Treasurer Jim Chalmers revealed on Sunday morning that the Albanese government is considering chipping in to buy back properties in NSW flood zones.
A NSW independent inquiry into the 2022 floods recommended the government acquire flood plain areas as “assets” to “minimise risk of life” as one of its 28 recommendations.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announced the buy back initiative in August as more than half the homes and ground level stores in Lismore remain empty following relentless flooding over the last two years.
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However, it remains unclear how many homes would be eligible for the scheme that Mr Perrottet flagged as costing “billions of dollars”.
The NSW government revealed early estimates at $3 billion and said in August the bold plan would rely on joint federal funding.
Mr Chalmers told Sky News Australia’s Sunday Agenda that the Albanese government would do the “best we can” to assist flood victims in his highly anticipated October Budget.
“We received a formal proposal along these lines towards the end of last week, and we’ll go through it in the usual considered and cooperative way,” Mr Chalmers said.
“The people of northern New South Wales have obviously been through a horrific time when it comes to these natural disasters and the Federal Government has been there for them under Anthony Albanese’s leadership.
“So we’ll do what we can subject to the pretty substantial Budget constraints that we have, recognising that the funding of natural disaster relief is one of the big pressures on the Budget.”
A similar buy back scheme took place in Queensland after the 2011 Grantham floods, where the state and federal government spent roughly $18 million to relocate 90 families to higher ground.
The NSW scheme is bound to cost a lot more given deadly floods inundated more than 10,000 homes across the Northerns rivers region in February and March.
In addition, the measure could be timely given the Bureau of Meteorology has declared a third consecutive La Nina for new South wales residents dealing with prolonged flooding across the state.
Nonetheless, Mr Chalmers indicating potential further spending on flood related relief stands in stark contrast to interviews throughout the week about a “difficult” first Federal Budget as Treasurer.
The government last week handed down the final budget position with the 2021-22 outcome showing an improved cash deficit of $32 billion thanks to high commodity prices and low employment.
Despite the higher forecast Mr Chalmers has repeatedly said Australians can expect him to “trim spending” and make “difficult decisions” when he hands down the highly anticipated Labor budget.
“The October Budget won’t be a fancy budget, it won’t be some kind of vanity exercise, it will be all about difficult decisions in difficult times,” he said to Sky News Australia.
“We are prepared to take the right and responsible path and not just the path of least resistance when it comes to trimming spending, when it comes to making sure that our spending is affordable, sustainable and responsible and as targeted as possible.”
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