Bogus claims and cost-shifting from Qld Govt

MAY 26, 2017: THE State Labor Government has serious questions to answer about their $220 million application for Category D funding under the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) scheme.I believe that at least $56.3 million – about one quarter ­– of claims are bogus.Frankly I’m shocked at what has not been included in this application for funding which is expressly for the purpose of disaster recovery, and I’m equally shocked at what has been included.I have communities in my electorate who have been severely impacted by Cyclone Debbie, like farmers in the Bowen region who have had their paddocks scoured and their crops ruined. They should see funding for the stabilisation of the Don River’s banks, but that’s nowhere to be seen.Likewise Lambert’s Beach at Mackay would benefit from protection from further erosion but there’s nothing listed for Lamberts.The people of Wilson’s Beach and Midge Point, where a majority of households had water inundation because of a tidal surge, rate just a passing mention.What we find instead on the State Government application are projects which are very worthy in their own right, but they do not meet the NDRRA guidelines. So they cannot be funded. The State Government knows that, and yet they still put them in their application.For instance, they asked for $40 million for the Whitsunday Coast Airport when aircraft were landing at the airport two days after Cyclone Debbie. The airport had not been seriously impacted. Besides that, there’s a $10 million application through the Federal Government’s Building Better Regions Fund which is currently being assessed.There was a request for $6.3 million for the Airlie Beach foreshore where there was no serious damage.Most concerning was a request for $10 million for the Mackay Bluewater Trail and Queens Park redevelopment, which suffered minor damage at the most, and which the State Labor Government had already announced that they would fully fund in February this year.This is blatant cost shifting from the State Labor Government – an attempt to use Cyclone Debbie to get funding for projects they’ve already announced they would fund.It’s deliberate and cynical, and the people who ultimately pay the price are the property and home owners who will see no benefit from disaster recovery funding.