The Guardian - Budget reveals flood recovery spend to top $6bn in four years after NSW and Queensland disasters

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Budget reveals flood recovery spend to top $6bn in four years after NSW and Queensland disasters

Link [2022-03-29 17:34:44]

Coalition to again spend maximum $150m allocation from Emergency Response Fund to ‘fast track’ recovery and resilience

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Commonwealth spending on flood recovery will top $6bn over the next four years, as budget papers reveal the federal government will again dip into its Emergency Response Fund and spend the maximum annual allocation of $150m in the upcoming financial year.

The Morrison government’s decision to spend the entire Emergency Response Fund annual allocation in the 2022-23 financial year comes 11 days after it backflipped on its long-held resistance to accessing the $4bn pool of funding when it announced it would withdraw $150m for the current financial year.