A NSW government spokesperson has refused to answer Echo questions around why NSW Labor are yet to ask the federal government for grant money that was promised for flood-affected residents.
Flood-affected community groups are renewing their calls for the NSW Premier Chris Minns to request assistance from the Commonwealth to fully fund the promised flood recovery.
A February 13 letter to Mayor Michael Lyon from Labor Prime Minister Albanese expresses his willingness to jointly fund further flood recovery efforts in the Northern Rivers.
The Resilient Homes Program, administrated by the beleaguered NSW Reconstruction Authority, has been allocated half of the $1.5 billion promised.
Residents last year were told that new flood mapping excluded many homes from the Resilient Homes Program.
This was despite them being flooded in 2022, and residents applying for the program in good faith.
Thousands unsafe or unable to return home, says community group
The Community Disaster Action Group (CDAG) said in a statement last week, ‘thousands of families are still living in homes that are unsafe from future floods or unable to return home at all’.
‘The recovery and adaptation process has been inadequate, leaving thousands of people without dignified living conditions nearly two years later.’
A NSW government spokesperson told The Echo, ‘the NSW government holds regular discussions with the Commonwealth on the recovery effort in the Northern Rivers’.
‘The $700 million Resilient Homes Program and the $100 million Resilient Lands Program are the largest projects of their kind in Australia.
‘Our focus has been on delivering these programs and making sure they’re helping those who need it.’
CDAG added, ‘our community was explicitly told that if their homes flooded, they would receive support, yet we’ve been met with broken promises, delaying tactics and a lack of transparency’.
NSW Labor Govt, a failed enterprise that doesn’t care.
Time for Federal Labor to come in directly with the $’s and tell Minns to get out of the way.
Albo’s time is now, to take a stand and deliver on his election pledge of, “No one held back, no one left behind”.
Whilst refusing to aid the trauma of flood affected people with designated $$$$ the NSW Governments continues advocating for policies for local Councils to allow Development on Floodplains!!!! If that is not ‘cognitive dissonance” then what is it?. There exists NO Duty of Care aiding sentient beings. There exists NO Insurance companies that will support Development on Floodplains.
Furthermore , there are plenty of $$$$ for Corporate Tourism to access the Commons Land , but Civil Society witnesses the decay of maintenance for infrastructure for Trains on Rails . Whilst it would be possible to have both a Rail Trail, and Trains for humanity. There exists no understanding of Climate Change of even an acknowledgement of Climate Change (recall the 2022 floods)? In these dire times of CLIMATE CHANGE, MORE THAN EVER WE NEED AN EVACUATION PLAN. TRAINS ARE IMPERATIVE FOR SAFETY as traffic clogged roads are not possible to travel during floods. Wake up Governments please?