Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

This bill, the Emergency Response Fund Amendment (Disaster Ready Fund) Bill 2022, builds on the important work of the former coalition government which created the Emergency Response Fund. The Emergency Response Fund's enabling legislation passed the parliament in October 2019. That $4 billion Emergency Response Fund allows the Commonwealth to draw on as much as $200 billion in any given year, in addition to what is already available to fund emergency response and natural disaster recovery and preparedness, when it determines that the existing recovery and resilience-building programs are insufficient to provide an appropriate response to natural disasters. The type of assistance that could be provided under the Emergency Response Fund included recovery project grants, service provision, adoption of technology helping recovery, and resilience or economic aid packages for affected communities or industry sectors to help build their resilience to future natural disasters.

This month we have seen why having a perpetual source of funds to support preparedness and recovery from natural disasters is so important. Thousands have been impacted by the floods in New South Wales and Victoria. Homes have been flooded, belongings destroyed. These are terrible events, and we extend our sympathies to the communities affected. We also extend our admiration to the members and volunteers of the emergency response agencies that are assisting those affected. The former coalition government ensured that the Emergency Response Fund made contributions to disaster recovery and disaster preparedness.

The former coalition government committed $50 million for the Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program. The program will help drive long-term resilience and sustainability by delivering priority projects that mitigate the impact of disasters on communities and economies by targeting high-priority locally and nationally significant coastal and estuarine disaster risk mitigation projects. The former coalition government also committed $150 million to fund recovery and postdisaster resilience measures in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. The opposition notes that the bill confirms that these commitments and disbursements will be honoured. We acknowledge the government's support for those disbursements by grandfathering them into legislation.

The bill before the House today makes two substantive policy changes to the Emergency Response Fund: (1) it removes the fund's ability to make payments for the purpose of disaster recovery, so the entire $200 million per annum disbursement amount must be spent on activities that prepare for or reduce the risk of future natural disasters; and (2) it allows the responsible ministers to adjust the maximum disbursement amount by a disallowable legislative instrument. While the opposition will be supporting this bill today, we are concerned about the responsible minister's power to increase the maximum disbursement amount by instrument, pushing aside the legislated cap. It is not clear what implications this might have for the fund's perpetuity if this power is not prudently exercised.

We note that the bill is being considered by the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee, which is due to report by 16 November. We will await the report and findings from that inquiry and consider any recommendations it makes. I move:

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House:

(1) expresses concern that the Government is seeking to remove an additional source of funding for natural disaster recover at the very moment when many communities across South East Australia are facing many months of work to clean up after devastating floods; and

(2) notes the Government has not yet identified what disaster mitigation actually encompasses".

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