Published Tuesday, 26 February, 2008 at 03:12 PM

Minister for Emergency Services
The Honourable Neil Roberts

Natural Disaster aid already activated for Rockhampton

Natural disaster assistance is already available for Rockhampton residents and businesses affected by the major deluge and flash flooding in the city yesterday, Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said.

Mr Roberts said the joint State and Commonwealth-funded Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) were activated for Rockhampton on 15 February following damage reports due to monsoonal flooding last month.

“This NDRRA activation remains in place, and assistance for people affected by the heavy falls and flash flooding yesterday is available,” Mr Roberts said.

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

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