Zoe Moffatt
Projects in McEwen are set to benefit from the first round of the federal government’s Disaster Ready Fund.
The fund will deliver mitigation funding to help protect communities from natural disasters. This round, announced on June 7, invests over $17 million into disaster prevention in Victoria.
McEwen MP Rob Mitchell said projects that have received funding include the investigation into flood prone transport routes in north central Victoria and a project that seeks to provide rapid identification of bushfire ignitions using satellite and terrestrial camera technology.
“The McEwen electorate faces the threat of bushfires, floods and storms every year,” Mr Mitchell said.
“Natural disasters are becoming more common, and more dangerous due to climate change… [so] we’re investing up to $1 billion in… funding over five years to build critical projects.
“[These projects] will reduce disaster risk, help to reduce recovery costs and strengthen community resilience across Australia, including in the McEwen region.”
The north central Victoria project will study transport routes affected by flooding within the Loddon Mallee region and improve knowledge of flood risks to the transportation network, including in the Macedon Ranges.
The project will help to inform future road upgrades and support emergency management planning, which will reduce the risk and impact of flooding on communities and the economy.
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister Murray Watt said Australia needs to invest more money to prevent natural disasters, rather than recovering from them.
“We know that every dollar spent on disaster resilience and mitigation delivers a return on investment to governments and households nine times over,” he said.
“As a country we invest far more in recovering from disasters than we do defending against them, and that mentality has got to change.
“We are changing the way we deal with natural disasters by planning better… to ensure that communities… are better prepared, less exposed and in the best possible position to recover when disasters strike.”
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) will work to negotiate funding agreements, and funds will be provided from July 2023. Projects must be completed within three years.
