A new disaster agency will launch this week as part of a shake-up of how the federal government handles the threat and devastation of major bushfires, floods and cyclones.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In an exclusive interview with ACM - publisher of this masthead - to mark the agency's start on Thursday, Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt has revealed legislation to create Labor's new $200 million-a-year disaster-ready fund was set to be introduced when parliament resumes next week.
Mr Watt has also left the door open to helping the NSW government fund land buybacks after the devastating Lismore floods.
But in a pointed message, Mr Watt said the federal government's only role wasn't just to bail out state governments and councils which made "bad planning decisions" about where homes could be built.
First announced in July, the government is merging the National Recovery and Resilience Agency (NRRA) and Emergency Management Australia into one organisation within the home affairs portfolio.
The restructure axed the agency's coordinator-general position, which had been held by former NT chief minister and ex-federal Liberal president Shane Stone since its inception just over 12 months ago.
Mr Stone's exit was widely expected after Labor's election win.
Mr Watt had called on Mr Stone to resign after comments at the height of the Lismore floods which appeared to blame residents for the cost of rebuilding.
The new minister still describes the comments as "really disrespectful and quite cruel", but dismissed suggestions the restructure was being used to effectively sack Scott Morrison's hand-picked disaster boss.
Mr Watt was highly critical of the Coalition's handling of major bushfires and floods, frequently accusing it of failing to prepare for disasters and then going "missing in action" when the events struck.
The new minister said it didn't make sense to have the two disaster agencies sitting in different departments, reporting to different ministers.
Putting the agencies responsible for disaster preparation, mitigation, response and recovery under one roof would provide a "more coordinated and well-structured response", he said.
"If we're going to be asking communities and homeowners to be better prepared in terms of their own disaster plans, we have an obligation to do that as a government as well," he told ACM.
Mr Watt said a permanent coordinator-general to lead the new agency would be announced soon.
In opposition, Mr Watt regularly savaged the Morrison government over its reluctance to dip into the $4.5 billion emergency response fund.
Under the fund rules, $150 million could be spent each year on emergency response and recovery, and $50 million each year on disaster resilience projects.
But the Coalition resisted pressure to draw on the "fund of last resort" even after natural disasters struck.
The fund has earned more than $750 million in interest since it was established in 2019.
The former government ultimately bowed to intense pressure and agreed to allocate $150 million to projects across Queensland and NSW after the devastating floods in March. A further $161 million was also allocated to other mitigation projects.
Labor has promised to create a new fund, which would invest up to $200 million a year just on disaster mitigation projects.
Mr Watt expected legislation to establish the government's so-called disaster ready fund would be introduced in the next sitting fortnight, which starts on Monday.
"Rather than just having that money sitting there for a rainy day, doing nothing, we actually want to invest that money to protect people, protect their homes and protect taxpayers from the huge bill that we face every time we have one of these natural disasters," he said.
Flood levies, bushfire evacuation centres and telecommunications infrastructure upgrades were the types of projects which might funded, Mr Watt said.
He said the federal government was also open to helping the NSW government fund its land buyback scheme in the Northern Rivers, which was announced after an inquiry report into the devastating floods was handed down earlier this month.
"We have not yet received a formal request from the New South Wales government ... but it's certainly been flagged in the media that they intend to do that and we're obviously willing to talk with them about what's required," he said.
Mr Watt said the federal government wanted to use its fund to encourage states and councils to make better decisions about development in historically disaster-prone areas.
"I don't think it's only the role of the federal government to bail out states and councils if they make bad planning decisions," he said.
"Where we can use our funding to encourage better decisions about where development occurs, and the kind of homes that are built and the materials that are used to build them in a resilient manner, then that's an opportunity we should take."
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
