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Councillors today thanked the Australian Government for extending additional disaster relief assistance to Tweed residents impacted by the recent catastrophic flood.
Federal Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience Minister Bridget McKenzie today announced an extension of the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP) Special Supplement to residents of Ballina, Byron, Kyogle and Tweed Shires.
The announcement followed further assessment of the region by the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, which found the areas were in need of additional support.
This means eligible families and individuals affected by the recent record flood in the Tweed Local Government Area will be entitled to additional support to help them through this disaster.
An additional two $1,000 payments for adults and two $400 payments for children will automatically apply for those who have already registered for the first AGDRP payment, and there is no need for people to re-apply.
Addressing the Chamber at the first Council meeting since the February 28 flood, Mayor of Tweed Chris Cherry thanked the Federal Government, and specifically Prime Minister Scott Morrison, for listening to the pleas of the community.
“We are most grateful to the Prime Minister for listening to our pleas and including the Tweed Shire in his government’s additional assistance package,” Cr Cherry said.
“There is no doubt the community needs all the help it can get. The recent flood is the most widespread natural disaster the Tweed community has ever experienced.
“The human consequences of this flood, the loss of possessions, the loss of livelihoods and the displacement of people from their homes is catastrophic for so many in our Shire.
“We have lost 2 members of our community to this flood event. We have communities who are still isolated out at Commissioners Creek after 17 days. Many communities still only have 4WD access available.”
Recent figures released by Resilience NSW show of the 3,940 homes assessed in the Tweed so far, more than 2,100 buildings have suffered damage and 498 dwellings have been declared uninhabitable as a result of the flood.
Councillors unanimously endorsed a Mayoral Minute thanking the Prime Minister for the additional funding and invited the PM to travel to the Tweed to see for himself the sheer scale of the devastation facing the community.
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