Community-led recovery and response plans will form the next stage of the federal government’s response to the devastating bushfires.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison told a meeting with charity chiefs in Canberra on Thursday the government had taken detailed advice from the tourism, small business, infrastructure, agriculture, transport, financial and welfare sectors.
“We will be moving on to the next phase soon, which is all about the locally led recovery and the response plans that will be developed on the ground and we will work with you and them in those places,” Morrison said.
The government is also working on broader plans to help small business and tourism, as part of its $2 billion bushfire recovery package.
The head of the government’s bushfire recovery agency said the bushfires were having a broader impact on local economies than previous disasters.
“Unlike a lot of disasters, there’s a consequential effect here,” Andrew Colvin told Sky on Thursday.
“We have to think about this much more broadly. My lens is much more long-term. What do we do to rebuild the economy in some of these regions?”
Colvin said he hoped to have local economies functioning better than they were before the fires.
Small-business operators met with Mr Morrison earlier this week when a range of support was canvassed including rent, loan and rates relief, accounting assistance, fast-tracked invoices being paid by big businesses and tourism marketing for the hardest-hit regions.
Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie met with representatives from the transport and farm sectors on Thursday to discuss what more can be done to get rural industry back on its feet.
On Tuesday, the government announced a plan to provide up to $75,000 to affected farmers to cover the cost of fences, sheds, machinery, carcase disposal or other work to meet their immediate needs.
At least $100 million in grants will be available but the scheme has not been capped.
