Flood recovery initiatives
Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (17:31): (549) My adjournment matter tonight is for the Minister for Emergency Services in the other place, and it concerns the rural flood recovery grants. I would ask the minister for an extension of time for those that have not been able to acquit their grants in the time that was allocated. I have got a number of constituents who have raised concerns. One of those constituents, from near Kerang, received the first $25,000 of their $75,000 grant, but they are having trouble getting contractors to do the work. They need heavy machinery, they need excavators and at the moment they just cannot get them in to do that work. They have been told that if they do not have it done by the time of the offer expiring, they will not be able to get the additional $50,000. What I would be asking the minister to do is to please have an extension of time granted for those that for valid reasons have not been able to acquit the full expenditure of those grants in the time that was allocated. There is a similar case for the pharmacist in Rochester. Again, he has not had his shop refurbished since the floods. He is trading and he is providing a vital service to the town, but between the grant and his insurance policy there are still disputes about what work will be done. He runs the risk of missing out on his grant if the time expires again, so I would ask the minister for an extension of time for those who have a valid reason not to have acquitted their grants in the time that has been allocated.