Disaster assistance has been made available for affected communities in the Narrabri and Warrumbungle Local Government areas following last weekend’s devastating bushfires.
The Federal Member for the electorate of Parkes Mark Coulton welcomed today’s funding announcement that would ensure affected individuals, families, and councils have the resourcesand support they need to recover from the impacts of the bushfires as quickly as possible.
“Weeks of scorching temperatures culminated in bushfires ravaging several parts of my electorate last weekend resulting in dozens of homes, hundreds of head of stock and farm machinery destroyed and thousands of hectares of land burnt out” Mr Coulton said.
“The settlement of Uarbry near Dunedoo has almost been wiped off the map with several homes and the Anglican Church lost to Sunday’s bushfire” he said.
“At a time when such devastation caused by bushfires has swept across many parts of my electorate it is important to thank everyone who has been battling the blazes for days and to extend a helping hand to those who have lost their homes, their properties and their livelihoods” Mr Coulton said.
Mr Coulton said the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) is a jointly funded programme between the Australian Governments and state governments and would include
Help for eligiblepeople whose homes or belongings have been damaged;
Support for affected local councils to help with the costs of cleaning up and restoring damaged essential public assets;
Concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers and non-profit organisations;
Freight subsidies for primary producers; and Grants to non-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, 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 www.raa.nsw.gov.au.
Further information on disaster assistance is available on the Australian Government’s Disaster Assist website disasterassist.gov.au and the New South Wales emergency information and response website at emergency.nsw.gov.au.