It’s simply un-Australian for the Federal Government to be slashing disaster and recovery funding for Queensland, the Leader of the KAP and state Member for Traeger Robbie Katter has said.
“Mayor Barry Hughes is spot on when he says the Federal Government, after flying in for TV stories while there was flood water all around have now ‘they’ve turned their back on us when it comes to disaster recovery’,” Mr Katter said.
The Federal Government have refused to fund restocking grants for flood devastated farmers in North West Queensland, while also announcing swathes of cuts and changes to arrangements for future disaster recovery.
“The Labor Government have abandoned Queensland, and the LNP government must immediately head to Canberra and get our funding back,” Mr Katter said.
“KAP’s Federal Member for Kennedy will be fighting for Queensland, and the state government must too.
“Local councils must not be left holding the can, having to find millions to repair bridges that have been smashed, and kilometres of road that have been washed away.
The small councils throughout North Queensland do a remarkable job with the little they have, but recovering from devastating natural disasters is a giant step too far.
AgForce President and Flinders Shire Councillor, Shane McCarthy supported the Member for Traeger’s call, saying communities and landholders across the state were feeling deserted, with huge uncertainty about future events.
“In life and in business, there are plenty of things we can plan for, and we do that bloody well, but no one can say when the next disaster will hit, and how bad it’ll be. If you told me there would be a big flood from the west on 5 January 2027, we’d be prepared alright, but no one knows,” Mr McCarthy said.
“For the Federal Government to now say ‘be better prepared, and we’re funding less recovery’, it’s a real kick in the guts,” he said.
Mr Katter said he’d be supporting the mayors from across the electorate, as well as working with the KAP Federal Member to fight for Queenslanders.
“Queensland cops the brunt of Australia’s natural disasters, and for Canberra to take the razor to our funding shows how ruthless and heartless they can be,” he said.
“The state government need to step up to the plate and give our councils and all Queenslanders confidence that when disaster inevitably strikes again, there’ll be help coming from Canberra.
“The KAP are backing Queenslanders and fighting against Canberra, and so should the state government,” he said.