It’s been 18 months since the floods, and thousands of people across the Northern Rivers region are still waiting for the buybacks, retrofits and raises that their flood-ravaged homes need.

Last year, the NSW government promised 6000 buybacks, retrofits and raises to our region in the aftermath of the devastating floods. $1.5 million in spending on the Resilient Homes Program was required to deliver on this promise, but less than half of that was delivered in the first tranche of funding last October.

Our community has repeatedly been promised that a second tranche of funding would be delivered for the 75% of flood victims who missed out from Tranche 1 of funding - but 18 months on, and we’re still waiting.

The Premier has committed to delivering this funding and supplying the 6000 buybacks, retrofits and raises that they were promised. But Labor’s 2023 budget only delivered an eighth of the additional funding required to make this happen.

What’s more, the federal Labor government made no additional contribution to a second tranche of funding for the Resilient Homes Program.

Tamara Smith MP, Member for Ballina and NSW Greens spokesperson for Disaster Relief, is joining the community’s calls for the state and federal Labor governments to:

• commit the additional $700m in funding for the Resilient Homes Program before the end of the year
• communicate clear timelines for the delivery of 2000 buybacks, 2000 retrofits and 2000 house-raises as promised by the NRRC, and
• ensure better transparency from the Reconstruction Authority and prioritise community control of disaster recovery going forward.

We’re aiming to get as many signatures as we can before the end of the year so we can pressure Labor to deliver.

Flood survivors shouldn’t be forced to enter 2024 having to continue living in hope for support that may never arrive. The federal and state Labor governments need to step up.