David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak today about this important matter. While I thank Senator Walsh for the opportunity to highlight the great work that the federal government is doing to support communities hit by last summer's bushfires, I also understand that she has not once sought a briefing from federal authorities on the recovery's progress. This may explain some of the misperceptions that we heard earlier.

There is no doubt that the extensive nature of these fires has impacted our communities, including those in Victoria, such as Mallacoota, Cann River and Orbost. Whilst I have said in this place previously that these fires are not unprecedented, nevertheless this level of damage requires huge amounts of effort and time to recover. If Senators Walsh and Rice were truly concerned about the plight of Victorian bushfire victims, one would have thought they might have requested a briefing on the work of the National Bushfire Recovery Agency, especially in those communities. As a government we recognise that, due to the scale of the destruction, the recovery effort needed is going to be enormous and long-lasting. That is why the government established the National Bushfire Recovery Agency: to lead the work to drive a strong economic recovery.

This is the first time that a federal government has recognised the need for a permanent national body to work in partnership with the states and territories, to aid their efforts in recovering from bushfires. The National Bushfire Recovery Agency and the government have worked to be as transparent as possible with the opposition and members of the crossbench. This has included a whole-of-opposition shadow cabinet briefing and one-on-one briefings with other Labor colleagues, including Senator Watt and local MPs such as Catherine King, Fiona Phillips and Susan Templeman.

This government has established a $2 billion Regional Bushfire Recovery Development Program. So far, over $1.3 billion from that program has been spent. It draws on local voices and local governments to develop the right sort of recovery plan for communities in the most severely impacted regions. Funding is rolling out over a two-year period. This means people in communities have time to think about their recovery needs and seek the right support at the right time for them.

Already, over 281,000 Australians have received direct financial support from the Australian government through the disaster recovery and allowance payments. Approximately 23,000 businesses have received direct financial assistance. Fortuitously, today's sacking of Victoria's small business minister, following allegations of political branch stacking, may possibly even speed up the recovery of small businesses. It sounds like he was more focused on politicking than his portfolio, but that is an oft-heard observation of Labor. This money either has already been paid or is being reimbursed to state and territory governments for help they deliver on our behalf, including the Labor government in my home state of Victoria, so perhaps Senator Walsh's concerns might be better directed to her state Labor colleagues.

Communities are recovering from the combined impacts of drought, fire and the coronavirus. But make no mistake: the challenge is immense. What is required is a focused partnership between governments and the people on the ground, and that helps them recover in a way that suits their individual needs. Thank you.