Attorney-General
Minister for Emergency Management
Special Minister of State
Minister for the Public Service and Integrity
The Hon Mark Dreyfus QC MP
NSW Minister for Police and Emergency Services
Minister for the Hunter
Michael Gallacher MLC
Joint Media Release
Disaster assistance for New South Wales communities
Attorney-General and Minister for Emergency Management Mark Dreyfus QC and NSW Minister for Emergency Services Michael Gallacher today announced disaster assistance for the NSW local government area of Nambucca after it was affected by severe storms, flooding and landslides in late May 2013.
"This disaster assistance includes a number of arrangements to help with the cost of storm relief and recovery," Mr Dreyfus said.
Disaster assistance for Nambucca is now available through the NSW Disaster Assistance Arrangements and is jointly funded with the Commonwealth Government through the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements.
The range of assistance available includes personal hardship and distress assistance, concessional loans for small business, primary producers and not-for-profit bodies, freight subsidies for primary producers and grants for voluntary not-for-profit bodies.
Assistance is also available to local and state government authorities for counter disaster operations and the restoration of essential public assets.
"These measures will help communities on the mid north coast to repair damage caused by the storms, flooding and landslides, and ease some of the associated burden," Mr Dreyfus said.
"This joint funding will help the region's local communities as they recover," Mr Gallacher said.
"The Australian and New South Wales governments are committed to working together through the recovery process to ensure that disaster affected communities can return to normal," Mr Gallacher said.
Disaster assistance has also been extended to the local government areas of Dungog and Gosford that were affected by severe storms and flooding in late February and early March 2013, bringing the number of disaster declared local government areas for this event to 30.
Information regarding the range of assistance that is available in each of the affected local government areas can be found at http://www.mpes.nsw.gov.au/nddassistance or on the Australian Government's Disaster Assist website.
FRIDAY, 28 JUNE 2013
