Regional Queensland Council of Mayors calls for disaster resilience commitments

Published: 09 Feb 2022

The Regional Queensland Council of Mayors (RQCOM) is seeking commitments for disaster recovery and mitigation support from the Commonwealth.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson, who is RQCOM Chair, said he looked forward to working with the Federal Government before the next disaster season to rebuild and mitigate against future damage.

“The National Recovery and Resilience Agency has a $4billion disaster recovery and mitigation fund that is earning hundreds of millions of dollars in interest every year,“ said Mayor Williamson.

“This fund has earnt $836million in interest, which is supposed to be spent to fund emergency response and natural disaster recovery and preparedness,’’ he said.

“We want to see that money spent for the very purpose it is intended for.

“This is especially timely now, coming off the back of a disaster season that has seen damage across many of our member councils’ areas.

“We’re determined to see this money released and actually used for what it has been set aside to do, so we can get commitments for expenditure from this fund that will help people across regional Queensland rebuild their lives and prepare for next time.”

Mayor Williamson said that it had been like pulling teeth trying to get money out of the fund, which was earning a heap for the future when the need was right now.

“Despite being up and running for years, I’m not aware of one project that has been funded,” he said.

The Emergency Relief Fund was established in 2019 to fund emergency response and natural disaster recovery and preparedness in response to natural disasters.

More information can be found here.