Natural disaster assistance activated for Herberton Shire

The Queensland Government has activated assistance for Herberton Shire in the wake of flooding caused by a monsoonal low this month.

Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said he had approved the recommendation to activate the joint State and Commonwealth-funded Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) for Herberton Shire, in far north Queensland, after a preliminary estimate of $300,000 for road damages.

“So far this year, flood assistance has been activated in 83 local government areas. Herberton is one of 37 local government areas where NDRRA has been activated twice this year,” Mr Roberts said.

NDRRA was activated for Herberton Shire on 18 January in response to damage reported from flooding associated with that monsoonal low last month.

The assistance in these local government areas can provide:
- personal hardship assistance;
- recovery of costs for restoring public assets, such as roads, and for costs of local councils' extraordinary disaster management,
- assistance for sporting clubs and other non-profit organisations who cannot provide for their own recovery to restore assets to pre-disaster standard;
- concessional loans for primary producers and small businesses affected by flooding; and
- freight subsidies for producers;

Personal hardship assistance to individuals and families, and assistance for non-profit organisations is administered by the Department of Communities. The Department of Communities can be contacted on 1800 440 074.

Concessional loans for producers and small businesses should contact QRAA (Queensland Rural Adjustment Authority) on 1800 623 946.

To apply for freight subsidies, producers should contact the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F) on 13 25 23 or their local DPI&F inspector.

Media contact: Kirby Anderson 0418 197 350