All five councils in the electorate of Cowper will receive $1 million each to help communities recover from the devastating bushfires.
The Morrison-McCormack Government has moved to provide an initial and immediate base payment of $1 million to 42 of the most severely bushfire impacted councils in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland to help quickly rebuild vital infrastructure and strengthen community resilience.
Federal Member for Cowper Pat Conaghan welcomed the funding allocation, saying it will help the region’s families, farmers and businesses get back on their feet.
“This funding is being immediately directed to councils to rebuild roads and infrastructure, employ staff to help in recovery activities and hold events which bring the community together,” he said.
“Mayors and councillors are extremely close to their communities and have in-depth knowledge of how the recent bushfires have impacted residents, infrastructure and community assets.
“Directing some of the Bushfire Recovery Agency’s money to councils will therefore help our region to recover as quickly as possible.”
Funding will be directed to councils which have been ‘activated’ by their respective State Government for Category C bushfire disaster recovery relief under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA). Payments will not require matched funding from State Governments.
Councils in the electorate of Cowper classified as Category C are Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, Kempsey Shire Council, Nambucca Valley Council, Coffs Harbour City Council and Bellingen Shire Council.
A further $18 million will be set aside to provide additional support to larger council areas which have experienced the most significant damage, with the National Bushfire Recovery Coordinator Andrew Colvin working with State Governments and impacted local councils on determining this additional allocation.
The Bushfire Recovery Agency was announced on Monday 6 January and was given an initial investment of $2 billion from the Federal Coalition Government to ensure communities hit by these unprecedented bushfires get the support they need to recover. Today’s announcement is the first identifying where some of the recovery agency’s money will be spent and it is in addition to funding that is automatically available to councils through other disaster recovery arrangements.
“There were a total of 144 homes destroyed across our electorate of Cowper in the bushfires, plus 340 outbuildings and 10 public facilities,” Mr Conaghan said.
“The sheer scale of the disaster means there is still a long road ahead and it will continue to require an unprecedented joint effort with the NSW Government, councils, charities and community members.
“I would like to thank everyone for their hard work and selflessness shown to date and the Minister for Natural Disaster and Emergency Management David Littleproud for this further financial assistance.”
