June 17, 2026
South Burnett Regional Council has joined the fight against proposed Federal Government changes to disaster funding arrangements.
Under the Federal Government plan, announced on June 5, Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements support to State Governments would drop to a 50/50 split.
This has been calculated as a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars to Queensland every year which councils believe will inevitably lead to a greater burden on their ratepayers.
At Wednesday’s Council meeting, South Burnett councillors voted to sign the LNP’s listen2qld.com/disaster-funding petition against the changes.
Council will also make a formal submission to the National Emergency Management Agency as well as writing to State and Federal MPs and Queensland Senators.
A formal meeting with the Federal Minister has been organised alongside the Australian Local Government Association conference in Canberra later this month.
South Burnett councillors are also concerned that “betterment” funding has been slashed. This funding allows infrastructure to be built to withstand damage rather than just being continually repaired.
They say that the Disaster Ready Fund, a replacement for cancelled Betterment programs, has been cut from $200 to $142.5 million in 2026-27.
- Related article: ‘Triple Whammy’ For Councils
