Friday, 28 August 2026

 Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (13:00): (2577) My question is to the minister for natural disaster recovery. Northern Victoria Region has experienced floods, droughts, storms and fires in recent years, and many residents have highlighted the need for government support to enable their communities to recover – places like Rochester after the floods and Harcourt after the fires. Each event is assessed against the Commonwealth–state disaster recovery funding arrangements, and depending on the severity of the disaster, the Commonwealth can provide additional recovery funding and reimburse up to 75 per cent of financial assistance to the states. The Commonwealth government recently announced that they are introducing new disaster recovery funding arrangements which they say are simpler and fairer. They propose to change the current arrangements to equal funding with the states, 50–50. This may be because they have a trillion-dollar debt. It is worth noting the Commonwealth government collect about 80 per cent of tax revenue; state governments, less than 17 per cent; and local governments, 3 per cent. Minister, what representations have the Victorian government made to the Commonwealth to ensure that Victoria, local councils and our regional communities do not end up paying a greater share of disaster recovery costs because of these proposed changes?