Federal Nationals’ Member for Page, Kevin Hogan, has slammed the decision by federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to prioritise Queensland in the rollout of a national flood warning network involving the purchase and upgrade of flood gauges.
Funding for the national flood warning network was announced in last week’s federal budget.
“The Northern Rivers area of NSW has just suffered Australia’s biggest natural disaster yet somehow Labor has bypassed our area for funding to upgrade flood gauges,” Kevin Hogan said.
“This is surely a sick joke.”
“The gauges in and around Lismore did not provide the warnings we needed as a community during the 2022 floods and this decision is not only a bad one but is an insult to all of us in the Northern Rivers.”
Mr Hogan said the Northern Rivers and the Richmond and Wilson River catchments should surely be a priority, given their history of flooding.
“I know it is sometimes difficult for Sydney-based Ministers to see beyond the big smoke, but our disaster and our plight is pretty hard to miss,” Mr Hogan said.
“I call on the Environment Minister to review her decision and urgently shift funding to ensure that new flood gauges are installed in our area.”
