Bushfire victims being left behind

17 June 2020

We know on the ground what the economic impact of the summer bushfire crisis was in my electorate of Macquarie. Blue Mountains City Council found the bushfires decreased gross regional product for the region by an estimated $283 million, and that as many as 2,586 jobs were lost. Figures from the National Bushfire Recovery Agency show overall an estimated $65.4 million in damage was done to the Blue Mountains economy. The same estimates state the bushfire damage to the Hawkesbury economy was around $33 million. So the numbers show a massive impact, but what's not so clear is how the recovery for those areas is progressing.


Yesterday, the government claimed the data was transparent; yet the figures are as clear as mud. New information provided from a Senate question on notice has shown that, as at 20 May, of the 107 Blue Mountains properties registered for debris clean-up, just 41 had been cleared. That's just 38 per cent of properties cleared, nearly six months after the fires. And in the Hawkesbury, 86 properties were registered to be cleared and only 41 were completed. When you look at the breakdown for loans granted, on the recovery agency's website there's no data available—nothing; not for concessional loans, not for primary producer grants, and not for small business grants.


Bushfire victims feel they are being left behind by the Morrison government. And with the next fire season just three months away, it needs to be really transparent what progress there is for people to have any confidence that this government will

will