Jamie Chaffey (Parkes, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The large electorate of Parkes stretches over 400,000 square kilometres in a slice of New South Wales that showcases just about everything that Mother Nature can come up with. As one region battles drought, another faces flooding. This month, there have been natural disaster declarations in both the Narrabri and Gunnedah shires in the Parkes electorate following two major flooding events. These declarations would be good news for those shires if they weren't already completely disheartened by the fact that they are still chasing funding to fix road damage from the previous three years worth of flooding events.

There is a major disconnect between available federal funding and the New South Wales government's priorities. Councils not only in Narrabri and Gunnedah but throughout New South Wales are fighting a battle to access money to fix their road networks, and I'm sure that's the same right throughout regional Australia. Knocked back for a large percentage of the funding that they need, councils face huge delays and do not receive the funding for years. I believe there is far more than $100 million in disaster funding outstanding or denied for roads among New South Wales regional councils.

In addition, councils are repeatedly told that they cannot flood-proof these roads. They must replace them to the same sub-standard that they were before the event. This means that these roads are destroyed every single time there is a flooding event, over and over again. How is it responsible financial management? People need these roads every single day, not just once every three years. The money is there for the road funding. The blockage must be cleared, and more action must be taken between the federal government and the New South Wales government to get the funding out to councils sooner.

I'd like to share some correspondence from a few of the councils within the Parkes electorate in relation to disaster relief claims. The Parkes Shire Council said:

'Over the past five years, the Parkes shire has faced six declared natural disasters, including severe storms and flooding. Most recently, in November 2022, the recovery from these events required substantial efforts and resources. The council incurred significant costs in restoring critical transport networks, clearing debris and addressing community needs.

'Following a thorough review, council has identified approximately $1.4 million in unclaimed storm damage expenditure. Based on the guidelines from Transport for NSW, approximately $1 million was considered to be potentially eligible with sufficient evidence, while $177, 251 was deemed ineligible. The costs in question are real and essential expenditure incurred to restore vital infrastructure and transport access. Council has now been advised that a further $910,153 submitted for assessment has been reviewed, and only $173,749 has been approved for reimbursement. It is a deeply disappointing outcome that further restrains council's financial position.'

We move on to the Gunnedah Shire Council, who said:

'The community of Gunnedah suffered nine flooding events between November 2021 and October 2022, which included seven major flooding events. Three of these events were captured under DRFA. Frustratingly for council and incredulously for the community, we are still waiting for approval to undertake almost half of those works; $10.1 million has been approved out of a claim for $14.8 million. So $4.7 million has been denied.

'In addition to the significant delays in getting approvals to undertake repair works and in receiving payment for works completed, council continues to face challenges in receiving consistent and reliable consideration for claims submitted and proposed treatments. Transport for NSW officers, and multiple changes in the reviewing officers, have provided differing guidelines and guidance on claims throughout the years. This has necessitated years of repeated claims and having to resubmit substantiation for the proposed treatments and associated costs. This does not just come at a cost and take time but is also a financial burden for reworks. It has inflationary impacts and, of course, impacts primary producers and community amenity.'