Photo Caption: Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton (centre) with Warrumbungle Shire Council Mayor Denis Todd (right) and General Manager Roger Bailey (left). Warrumbungle Shire Council is one of nine local councils in the Parkes electorate receiving disaster recovery assistance.
Disaster assistance is now available to nine local councils in the Parkes electorate to help fund recovery efforts, following severe flooding events that occurred earlier this year.
Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton said the councils set to benefit from the support include Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Central Darling, Cobar, Coonamble, Gilgandra, Lachlan and Warrumbungle.
The assistance is being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
“Heavy rain and storm activity that occurred in the first half of this year has left many councils in my electorate with expensive repair bills,” Mr Coulton said.
“Local councils of Bogan, Bourke and Brewarrina are now receiving disaster assistance following the heavy rains in late February, which resulted in severe flooding across Western New South Wales.
“A range of practical assistance is now available as these communities assess the damage and get on with clean-up efforts.”
Mr Coulton said the disaster event saw floodwaters come down from Queensland, causing widespread flooding across several river systems in NSW, which was exacerbated by heavy rainfall.
“Another two heavy rainfall and flooding events occurred in early April 2020, which affected the Bogan, Central Darling, Cobar, Coonamble, Gilgandra, Lachlan and Warrumbungle Shire Council areas,” he said.
“For several days, these regions were lashed by heavy rain that caused significant damage to properties and road infrastructure, and led to the temporary closure of major roads and highways across the region.”
Mr Coulton said the Government will continue to work closely with NSW authorities to ensure that affected communities have the support they need.
Assistance available under the DRFA may include:
• help for eligible people 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 eligible non-profit organisations
If you are uninsured and have low income, 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 or grant, 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 at www.disasterassist.gov.au and the NSW emergency information and response website at www.emergency.nsw.gov.au