Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recovery from the Black Summer bushfires is ongoing across East Gippsland. Stories remain, though, of personal hardship more than two years after the fires devastated my community. There are also stories in relation to community facilities. Community facilities are so important because they give an opportunity for communities to come together and assist each other in the recovery process.

There have been many positives. We have worked successfully across the state and federal governments to identify local priorities and secure funding for projects in my region. But there does need to be a greater sense of urgency to get these projects actually delivered. I acknowledge that the COVID pandemic and the supply chain difficulties which have ensued have made it harder for communities to recover, but we do need to see a greater sense of urgency across the bureaucracy.

Two of the most heavily impacted communities in my electorate were Sarsfield and Ensay. They originally were deemed ineligible for Black Summer bushfire recovery grants. But we were able to overcome this technicality in relation to the ABN numbers and the heavy-handed bureaucratic approach of the NRRA to secure $5.9 million through the former Deputy Prime Minister's office to upgrade the recreational facilities at both Sarsfield and Ensay. The critical point is that this funding was announced on 24 March this year, around two months before the election. This is not a question of an announcement being made in the caretaker period. It was a victory for communities and a victory for common sense. Since the election, though, there has been no news in relation to these grants. I have written to both the ministers responsible. I am urging them to show some common sense and support these communities as they recover from the Black Summer bushfires.