General News
6 August, 2024
Flood inquiry calls for changes
COUNCILS had been left with a government flood recovery funding model that did not rebuild infrastructure to withstand future disasters. And Parliament’s environment and planning committee report on the October 2022 flood emergency released...
COUNCILS had been left with a government flood recovery funding model that did not rebuild infrastructure to withstand future disasters.
And Parliament’s environment and planning committee report on the October 2022 flood emergency released Tuesday afternoon called for funding models to prioritise “betterment initiatives”.
The report also found Victoria’s flood response and warning systems had been inadequate.
Overhauls giving communities more on-the-ground freedom to respond to flood emergencies are among 73 recommendations.
The 10-member committee found the process for funding under the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements posed “a significant administrative challenge for local governments who bare the evidentiary burden”.
In March, funding for just 10 per cent of projects totalling $30 million to fix almost 1000 damaged roads, culverts and bridges in Loddon Shire had been approved.
Four layers of red tape had seen no new approvals since last October and Loddon Shire said it would not be able to complete all work by the June 2025 deadline.
Tuesday’s Parliamentary report said it had heard the message from councils across Victoria struggling with recovery from the 2022 emergency. “The feedback from councils to the committee clearly called for a more streamlined, efficient, and transparent disaster recovery funding process. The process should enable local councils to focus on recovery and mitigation without being unduly burdened with administrative hurdles,” it said, acknowledging a “significant administrative challenge for local governments who bare the evidentiary burden”.
The report quoted Loddon Shire CEO Lincoln Fitzgerald’s evidnce to the inquiry.
“(He) highlighted the futility of like-for-like rebuilding in 2011, 2018 and again in 2022. Mr Fitzgerald further stated that: because betterment was not a part of the package, we are using our own funds and putting off the library upgrades and things like that.
“Instead of that we are putting culverts in.,” Mr Fiztgerald said.
“So there is an issue with betterment. The other part of this is that there was actually a small betterment package announced last week of up to $1 million for the most heavily impacted councils. Now, we have got about $1.2 million worth of betterment projects identified.
“However, because of the funding guidelines, they are pushing more things into that betterment program, so it is going to be drastically underfunded,” the report quoted Mr Fitzgerald.
Inquiry members said there was a clear pattern of infrastructure failing to withstand successive flood events, resulting in repeated damage and economic losses.
Mr Fitzgerald had told the inquiry of issues with the federal-state disaster recovery fund.
“The problem with this fund is that there is a dual audit. The state government do all the work in terms of assessing the applications we put forward, and usually they would bankroll the work.
“Then the second stage is the state have to recoup their share of the funding from the federal government. If they do not have sufficient evidence, the federal government will not reimburse the state.
“So of course the logical thing from a state government perspective is to put all that burden of evidence onto local government to say, ‘Give us more and more evidence because we’re worried we’re not going to get reimbursed by the federal government.’
“Now, what that means is we are fumbling around trying to get so many records ... But it is just a bureaucratic nonsense, quite honestly, when we are just trying to do our job: rebuild roads that are clearly damaged by floods, connect our communities back in and get that stock to port or wherever it needs to be.”
The inquiry has recommended the Victorian Government works with the Federal Government to ensure the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements are not unduly burdensome.
The inquiry started receiving submissions last year and held a series of public hearings on the state’s preparedness for the October 2022 floods and its response.
A raging Loddon River put Newbridge recreation reserve under water for a second time in a decade overnight on October 13-14 before reaching Bridgewater and later Serpentine. The peak at Bridgewater on the Friday night about 7.30pm was only metres below the 2011 record level.
Northern communities, of Dingee, Mitiamo, Boort and Pyramid Hill were also cut as floodwaters closed roads until late October.