Wednesday, 19 March 2025

 Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (09:53): There is $200 million in federal funding in round 3 of the Disaster Ready Fund. It can only be accessed by state governments to establish a housing resilience program. On 3 February federal Minister for Emergency Management Senator Jenny McAllister wrote to a resident in Rochester in my electorate and said:

… the Victorian government did not request a Resilient Homes Fund program …

unlike New South Wales and Queensland, which clearly care about their regional residents.

To a question about this on ABC News on 21 February Premier Allan said that tailored support drove her decision-making. In that press conference, when asked if she would apply for the third round of this funding after ignoring the first two, with Rochester highlighted as a prime case, she said:

… we do make these applications informed on what communities are telling us and what the need is …

How many times do you need to hear this message, Premier? Your government has been told over and over. It is in the media and was begged for at length in the parliamentary inquiry into the 2022 floods. 988 homes – that is, 92 per cent of Rochester – along with 60 businesses and shopfronts and thousands of acres of farmland were drowned by the Campaspe in 2022. There are still more than 200 homes empty there. These people still have not been able to come home.

Applications for round 3 of the Disaster Relief Fund close on 2 April. Premier, you have 15 days to submit project proposals to the National Emergency Management Agency. Millions and millions of dollars are sitting there, and it will not cost your bankrupt budget a single cent.