Federal Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton today welcomed the extension of disaster assistance for local communities in response to heavy rainfall and flooding from late August.

Mr Coulton said the funding announced today would assist the Cobar Shire Council in ensuring it has the resources and support needed to recover from the impacts of the floods.

“Over the past couple of months we have seen major flooding along the Lachlan River which has impacted on many New South Wales Central West townships including Euabalong in the Cobar Shire area,” Mr Coulton said.

Mr Coulton said assistance has been made available under the jointly-funded Commonwealth-State Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA), which includes:

• Help for eligible people whose homes or belongings have been damaged;
• Support for affected local councils to assist with the costs of cleaning up and restoring damaged essential public assets;
• Concessional interest rate loans for eligible small businesses, primary producers and not-for-profit organisations;
• Freight subsidies for eligible primary producers; and
• Grants to eligible not-for-profit organisations.

“The Australian Government stands ready to assist affected local communities to get back on their feet, and I am pleased to see this funding announced today,” Mr Coulton said.

For information on personal hardship and distress assistance, please contact the Disaster Welfare Assistance Line on 1800 018 444. To apply for a concessional loan, grant or freight subsidy, contact the NSW Rural Assistance Authority on 1800 678 593 or visit http://www.raa.nsw.gov.au/

Information on the assistance available in response to this disaster is available at disasterassist.gov.au and emergency.nsw.gov.au

MEDIA CONTACT: Amy Welham (0448 477 830)