Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

As a government, we are standing with our state and territory counterparts, along with local governments and communities, supporting all of those governments to respond to the particular needs of local communities. As of 5 pm yesterday our government has activated the 13-week disaster recovery allowance payment for this event across 17 council areas in Tasmania, 46 council areas in Victoria and 43 council areas in New South Wales. This provides some income relief for those eligible people who have lost income due to the floods. We have also activated the Australian government disaster recovery payment in 30 council areas across Tasmania and Victoria, providing one-off payments to eligible adults and children.

On top of this, we are also working with the states to deliver joint support to help with clean-up, as well as specialised grants for impacted small businesses and primary producers. I am certainly aware of the significant impact these floods have had on farmers and the infrastructure they rely on to get products to market. We will continue to work with all levels of government across Australia to ensure people get the help they need.