Rockhampton Regional Council has requested the Prime Minister not forget the region when distributing funds to aid in the recovering from "act of god".
Mayor Brad Carter said the Council wants a commitment that the region won’t be forgotten when money starts to be distributed from the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA).
He said the damage bill for critical infrastructure was estimated to be in the vicinity of tens of millions of dollars.
Cr Carter was also supportive of the introduction of a levy to recover costs and establish a “war chest” to address the impact and recovery communities face from natural disasters.
“We need to begin rebuilding and repairing our critical infrastructure and the very significant impact this act of god has had on our economy,” he said.
“This Region faced some very unique issues throughout this natural disaster with the Rockhampton Airport inundated with water and closed for three weeks, the Bruce Highway not trafficable for two weeks which meant no incoming/outgoing traffic from/to the South, and rail operations ceased.”
According to the Mayor damages to those three pieces of infrastructure has left economic and social issues for the community to face.
“This past Friday, I and other local government representatives, the Local Government Association of Queensland and the Queensland Reconstruction
Authority met with the Premier to discuss concerns about the level of funding and assistance available,” Cr Carter said.
“I was very impressed with this meeting [at] the level of cooperation and support from the Queensland Premier however, I’m still deeply concerned.
“I have written to the Prime Minister seeking a commitment from the Federal Government that it will not abandon the Rockhampton Region in its time of need, and it won’t burden the Region’s ratepayers.”
The Council was also seeking an assurance from the Prime Minister that funding will be made available for the following; repairs to the Rockhampton Airport and other revenue earning business such as water and sewerage; day labour costs associated with repairs to our road infrastructure; costs associated with the clean up, removal of flood damaged material and operations of landfills for this purpose.
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