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Mayor calls for Urgent Improvements in Flood Recovery Funding as Farmers Knocked Back

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South Burnett Mayor, Brett Otto, has written to federal and state Ministers and flood recovery funding decisionmakers

asking for assistance so that deserving farmers who lost topsoil from flooding can access recovery funding.

“Here in the South Burnett, we have desperate need of flood recovery funding, but we are being held back by the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority’s (QRIDA) flawed interpretation of the guidelines,” said Mayor Otto.

“We had to go through all this back in 2013 and the farmers won, so why are they having to go through this turmoil again when they should be fixing the flood destroyed soil with government money set aside for this very purpose?”

The Mayor has written to the Queensland Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities, Mark Furner, the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) CEO Brendan Moon, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, Senator Bridget McKenzie, Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Minister for Regionalisation, Regional Communications and Regional Education, and Bruce Scott, Advisor to the Coordinator-General, National Recovery and Resilience Agency. The letter was also sent to Deb Frecklington, the state member for Nanango and the Hon David Littleproud, Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia and Member for Maranoa.

“The QRIDA is rejecting applications from farmers with regards to topsoil replacement through the application of feedlot manure.

“This is despite farmers confirming with QRIDA that it was to rehabilitate the soil which had been both washed away and suffered significant nutrient losses from prolonged water immersion.

“It is critical that crop growers get the soil back working quickly and get a crop in to retain the markets they have built over time.

“QRIDA seems to be losing sight of this objective and either through lack of knowledge or a fear of being held accountable by the audit process are taking the easy option and declining assistance rather than assessing each application on its merits.”

Mayor Otto said that farmers in the South Burnett were absolutely flood affected and had every right to be considered for flood recovery funding. “It is not right that they be knocked back for reasons that have already been proved wrong in the past.”

“I really hope that the federal Ministers who are influential in funding flood recovery through state agencies can bring common sense to bear in their administration processes.”