General News
6 March, 2022
West Wimmera denied disaster declaration request
West Wimmera Shire Council has been denied a request to have the fires at Poolaijelo declared a disaster.
WEST Wimmera Shire Council has been denied a request to have the New years fires at Poolaijelo and Langkoop declared a disaster.
West Wimmera Shire Council chief executive David Bezuidenhout said following the extensive damages of the fire, the council approached the Natural Disaster Funding Arrangement team for activation of disaster funding.
“The program has a strict guideline where the program can only be activated if the anticipated expenditure is more than $240,000 that can fit in category A and B assistance,” he said.
There are three categories under the program, Category A assistance relates to expenditure incurred during the disaster event in terms of setting up a recovery centre and operations to assist households; Category B assistance is for the post-disaster expenditure on essential public assets including roads, drainage, bridges and signages; and Category C becomes available to assist severely affected communities.
Mr Bezuidenhout said the council believed that Category C could only be activated once the council was eligible for Category A and B.
“Following our discussion with the claim assessor on what can and cannot be claimed, the officers concluded that the total predicted expenditure is well below the required $240,000 minimum,” he said.
“Council with assistance from other agencies will continue to support the Poolaijelo community with the resources available.
“Given the amount of damage the community suffered in terms of lost livestock, sheds, and fences, we would definitely like to see this funding activated and have worked towards this however we did not meet the current criteria.”
On 17 January 2022, West Wimmera Council told Emergency Management Victoria that the forecast eligible expenditure for the standard assistance measures would be under the benchmark.
The event was not able to be registered as an eligible disaster under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements which meant the Victorian Government was unable to submit claims according to the Commonwealth’s criteria.
A Victorian Government spokesperson said the fires did not meet the Federal Government’s criteria of an eligible disaster event and as such weren’t eligible for funding under disaster recovery funds.
“A formal disaster declaration is not required for the Victorian Government to step in and support communities following a natural disaster,” they said.
“Calls for such a declaration are misguided and show a continued lack of understanding about how local, state and federal governments work together to help impacted communities.
“We're continuing to help West Wimmera Council and affected locals in any way we can, including through support from Agriculture Victoria and Bushfire Recovery Victoria.”
Related: Support for Blazeaid in Edenhope
Ms Kealy raised the matter in Parliament last week, concerned that residents impacted by the bushfires were unable to unlock state government support through Bushfire Recovery Victoria without a disaster declaration from the minister.
Bushfire Recovery Victoria is a new arm of the Victorian Government specifically established to streamline and provide bushfire support to affected families, businesses and councils.
In a major disappointment to the community, the Minister for Emergency Services has since rejected the request to declare the event a disaster, citing the fact that such declarations need to happen during an emergency rather than during the recovery stage.
Member for Lowan Emma Kealy said she is angry the request was not granted.
“This is a catastrophic event for this region, with so much pasture, hundreds of kilometres of fence lines, extensive farm infrastructure and thousands of head of stock destroyed by fire,” she said.
“While everyone locally is doing an amazing job in providing support to the families affected by the fire, support services are extremely limited in the region, with many already overwhelmed with increasing numbers of COVID cases in the local area.
“The additional state government support that is provided through Bushfire Recovery Victoria following declaration of a disaster is essential to ensure that all the support services that will be so important over the coming months are available to families in the Poolaijelo and Langkoop communities to help them recover and rebuild.
“I’ll continue to pursue the bushfire support for this isolated region that they need and deserve.”
Agriculture Victoria has established an Agriculture Recovery Team specifically providing support to the impacted farmers to manage the recovery process.
The Agriculture Recovery Team aims to provide information on animal health and welfare, stock containment, farm water management, agistment, pasture recovery, soil erosion, whole farm planning, feed budgeting and nutrition.
Farmers affected by the fires can access other services such as the Rural Financial Counselling Service for support regarding the financial impacts of fire on a farming business, as well as local mental health and wellbeing services.