Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to add to an answer I provided to a question from Senator Watt yesterday.

Leave granted.

I thank the Senate. Mr President, I've written to you in relation to an answer I gave to a question from Senator Watt yesterday in relation to bushfire relief. I stated that about $1.4 billion worth of bushfire response and recovery funding is already hitting the ground in communities. To clarify my answer, most of this $1.4 billion in funding comes from our $2 billion National Bushfire Recovery Fund—around $1 billion of it, in fact, as I've previously stated. This, of course, includes funding that represents our share of the debris clean-up, which will be reimbursed to the state government in accordance with standard arrangements. The clean-up is well underway, as I also outlined yesterday.

However, as the Prime Minister always said, the $2 billion fund was in addition to the response and recovery funding that the Commonwealth already funds under standard disaster recovery arrangements. Around $400 million of the $1.4 billion I referenced as already hitting the ground is part of those standard disaster recovery arrangements with Commonwealth funds. The fact remains that we have over $1.4 billion in federal funding in response to the bushfire crisis hitting the ground in affected communities, and this is assisting those communities now. I hope that that clarifies the answer provided yesterday, and I table the letter.