When spending any extended amount of time in towns such as Seymour or Nagambie, the fallout from October 2022 flood event is never far below the surface.
State Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland says Victorians are missing out on a piece of the federal $1.8 billion disaster recovery plan. However, a state government spokesperson says these claims are “seriously misleading”.
Ms Cleeland has highlighted that in October last year, the Liberals and Nationals called on the Andrews Government to declare a natural disaster in flood-affected local government areas.
“The declaration would have made Victorians eligible for advance payments,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Daniel Andrews arrogantly refused to listen to communities, local councils and the Liberals and Nationals, and Victorians will now miss out on vital funds when they need it most,” Ms Cleeland said.
However, a state government spokesperson told The Telegraph this was not true, and that declaring a state of emergency or disaster had no effect on the amount of state or federal funding available for affected communities.
During a natural disaster, declaring a state of emergency allows for extra ministerial powers during and in the immediate aftermath of an emergency.
Despite community frustration at the time of the flooding event at what was perceived by locals as a slow response, particularly in mobilising the Australian Defence Force to assist in Seymour, such measures were not needed at the time, according to the spokesperson.
Ms Cleeland, however, last week described the decision as “another demonstration of Daniel Andrews’ arrogance and contempt for regional Victorians”.
“Not only does the funding snub impact flood-affected communities, it also affects the bottom line of every Victorian,” Ms Cleeland said.
The funding Ms Cleeland is referring to is the Federal Government’s $1.8 billion disaster recovery plan.
This is where it gets “seriously misleading”, according to the state government spokesperson.
The Albanese Government's $1.8 billion disaster recovery plan is a joint funding arrangement between state and federal governments to provide money for councils to fast-track local repairs to, for example, local roads or public assets.
Under joint-funding arrangements, affected eligible councils request recovery funds from the state government, which pays the local councils and then seeks partial or full reimbursement from the Federal Government.
To date, the state government has provided over $48 million in advances.
“The Federal Government has decided to advance their repayments of disaster funding to certain states earlier than usual — it is not additional funding to communities but simply paying the states in advance for what councils may spend,” the state government spokesperson said.
“It has no effect on how quickly money gets to affected communities and we expect to receive the same repayments this financial year.”
So although the Victorian Government has not opted in, to estimate how much this bill will total and then have it paid in advance, its primary reasoning was there was simply no need. It would not change how much or how fast the funds could be delivered, the spokesperson said.
“Victorian councils have told us the biggest issue is overly bureaucratic ways to assess damages and submit claims under joint-funding arrangements,” the spokesperson said.
Currently, crucial resources at local council level are wasted on providing the extensive evidence required to access the funding, chewing up staff time that could be used on different aspects of the recovery effort.
Mr Andrews has written to Mr Albanese requesting an urgent relaxation of the evidence requirements placed on councils to prove why they need recovery funding.
“The Federal Government can make a real difference in helping money get to communities faster by reducing the burdensome red tape that councils have to go through to access funding — and they should do this urgently,” the spokesperson said.