General News
1 September, 2024
Flood cash block with Feds: Allan
THE Federal Government was delaying approval of $22 million of flood recovery projects in the Loddon Shire, Premier Jacinta Allan said on Friday. Ms Allan, also the member for Bendigo East, passed to the buck to Canberra when answering a Loddon...
THE Federal Government was delaying approval of $22 million of flood recovery projects in the Loddon Shire, Premier Jacinta Allan said on Friday.
Ms Allan, also the member for Bendigo East, passed to the buck to Canberra when answering a Loddon Herald question at Friday’s Rural Press Club of Victoria luncheon.
She said there had been review between the State and Federal Government and “we need to speed up review of the process” of assessing council claims under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
“Some of those (Loddon) projects are actually sitting with the Federal Government to be responded to,” Ms Allan said.
“One of the challenges for communities going through recovery phase is that’s such a difficult time and (we) shouldn’t be making it more difficult because of bureaucratic processes.”
Concerns about delays in funding October 2022 flood recovery work were first raised with Ms Allan by the Loddon Herald in the aftermath of the 2023-2024 summer storms.
Since then, only three Loddon sets of projects have been approved and council says there is a risk road, bridge and culvert works will not be finished by next June’s funding deadline.
Council has already pulled some projects from the approval process and funded them within its own budget.
Ms Allan on Friday said: “We will absolutely follow it up.”
The premier’s office has been asked what are these delays and what action has the State Government taken to resolve bottleneck of approvals and whether it will seek an extension to June deadline.
The premier was also questioned at the luncheon in VNI West.
“We must deliver new transmission networks to get the renewable energy from where it is being generated particularly here in the north and the west of the state to the rest of the state,” Ms Allan said.