Additional Assistance for Central and Southern Queensland Councils affected by March flooding

The Attorney-General, Senator the Hon George Brandis QC, and Queensland Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, the Hon Jack Dempsey MP, today announced additional recovery assistance for local councils affected by flooding on the Central Coast and the Southern region of Queensland between 26-30 March 2014.

The extra assistance is being provided under the jointly-funded Commonwealth-State Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA).

“Local councils did significant work preparing for these floods, but there is still a lot of work to be done for the clean-up and this funding will help communities to rebuild,” Senator Brandis said.

“Funding under the NDRRA has been extended to the Toowoomba and Livingstone Regional Councils to assist with the restoration of essential public assets such as roads and bridges so local communities can return to normal as quickly as possible and to help with the costs of response operations,” Mr Dempsey said. 

“The Australian and Queensland Governments will continue to work together to ensure that disaster affected communities recover as quickly as possible,” Senator Brandis said.

Federal Member for Groom Ian Macfarlane welcomed the additional assistance.

“This is a great outcome for the people who endured hardship during the recent rain events in the area, I’m sure this additional assistance will be a great help to many families,” Mr Macfarlane said.

Additional information can be found on the Queensland Government’s Disaster Management website at www.disaster.qld.gov.au or the Australian Government Disaster Assist website at www.disasterassist.gov.au.

ENDS 

Media Contacts:

Scott Bolitho 0477 722 189 (Attorney-General’s Office)

Callum Stewart 0403 925 703 (Minister Dempsey’s office)