The Australian, Western Australian, and Northern Territory governments have announced disaster relief will be made available for those affected by the recent “unprecedented” floods.
WA Minister for Emergency Services, Stephen Dawson, has described the event as the “worst flooding WA has ever seen”.
The context
Heavy rainfall began in northwest Australia late last month, leading to flooding in WA’s Kimberley region and the NT’s Victoria Daly region.
The flooding was due to former Tropical Cyclone Ellie, which has brought heavy rainfall. The system is expected to weaken this week, and move eastwards towards Queensland.
Today, disaster relief was announced for those affected.
The funding
People impacted by flooding in WA and the NT will now be able to access support from a disaster recovery fund financed by both the Federal and state governments.
Under this fund, the WA and NT Governments will activate and allocate funding that could be used for emergency assistance, housing repairs, and living expenses.
Albanese has not said how much the relief will cost, but said it would be a “very large figure”.
