‘Everything is at a grinding halt’
Frustration over response
Gold Coast Hinterland business owner Brian Reichelt says his livelihood remains in tatters more than two weeks after the devastating Christmas night storm and subsequent floods.
The nursery owner’s business and home were both left devastated by the weather disaster. He says he is struggling without any income and rapidly rising costs.
He said authorities had been too slow to react to both the storm and flooding, which Mr Reichelt described as the worst he had seen in his 36 years living at Guanaba.
“Everything has come to a grinding halt,” he said. “I’ve still got expenses, I’ve still got staff to pay and I’ve still got all these outgoings.
“We are absolutely devastated here and the government have been way too slow and we’ve been forgotten.”
Mr Reichelt said he had received no support from the 50 Australian Defence Force staff, which were called in to help clean-up efforts last week.
He accused the federal government of “playing politics”.
“It’s not their house, it’s not their business and it’s not their electorate so they don’t care,” he said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the Gold Coast on Tuesday and unveiled a $23m support package, which will be split with North Queensland, recovering from Cyclone Jasper which hit a week before the Gold Coast weather disaster.
Of the funds, $20m will go towards a clean-up program both on the Gold Coast and in North Queensland areas impacted by the cyclone.
It’s unclear what the split between the regions will be.
Further grants of $1m each will be made to the Gold Coast, Logan and Scenic Rim councils, along with support grants of up to $75,000 for affected farmers and primary producers and up to $50,000 for affected small business owners and non-profit organisations.
The same grants were announced in the wake of the cyclone, with $64m in funding for the state’s Far North
However, the federal government has refused to reveal whether the same amount of funding has been allocated for disaster victims across the South East.
State LNP Member for Theodore Mark Boothman represents Oxenford and Guanaba, some of the worstaffected suburbs, and said there was a lack of transparency around the funding.
“A lot of my community are frustrated with the response,” he said.
“It took the Premier a week to come out here, it took the Prime Minister two weeks to come.
“Unfortunately I don’t think the government understands the magnitude of it and what has actually happened out here.
“We need these funds, we need to ensure that these local business and families are looked after, we’re all Queenslander here and need to be looked after.”
Questions about the size and scope of grants funding were sent by the Bulletin to federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt but were not answered.
Premier Steven Miles, who visited the Coast with Mr Albanese, said the rollout of financial relief was occurring as fast as possible.
“We have already announced substantial support tailored across regions,” he said. “We will keep working to fully understand the impacts and what else is needed to recover.”
Mr Miles flagged further support to come down the track.