Still just a fraction of cyclone Seroja disaster relief funding has been dispersed

The slow trickle of handing out cyclone Seroja relief funding to victims is continuing, with less than seven per cent of the total pool dispersed to date. It was revealed in Parliament that $6.97 million out of the $104.5 million joint State-Federal relief package has been spent since it was announced in July last year. This has prompted the Opposition to claim the State Government is not prioritising the Seroja recovery ahead of another cyclone season. Shadow emergency services minister Martin Aldridge also claims the government initially used private donation figures to cover the slow rollout of government relief grants. Last month, Mr Aldridge accused the government of including more than $8 million from the Lord Mayor’s Distress Relief Fund, which is funded by private donors, as their own relief spending. But the State hit back, denying it had been misleading and claiming the Opposition continued to make false claims despite information being provided in Parliament detailing the funding distributed. New figures released in Parliament in October revealed from the $45 million Recovery and Resilience Grant package, $531,000 was dispersed to 123 applicants so far, with 360 applications still waiting to be processed. For the second time, Mr Aldridge is calling on Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson to be referred to the parliamentary procedures and privileges committee for an alleged breach by giving “potentially inaccurate and misleading information”. But his first request was reject by the Upper House president. “It is now clear the Minister’s previous claim that over $25 million in DRFA funding has been spent is utterly false, and he has provided misleading figures to disguise the slow funding rollout for cyclone Seroja recovery,” Mr Aldridge said. “The Minister’s response casts a shadow over the integrity of the entire recovery program, and will be of serious concern for many families, businesses and communities still awaiting funding for their recovery.” Member for North West Central Merome Beard said people affected by cyclone Seroja had been left without answers for too long. “It is alarming that the Emergency Services Minister has claimed $25 million of the DRFA funding has been spent when it has been revealed that is not the truth,” she said. “After nearly two years and another cyclone season looming, I’m sure it’s safe to say the Kalbarri community just want to move forward but need help to re-build.” Mr Dawson said he totally refuted the Nationals’ claim. “The National Party continue to show their ignorance of how the DRFA and repayments are made or the strict Commonwealth guidelines that apply to submissions,” he said. “Our emergency services were on hand, working closely with local communities and helping them to prepare before tropical cyclone Seroja made landfall and they’re still there now providing assistance.” Mr Dawson said the claims were another clear example of the Oppositions attempt at politicising the recovery program. “Our Government is investing $140 million into boosting our frontline emergency services to ensure personnel are well equipped and prepared for what’s promising to be a challenging cyclone and bushfire season,” he said. As at November 1, $146,683.82 was dispersed from the Clean Up Assistance grants package for uninsured residents and $133,038.32 was dispersed from the Community and Recreational Clean-up and Restoration grants package.