Weed row prickly but feds vow to fork out

THE FEDERAL Government will stump up its half of a $10 million war chest to fight a highly noxious weed spreading in northwest Queensland after the February floods, despite an ongoing squabble with the State Government over funds.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce in Townsville today that the Federal Government will move to provide $5 million to communities battling the fast-spreading prickly acacia following the catastrophic floods.

It comes after arguments between federal and state ministers about exactly what was promised in March, when then federal agriculture minister David Littleproud and State Agriculture Minister Mark Furner issued a joint press release agreeing to each put in $5 million to fight the weed.

The State Government has been accused of reneging on the deal, although Mr Furner denies this and said the Federal Government had simply committed to matching existing Queensland funding.

Mr Morrison will also reveal today that more than $100 million in grants and loans has been approved for the North Queensland flood recovery effort.

A total of $118 million had already been paid to about 100,000 applicants in Disaster Recovery Payments and Disaster Recovery Allowances.

Meanwhile, Townsville MP Scott Stewart called on Mr Morrison to commit to delivering a job-creating permanent Royal Australian Navy maintenance hub in Townsville during his visit to the North.

In the lead-up to the election, Labor backed a permanent rotation of the HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide to allow the maintenance to be done in Townsville.

“I’m publicly calling on the Prime Minister to commit to a permanent presence of the Royal Australian Navy’s amphibious assault ships for maintenance in Townsville,” Mr Stewart said.