Nine communities impacted by bushfires from December last year have become eligible for disaster assistance.
The assistance has been made available for the following NSW communities:
- The Kempsey and Port Macquarie Hastings (Bill Hill Trail) bushfire from 5 December 2017
- The Singleton bushfire from 18 December 2017
- The Tamworth (Roseneath Road) bushfire from 25 December 2017
- The Port Stephens (Masonite Road) bushfire from 8 January 2018
- The Singleton, Cessnock and Muswellbrook bushfires from 13 January 2018, and
- The Narrabri and Warrumbungle (Dipper Road) bushfire from 17 January 2018.
Assistance is being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA).
Minister for Law Enforcement and Cyber Security Angus Taylor, who has responsibility for Commonwealth disaster assistance, said the bushfires caused serious disruption to communities, burning over a number of days through thousands of hectares of land, including private land and National Parks.
“Considerable resources were required to bring these bushfires under control, including the mass deployment of field personnel, appliances, heavy equipment and aircraft,” Mr Taylor said.
“This assistance will help cover the cost of responding to the disasters and providing recovery assistance to the affected communities.”
The State Minister for Emergency Services Troy Grant said a range of assistance was now available to help with recovery in the local government areas of Kempsey, Port Macquarie Hastings, Singleton, Tamworth, Port Stephens, Cessnock, Muswellbrook, Narrabri and Warrumbungle.
“In addition to funding for response operations, support is available for affected individuals, small businesses and primary producers,” Mr Grant said.
“Funding through the NDRRA will also cover the cost of restoring public infrastructure damaged by the bushfires.”
Assistance available under the NDRRA 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.
Further information on disaster assistance is available on the Australian Government’s Disaster Assist website and the NSW emergency information and response website