The Federal Government’s flood mitigation package has been welcomed in Queensland but many say it won’t go anywhere near to covering the work that is required to ensure that the State is more resilient to natural disasters.
Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) Chief Executive Greg Hallam acknowledged that the Federal Government would have spent more than $6 billion in recent years helping to get Queensland communities back on their feet after a string of major natural disasters.
Mr Hallan noted, however, that the Government needed to realise that the more money that is spent on flood mitigation projects now, the less that will be required for recovery when future disasters strike.
“This announcement is a fair start but we have said for a long time now that the mitigation task in Queensland is of such a magnitude that a contribution of $100 million from the Federal Government is closer to the mark,’’ he said.
“We will keep working to convince the Federal Government that more needs to be done to ensure the State’s flood and cyclone defences are as strong as they can be.’’
Mr Hallam said the LGAQ had long argued that disaster funding arrangements needed to acknowledge that investing in rebuilding flood-damaged assets to a better standard produced long term savings for taxpayers.
“While we welcome the Federal Government’s commitment to ending the cycle of having the same roads, bridges and other assets washed away every time there is a flood, it needs to back up that commitment with adequate funding,’’ he said.
“Otherwise, Queensland communities will continue to be vulnerable to nature’s fury and the bill to help them recover from disaster will continue to mount.’’
