Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. How can the Australian people trust the Prime Minister with the COVID recovery when he was complacent in the lead-up to the bushfires, despite the clear warnings from experts, and, months after the bushfires, debris is still there and, more importantly, survivors are still living in caravans and showering in community halls?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. This government put in place the National Bushfire Recovery Fund in January of this year; $2 billion was set aside to support the work of the National Bushfire Recovery Agency. That fund was intended to acquit some $500 million by 30 June this year. We estimate that the figure will exceed $1 billion by 30 June this year. Small business support grants of some $10,000 have now been provided to over 170,000 small businesses right across the bushfire-affected areas. In total, small business support has been over $200 million, to support those small businesses that were so devastated.

There have also been some 1.5 million approvals for small businesses—up to $50,000 for small businesses that are seeking support. Primary producer grants have been provided to the tune of some $127 million to primary producers who are affected by these arrangements. The work is being done to clean debris, and that is estimated to cost over half a billion dollars—over $500 million. And as was reported earlier this week, South Australia will have largely completed that task very, very shortly. New South Wales, who are managing that work, will have completed that task by the end of June, as I indicated to this House earlier this year. And in Victoria, we understand, that task will be completed by August this year.

As the Leader of the Opposition knows, the matters of accommodation for those who were affected are matters that are handled by the states and territories, and we have not received—to the best of my knowledge and on my advice—any request, outstanding, for the Commonwealth to provide support for accommodation in these communities. I look to the Minister for Emergency Management, and he indicates that that is the case. We will deal with crises every time they impact on this country, and we'll do it methodically and steadily, and Australians are seeing that in action. If the Leader of the Opposition wants to politicise these things, that is a matter for him.