Flood Support for our Community

Independent Member for Murray Helen Dalton is calling for Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangement Assistance for Murray River Council to be urgently upgraded to category D.

 She is urging the prime minister and premier to stop wasting time and start supporting this devastated community.

 Mrs Dalton said the LGA has been hit hard by recent floods which have decimated bumper spring crops and local infrastructure including roads and houses.

 “The cost of this flood will sit in the billions and for the life of me, I can’t understand why it is taking so long to make a deceleration.

 “These people are stressed and feel forgotten and while the financial assistance will not even go close to recovering losses, it will give them a much needed mental boost during this crisis to have their plight acknowledged and feel heard,” Mrs Dalton said.

 The clean-up alone will be immense.

 The recent flood is a combination of La-Nina weather conditions, high rivers and changing dam and river management and policy.

 Locals at Mellool and Mallan have never seen flooding in areas hit so hard this time around.

 “Levies that have protected properties for generations have disappeared under feet of water that was moving so fast and so unpredictably, people weren’t able to get their stock out in time,” Mrs Dalton said.

 She said one farmer out at Mellool has 3000 sheep stranded on a 400m stretch of road after his entire 2400acre property flooded.

 “Many farmers have lost their entire years income; their spring crops hay, silage and pastures all gone while others can’t get near ground to sow rice so that potential income is lost as well.

 “Many farm businesses were expecting this season to bring them out of the red and to have that all taken away in the blink of an eye is just devastating.

 “These communities need urgent support, and they need it now,” Mrs Dalton said.

 Affected members of Murray River Council LGA can currently apply for a $25,000 recovery grant for immediate clen-up and recovery costs at www.raa.nsw.gov.au or call 1800 678 593