The QLD government has announced its recovery package for flood impacted homeowners, which includes repair, retrofit, buy backs, and house raising, options.
It has left many in the Lismore area wondering, "where is our housing recovery plan?".
That includes Lismore MP Janelle Saffin, who asked: "Where is ours? This is what I have been advocating in the Northern Rivers. We need the Federal Government to come on board and the NSW Government to seek it and to inform us what they are doing".
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Queensland homeowners who experienced damage to their residential property as a result of flooding in 2021-22 can now register their interest for the $741 million Resilient Homes Fund.
Funding will be used to repair, retrofit, raise or buy-back eligible properties. The program recognises there is not a 'one size fits all' approach. Different options for homeowners will be considered on a case-by-case basis, which will be specific to their level of flood damage, future flood risk and property type.
The project is jointly funded (50:50) by the Queensland and Australian Governments under Category D of the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).Ms Saffin is calling on the NSW and Federal Governments to let the community know what discussions are taking place to provide a similar package for the people of Lismore.
She was pleased the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation would be operational on July 1, but said the State and Federal governments needed to keep people informed of how the recovery plan was progressing.
"We need to hear from the government. We need a signal that 'we're working on this' and what they are working on locally. We've heard nothing from the Federal Government," Ms Saffin said.
She said locals are asking her why people in Lismore are not getting the same offer.
Has the NSW Government asked, and has the Federal Government offered, are questions Ms Saffin would like answered.
She said the QLD Government already had a disaster recovery committee in place prior to this year's flooding, so were able to respond quickly when disaster hit, to offer a streamlined application process.
In April, in response to the QLD Government's announcement of the $741 million joint housing package, Page MP Kevin Hogan said the Federal and NSW governments had committed nearly $3 billion to the flood recovery effort across NSW.
Of that, the Commonwealth contributed $56.25 million to the NSW Back Home program to support damaged dwellings within the seven Northern Rivers LGAs and the Hawkesbury LGA.
It also included $168 million for the Land and Housing Corporation to deliver urgent social housing solutions and replace social housing lost during the floods. NSW will fund new infrastructure, while the Commonwealth will co-fund the cost to repair damage to existing social housing.
A further $70 million was pledged for Aboriginal housing solutions for communities such as Cabbage Tree Island.
