May 10, 2022
South Burnett mayor Brett Otto has written to Federal and State Ministers and flood recovery decisionmakers pleading for help for farmers who lost topsoil in this year’s floods.
“We have desperate need for flood recovery funding in the South Burnett,” Mayor Otto said.
“But we are being held back by the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority’s (QRIDA) flawed interpretation of the guidelines.
“We had to go through all this back in 2013 and the farmers won.
“So why are they having to go through this turmoil again when they should be fixing the flood-destroyed soil with government money set aside for this very purpose?”
The Mayor has written to the Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner, Queensland Reconstruction Authority CEO Brendan Moon, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, Senator Bridget McKenzie, and Bruce Scott, adviser to the Co-ordinator-General of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency.
A letter has also been sent to Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington and Agriculture Minister David Littleproud, the Member for Maranoa.
“QRIDA is rejecting applications from farmers who want to undertake topsoil replacement through the application of feedlot manure,” the Mayor said.
“This is despite farmers confirming with QRIDA that it was to rehabilitate the soil which had been washed away and suffered significant nutrient losses from prolonged water immersion.
“It is critical that crop growers get their soil back working quickly and get a crop in to retain the markets they have built over time.
“QRIDA seems to be losing sight of this objective, and either through lack of knowledge or a fear of being held accountable by the audit process, are taking the easy option and declining assistance rather than assessing each application on its merits.”
Mayor Otto said South Burnett farmers were “absolutely flood-affected” and had every right to be considered for flood recovery funding.
“It is not right that they be knocked back for reasons that have already been proved wrong in the past,” he said.
“I really hope that the federal Ministers who are influential in funding flood recovery through state agencies can bring common sense to bear in their administration processes.”
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