Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

Fires continued to threaten lives and properties overnight, particularly on the Sunshine Coast and at Cobraball, west of Yeppoon, quite close to where Senator Canavan lives and to Llew O'Brien's electorate near Noosa. Disaster recovery assistance is now being provided to New South Wales under the disaster recovery funding arrangements that we have with the states. That assistance is available for the Mid North Coast bushfires for local governments in Coffs Harbour, Kempsey, Mid-Coast, Nambucca, Port Macquarie and Hastings and for the northern New South Wales bushfires in Armidale, Clarence Valley, Glen Innes and Walcha. There is a range of assistance, including support for people suffering personal hardship, concessional interest rate loans, freight subsidies for primary producers, grants to eligible not-for-profit organisations, support for affected local councils and funding to cover counterdisaster operation costs, including firefighting activities. This assistance is administered by the New South Wales government, and anyone in need can contact the government— (Time expired)