Minister for Emergency Management and ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Recovery and Resilience, Minister for Regionalisation, Regional Communications and Regional Education
Joint media release
Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie
Minister for Emergency Management and ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Recovery and Resilience
The Hon Andrew Gee MP
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel
Federal Member for Calare
The Hon Paul Toole MP
Deputy Premier of New South Wales
New South Wales Minister for Regional New South Wales and Minister for Police
State Member for Bathurst
The Hon Steph Cooke MP
New South Wales Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience
Disaster assistance is now available in the Lithgow local government area, following severe storms and flash flooding on 11 January 2022.
Assistance is being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
Minister for Emergency Management and ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Recovery and Resilience, Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie, said the storm event had caused significant damage during a short period of intense rainfall.
“While the storm event passed quickly, the heavy rainfall, severe winds and flash flooding have caused significant disruption in the Lithgow and Wallerawang communities in particular,” Minister McKenzie said.
Member for Calare and Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel, Andrew Gee, said it’s been an incredibly tough couple of years for the whole Lithgow area.
“We’ve had drought, the bushfires, a mouse plague, the COVID-19 pandemic, and more recently, storms and floods. However, when the chips are down, Lithgow and its surrounding districts come together and pull through,” Mr Gee said.
“I’m really pleased that the State and Federal Governments have swung into gear so quickly to make disaster relief available following the extreme rainfall event.”
Deputy Premier, Minister for Regional New South Wales and Member for Bathurst Paul Toole said the assistance would allow residents and business owners to move forward and get back on their feet.
“Lithgow was lashed by almost a month’s worth of rain in just an hour that day, inundating homes and businesses with little warning. This assistance will help those affected return to normal as soon as possible,” Mr Toole said.
New South Wales Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience, Steph Cooke, said the assistance will support members of the community who experienced damage to their homes, while also assisting Lithgow City Council with repairs to damaged roads.
“Financial support, concessional loans and freight subsidies are now available to those who were hard hit by last week’s severe storms and flash flooding,” Ms Cooke said.
Assistance available under the DRFA may include:
- Help for eligible people whose homes or belongings have been damaged (eligibility criteria apply);
- Support for affected local councils to help with the costs of cleaning up and restoring damaged essential public assets;
- Concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers and non-profit organisations; and
- Freight subsidies for primary producers.
