The Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation, the agency tasked with reviving flood-ravaged communities in northern NSW, advised the inquiry that the government faces a recovery bill of $3 billion, on top of what it already has spent
In June, Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said the federal and NSW governments had committed more than $3.5 billion to the clean-up and recovery effort.
The plan recommends offering people a voluntary buyback of their properties from the government. Credit: Elise Derwin
The Government is poised to unveil its full response to the flooding disaster – and the cost – as it finds itself embroiled in an ugly sports stadium funding dispute with the NRL and its powerful boss Peter V’landys.
The $3 billion recovery cost in NSW will dwarf a Queensland scheme introduced after Grantham was hit by devastating flash flooding in 2011. The Grantham plan was a joint approach by the federal and state governments and saw the residents offered properties on a piece of high ground in exchange. for their low houses ruined by the floods.
Mayors in flood-affected areas of northern NSW have called on the government to go ahead with voluntary land purchases without waiting for the inquiry’s recommendations.
In response, Perrottet said in June that he would adopt recommendations from the independent inquiry, including any proposals related to the possible relocation of homes in flood-prone areas.
“We absolutely have to,” Perrottet said at the time. “If in two or three years we have another flood like this and we just come back and do the same thing again, I would feel personally responsible.”
Queensland announced a $350 million home buyback plan in March, a month after flooding hit the state’s southeast. The plan is expected to help 500 people sell their homes to the government.
The report has also recommended Resilience NSW chief Shane Fitzsimmons be ousted and the disaster agency drastically scaled back after the agency was widely criticized during the floods.
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He will also call for the agency to be reduced to a small office and its responsibilities reallocated to other government departments.
Former prime minister Gladys Berejiklian created the disaster management agency in response to the Black Summer bushfires, installing Fitzsimmons as its head.
It has since faced scrutiny over its role, budget and employee-related expenses totaling $38.5 million for 245 employees.
Former Bega MP Andrew Constance, who almost lost his home on the south coast in the Black Summer fires, criticized Fitzsimmons’ treatment, given his work during the fires.
“For God’s sake, this is a guy who saved lives, who was there for my community and our state during the black summer,” Constance said in a video posted to Instagram Thursday night . “I think he deserves a little better than that.”
The Flood Research Report is a 700-page document that includes three volumes dealing with natural disaster preparedness, response and recovery.
It is still under review by the government and a response to the recommendations is expected in the coming weeks.
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