August 19, 2026
South Burnett Regional Council has joined the chorus of opposition to the Federal Government’s proposed changes to Disaster Recovery Funding arrangements.
Under the proposal, the SBRC estimates the Federal Government would have held back almost $20 million (see table below) for repairs for natural disasters which have occurred in the South Burnett since 2019-20.
The State Government – and ratepayers – would have had to pick up this difference, or the repairs would have been left undone.
Mayor Kathy Duff said councils across Queensland were upset about the proposals.
Cr Danita Potter said the SBRC would “miss out on millions” if the changes went ahead.
Council has prepared a submission in response to a discussion paper by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), which administers Disaster Ready Funds.
SBRC CEO Mark Pitt told Wednesday’s Council meeting the devil was in the detail of the changes, with the only winner being the Federal Government which would save about $330 million a year in funding that it would not have to give out.
Queensland currently receives an average Federal Government contribution of about 64 per cent under current disaster funding arrangements, with this contribution reaching up to 75 per cent for some disaster categories.
The proposal would introduce a 50/50 funding model between the Commonwealth and States, as well as introducing standardised packages of assistance and raising the threshold for small disasters before they triggered Commonwealth support.
Mr Pitt said the changes would have a significant impact on the South Burnett, particularly in regards to the “trigger thresholds”.
Under the change, the trigger point for a “small disaster” would rise from $240,000 to an expected to $2.7 million.
Proposed changes to “betterment” criteria, ie. where damaged infrastructure is rebuilt to withstand the next disaster, also concern the SBRC.
“Queensland has demonstrated the value of investing in resilience before the next disaster. More than 930 Betterment projects have been approved across Queensland since 2013, with more than $1 billion invested,” Council’s submission stated.
“Importantly, analysis of Betterment projects that were subsequently impacted by another disaster found approximately $988 million in avoided reconstruction costs from $244 million of investment … removing or significantly changing these mechanisms risks reducing investment in mitigation and resilience, precisely when we should be doing more, not less.”
The Council submission pointed out that the Federal Government received 80 per cent of taxes so it had the responsibility to do the heavy lifting when it came to assisting taxpayers after disasters.
A copy of the SBRC submission will also be sent to the Local Government Association of Queensland which has been campaigning strongly “to dump this deal”.
Deputy Mayor Linda Little said councillors had tried to raise the issue with the Minister for Regional Development & Local Government Kristy McBain while they were in Canberra for the Australian Local Government Association conference earlier this year.
“Unfortunately, the meeting did not go as well as we expected,” Cr Little said.
“The Federal Labor Government are really digging their heels in on this.”
She urged everyone to keep the pressure on the Federal Government.
Mr Pitt said he hoped the campaign by Queensland councils and the State Government could “get some sense” into the debate.
- Download: SBRC Submission To NEMA (1.1Mb PDF)
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