It’s been over two years since the floods, and thousands of people across the Northern Rivers region are still waiting for the retrofits, house-raises and buybacks that their flood-ravaged homes need. Only one person has received support to raise their home. 

The government promised 6000 buybacks, retrofits and raises to our region in the aftermath of the devastating floods. $1.5 billion in spending on the Resilient Homes Program was required to deliver on this promise, but just over half of that funding has been delivered. 

Our community has repeatedly been promised that more funding would be deliver for the 75% of flood victims who have not been helped - but 18 months on, they’re still waiting.

The NSW 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.

Mandy Nolan, Greens Candidate for Richmond, is joining the community’s calls for the Labor governments to:

• commit the additional $700m in funding required for for the Resilient Homes Program
• communicate clear timelines for the delivery of the house-raises,  retrofits and buybacks that were originally promised. 
• ensure better transparency from the Reconstruction Authority and prioritise community control of disaster recovery going forward.

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