Funding injection for bushfire recovery welcome news for Mayo
Posted February 10, 2020
Federal Member for Mayo Rebekha Sharkie has welcomed the announcement of an additional $5.95 million in bushfire recovery funding for South Australia.
The funding includes $1.4 million for a targeted recovery program for the Mount Barker Council as well as a $3 million tourism recovery package and $1.3 million for community recovery efforts across the state and $250,000 to support Blaze Aid.
“This funding will go a long way towards helping my community in its recovery after December’s Cudlee Creek Bushfire and the Ravine Bushfire on Kangaroo Island,” Rebekha said.
"I particularly welcome the extra $1.4 million for Mount Barker Council which had originally been excluded from the $1 million offered to local government regions under Category D of the Commonwealth's Disaster Recovery Framework.
“For weeks I have been advocating for additional funding for Mount Barker Council, which has 30 per cent of the Cudlee Creek Bushfire within its boundaries.
“Mount Barker Council has clearly demonstrated it will spend more than $1 million to do critical work such as clearing dangerous roadside trees burnt in the fire and replacing road signs.
“I am pleased that the Commonwealth has listened and acted on the case for assistance put forward by the Mount Barker Council and has offered a targeted recovery program.
“Without this assistance, ratepayers would have had to foot the bill and there would have been less council funding for other recovery efforts, including support for organisations such as Adelaide Hills Tourism to initiate tourism campaigns.
"The additional funding to help recovery centres and the state's tourism industry will assist in the long-term recovery of communities and the local economy.
"I hope the allocation of funds will be based on community feedback and I will be looking keenly at the details of these programs as they become available.
"BlazeAid is going above and beyond to help those affected by the fires in the Adelaide Hills and on the Island so I know my community will applaud the $250,000 support program for these hard-working volunteers."
