place, affecting 43,000 people.