New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns will meet political leaders from the Northern Rivers in an attempt to clear up a widespread misunderstanding over a flood buyback scheme.
Mayors and MPs for the area are pressuring the government to speed up the program, which they say is causing even more distress for those impacted by the 2022 floods.
Spearheading the meeting in Sydney will be Lismore MP Janelle Saffin, who says residents were initially led to believe the number of properties eligible for assistance would be much higher.
Planning Minister Paul Scully blamed bungled communication surrounding the scheme on the previous government.
“Elements of the buyback program haven’t been well communicated to the people of the Northern Rivers from the outset,” he told Parliament during Question Time on Wednesday.
Currently, 1100 homes are being prioritised for buyback offers, while a further 340 properties are eligible for home raising or retrofitting.
“It is a fact that our communities were directly led to believe...there would be 2000 buybacks, 2000 house raisings and 2000 retrofits,” Saffin said on Tuesday.
Scully said it was his understanding that an incorrect statement, implying a wider buyback, was released by the body responsible for the program, the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC).
“I’ve asked for that statement to be explained,” he said.
This week it was announced the NRRC will be absorbed into the NSW Reconstruction Authority from 1 July 2023.
“The NRRC will retain its Northern Rivers focus and identity and continue to help rebuild communities within the Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed Local Government Areas,” an NSW Reconstruction Authority spokesperson said.
The jointly-funded $700 million Resilient Homes program was announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and then New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet in October 2022.
Scully said from the start, it was only ever intended to allow around 2000 homes at risk of flooding to be either bought, raised or retrofitted.
“It was not a buyback of 2000 homes,” Scully said.
Lismore mayor Steve Krieg told a Senate inquiry into flood recovery efforts on Wednesday the buybacks are a “lottery draw” based on the location of people’s houses.
Across the six local government areas impacted by the floods, 6,700 homeowners expressed interest in buybacks, with only 1100 offers made, leaving the rest in limbo.
“These are the same people that were clinging for their lives on their roof, holding their children’s hands to stop them from getting swept away,” Krieg said.
“You’ve got a whole region that feels like we’re being left behind. We’ve been forgotten.”
