Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised increased financial assistance and reduced bureaucracy for New South Wales flood victims, while maintaining that property buybacks remain a state government responsibility.
During a visit to flood-devastated areas on Tuesday, Albanese toured dairy farmer Milton Johnson’s property and met with emergency service personnel and army troops in Taree, the epicentre of the latest flooding disaster.
The prime minister warned that recovery efforts could extend for months as the region grapples with widespread damage, a report from AAP highlighted. Nearly 800 properties have already been assessed as uninhabitable, with numbers continuing to rise.
“Milton has been there for 74 years on his farm and the loss of stock, the devastation that we have witnessed firsthand is being only exceeded by the extraordinary resilience that these Australians are showing,” Albanese told reporters.
“This is not something that will go away in a matter of days or weeks or even months. (The recovery) will take some time, but Australians are resilient. They’re tough, and we will come through it together.”
According to The Guardian, the federal government has committed to providing loans and subsidies to affected farms and businesses, though Albanese stopped short of guaranteeing funding for every impacted primary producer.
“I can guarantee that the government will be doing our best to make sure that people are looked after,” he said.
On the contentious issue of property buybacks, Albanese firmly placed responsibility with state authorities, declining to offer federal assistance for residents whose homes have been deemed uninhabitable.
Instead, the prime minister focused pressure on insurance companies to expedite claims processing for affected residents. Insurance providers have established local offices to handle the surge in claims more efficiently.
“We expect insurance companies to do right by their customers, and swiftly process claims. They’ve set up an office here so that they can be dealt with swiftly,” Albanese said.
“There are longer-term issues that need to be looked at but what we need to do at this point in time is make sure that people’s immediate needs are looked after.”
While acknowledging broader insurance reform discussions, Albanese made no commitment to federal intervention in underwriting insurance coverage for flood-prone areas.
The prime minister praised the resilience demonstrated by affected communities and emergency responders working in challenging conditions across the flood-impacted region.
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