Federal Budget Confirms Pre-Election Funding Promise
31st October 2022
The Federal Budget delivered by the Treasurer on 25 October has confirmed the pre-election promise that Labor will spend up to $200 million per year for disaster prevention and resilience. The allocation is consistent with the recommendation of the 2014 Productivity Commission Inquiry into Natural Disaster Funding Arrangements that Commonwealth Government investment in pre-disaster initiatives should be increased to $200 million per year, to be matched by the States and Territories.
FMA has been campaigning in support of this recommendation since 2014.
Now that the Commonwealth has confirmed its commitment, we need commitments for matching funding from State and Territory Governments. It is then up to us to ensure that appropriate projects are developed and delivered expeditiously, otherwise, as has happened all to frequently in the past, the unspent annual allocation is returned to Treasury.
Other welcome allocation is likely to be $38.3 million to Disaster Relief Australia for more than 5,000 extra volunteers to help communities when disaster strikes, and $22.6 million over 4 years to help reduce the cost of insurance in disaster prone communities.
Details are at: https://budget.gov.au/2022-23-october/content/stronger-economy.htm
