(Photo: Anne Logan)
November 26, 2014
A natural disaster in the South Burnett could force rates up by more than 20 per cent if a Productivity Commission proposal to cut the Federal Government’s natural disaster funding succeeds.
Mayor Wayne Kratzmann said today the proposed cuts were “un-Australian”.
He urged all councillors and the community to make submissions to their Federal Member about the importance of maintaining existing arrangements.
Mayor Kratzmann said Local Government Minister David Crisafulli had recently advised Council the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Natural Disaster Funding Arrangements had released a draft report which – if implemented – would have a disastrous effect on Queensland communities.
The draft report proposes reducing the current level of Commonwealth natural disaster funding by one-third, from 75 to 50 per cent.
It would also increase the threshold level for funding support almost nine-fold.
The increase in the small disaster criterion would see the threshold rise from $240,000 to $2 million per event, which would have severe impacts on local councils.
At today’s Council meeting, the Mayor said if the proposal went ahead and the region was hit with another natural disaster such as the 2011 or 2013 floods, rates would need to rise by more than 20 per cent to make up the shortfall.
“This would be a cost our ratepayers simply cannot afford – the implications would be diabolical,” he said.
The Mayor said the push for reductions in disaster funding had largely come from the Victorian and NSW State Governments who resented the amount of disaster funding spent on Queensland in the past few years.
But he said recovery from natural disasters was one of the Commonwealth’s national obligations and the Federal Government shouldn’t try to shirk it.
The full report is available on the Productivity Commission’s website
- Related article: Mayor Says Disaster Funding Cuts ‘A Disgrace’
Does it honestly surprise anyone that the LNP are considering yet another way to inflict more pain on an already struggling rural Australia?
Their continual crying ‘wolf’ on a budget emergency has awoken the general public to their constant lying agenda and self preservation for their rich mates.
The South Burnett is already classified as a low socio-economic area and like many other areas people are struggling even harder than before. Whether it be the already proven high rates and ludicrous levy charges we pay, the extra cost of fuel (now with added fuel tax) to the increasing cost of having to buy water & food for stock, rural areas and lifestyles are suffering hard under the LNP Governments – both Federal and State Levels.
Their pathetic bleating of ‘we must all share the burden’ and blaming the past Government for absolutely everything, again has been seen as more BS from a political party that only looks after the top end of town. Each and every time they have targeted raising revenue, they hit from the ground up instead of tackling their sudsidised, tax avoiding fat cat mining or corporate sponsors first.
This latest threat of hijacking revenue from the base support of all Australians is just more proof that the LNP are so far out of touch with the general population and their struggling financial status. If governments are so broke, maybe they should not have wasted half a billion dollars on the G20 and not give free money to Gina Rinehart, an Indian coal company and a failing coal industry by building a railway line for them. Just a starting point !
Go and have another glass of Grange and a cigar Joe.
Well a 20% rate increase would not be any help to council because I can see a large number of property owners would just not be able to pay it. I really think many of our rate payers have been squeezed to their limit. As a property manager I also know many landlords struggle to pay interest, rates, repairs and maintenance. Tenants struggle to pay any rent increase. Also if community members are just scrapping money to pay rates does not bode well for business who will also suffer if there is no extra money left to spend.
Once again hypocrisy at the highest level. Labor and the Greens got us to this point. A stat to take in – The Greens’ vote declined significantly at the 2013 Federal election. Does this signify the beginning of the end?