Joint media release with the Hon Stephen Dawson MLC
Disaster recovery assistance is now available to communities in Western Australia’s Pilbara, Midwest and Goldfields regions, affected by heavy rainfall and flooding earlier this year.
From 21 to 27 January, a tropical low brought heavy rainfall which caused flooding across the seven local governments, disrupted communities and damaged essential public assets, and resulted in road closures.
The assistance is being provided by the Albanese and Cook Governments through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), ensuring the shires of East Pilbara, Laverton, Leonora, Meekatharra, Menzies, Sandstone and Wiluna are supported in their recovery journey.
Shires will be supported to undertake emergency recovery and immediate repair works to bring essential public assets like bridges and roads back to a usable condition.
Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Murray Watt said the measures provided will help communities to bounce back.
“Severe weather events can put a lot of pressure on communities, so this financial support will help shires so they can continue with important recovery work,” Minister Watt said.
“Both levels of Government are committed to helping the region recover, and we’ll continue to work with the WA Government to understand the ongoing needs of the Pilbara, Midwest and Goldfields.”
Western Australian Minister for Emergency Services, the Hon Stephen Dawson MLC, thanked all the agencies, local governments and community members who were involved in the response and worked tirelessly to keep impacted communities safe.
“I would like to commend all those involved – from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services who coordinated the multi-agency response, to the SES volunteers who assisted impacted community members, to the personnel from Main Roads WA and the WA Police Force who worked with local governments to manage road closures and re-openings across the impacted regions,” he said.
“This joint support from the Australian and Western Australian Governments will help shires which have experienced damage to local roads and other essential public assets with the costs of clean-up and repairs from the floods.
“We understand how vital road networks are to regional communities and the local economy. Activating the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements is about helping regional communities get back on their feet.”
Information on disaster assistance is available on the Australian Government’s Disaster Assist website at disasterassist.gov.au.
