PRIMARY producers and small businesses across Victoria affected by the devastating floods will be supported by grants to help kick-start their relief effort.
Access to the funding opened this week.
A $73.5 million package will deliver grants to help farmers and business owners clean up their properties, while business mentoring, concessional loans and transport subsidies will help businesses get back on their feet.
The $19.5 million Primary Producer Flood Relief Program will deliver a one-off $10,000 payment – administered by Rural Finance – to primary producers directly affected by the floods to help them clean up, re-establish their properties, and get their businesses up and running again.
The grants will cover activities like the removal and disposal of debris and injured or dead livestock, repairing essential equipment, fixing and replacing fencing, buying fodder, water and water storage, salvaging damaged crops, grain or feed, and hiring or purchasing materials to clean up a property or equipment.
Primary producers whose properties have been directly hit are also eligible for concessional loans of up to $250,000 to restore or replace damaged assets, and meet general expenses incurred while the clean-up is under way.
Flood-affected primary producers can also claim up to 50 per cent of transport costs – up to $15,000 – for the transport of emergency fodder or stock drinking water, and moving stock to agistment, sale or slaughter.
For application details go to agriculture.vic.gov.au/farm-management/emergency-management/floods/flood-advice-and-support.
Agriculture Victoria has also set up an incident management team to co-ordinate its response, including staff based at local incident control centres to ensure it is able to respond local issues with local and quick solutions.
As the flood waters continue to move, more details about impacts will become clearer.
The department says farmers should continue to watch water levels and, if needed, move livestock, machinery or fodder to higher ground.
Canberra has also announced joint clean-up funding, more operational support and wider relief payment eligibility has been made available as tens of thousands of Victorians continue to deal with widespread flooding.
Victorians whose homes and businesses are destroyed or damaged in the floods can have their properties cleared of hazards, and made safe, at no cost through joint funding from the Australian and Victorian governments.
Clean-up assistance is being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-state disaster recovery funding arrangements with an initial investment of $150 million to prioritise hazard assessments and clean-up.
This first phase of the jointly funded clean-up program will be co-ordinated by Emergency Recovery Victoria, with registrations already open.
ERV will work with local contractors to demolish, remove and dispose of structures that were destroyed or damaged beyond repair by the floods.
They will also remove hazards and debris that pose a threat to property or work crews.
Additional Australian Defence Force support has also been deployed to assist the clean-up.
Emergency re-establishment payments have also been activated, providing up to $43,850 for uninsured households facing financial hardship whose homes have been damaged or destroyed to help pay for clean-up, emergency accommodation, repairs, rebuilding and replacing essential household items.
